Objective: The study examined the nature and prevalence of mental disorders in primary care in Al Ain, United Arab Emirates (UAE). Methods: Cross-sectional survey of a consecutive sample of offenders (N = 571) to three primary health care facilities were recruited, using the PRIME-MD questionnaire. Results: Two hundred and ten (37.8%) subjects satisfied the DSM-IV primary care version for mental disorders. Depression was the common presentation (73.1%) of all subjects with mental disorders. Then were no significant gender differences in the frequency of mental disorders, but the intensity of depressive and anxiety symptoms was significantly higher in female subjects. Subjects with mental disorders showed significantly more somatic symptoms than subjects without mental disorders and they were also more significantly exposed to stress. Psychosocial impairment was found in over two thirds of subjects with mental disorders. PHC physicians recognised less than 1% of subjects with mental disorders. Conclusions: Subjects with mental disorders are commonly seen in primary health care settings. Utilisation of reliable and valid self report diagnostic instruments is one of the options to help identify a troublesome mental morbidity in primary care settings.