Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) is the final verifying authority in the UAE. The attestation is a seal and signature by an authorized ministry official. This is the mandatory step in the legalization process of foreign documents.
Attestation is the legal signature or stamp by the respective embassies declaring that required processes were followed to confirm that the document is authentic.
The degree certificate will be attested based on the regulations set by the country it was issued from. Normally the following attestations are required to attest a degree certificate:
- Notarization in the home country
- Education ministry/State Government in the home country
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the home country
- UAE Embassy in the home country
- UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs Attestation
- Legal/Certified Arabic Translation (if required)
Every document from abroad has to be legalized before using it in the UAE. Attestation will be proof to the UAE authorities that the documents from outside the UAE are genuine. You will need to provide proof of marriage and birth to sponsor your family or qualification certificates to apply for eligible professions; these have to be attested beforehand.
Marriage certificates of expats issued in or outside UAE need to be attested mandatorily. You will need to present the attested marriage certificate in the following cases:
- Sponsoring spouse
- Sponsoring Child
- Giving birth in the UAE
- Providing proof of marriage for any other purpose.
The UAE government requires all documents such as degree/marriage/birth/professional certificates attested by the UAE Embassy in the country they are issued from. The final body of attestation will be the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA).
The degree certificate has to be attested by the FCO (Foreign and Commonwealth Office) and the UAE embassy in London. The final leg of the attestation will be in the UAE at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA).
The UAE is not a member of the Apostille convention of 1961 and follows the attestation process. So only an attestation is not sufficient. The UAE requires all documents degree/marriage/birth/professional certificates attested by the UAE Embassy in the country they are issued from. The final body of attestation will be the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA).
Apostille is a simplified legalization process accepted by all members of the Apostille Convention of 1961. Each country has an authorized body that issues the apostille. Once it is issued, the document is usable in all its member countries. Click to see the list of member countries of the convention.