A marriage certificate, birth certificate, degree or police clearance certificate issued outside the UAE is usually not accepted in the UAE without "attestation". Anyone who takes up family residence, starts a new job or registers a company reaches this step sooner or later. This article is based on the FAQ page of the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) and the status table of the Apostille Convention on the website of the Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH), checked on 24 October 2026.
Apostille or consular attestation?
An apostille is a certificate the issuing country places on a document so that it is accepted in the countries party to the 1961 Hague Convention without consular attestation; the article "What an apostille is and where it is needed" explains it. But an apostille only works between contracting states. In the official HCCH table we checked on 24 October 2026:
| Country | Status in the Apostille Convention table |
|---|---|
| United Arab Emirates | Not in the table |
| Iran | Not in the table |
| Türkiye | Party; entry into force 29 September 1985 |
| Dominica | Party by succession; entry into force 3 November 1978 |
| Vanuatu | Party by succession; entry into force 30 July 1980 |
So for use in the UAE, the official route is the attestation chain the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs describes, not an apostille on its own. Some UAE embassy pages on the ministry's website have their own rules about apostilled documents; if your document comes from a contracting state, ask about that embassy's rule.
The three steps for documents issued outside the UAE
The UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs sets out these steps in its FAQ:
| Step | Where | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | The foreign ministry of the issuing country | The original document is attested |
| 2 | The UAE embassy or consulate in the issuing country | The document is attested; the request is filed through the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs online channels |
| 3 | The UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in the UAE | The original document receives final attestation through the ministry's official website or smart app |
Which attestation is needed inside the issuing country before step 1 depends on that country's rules; ask the issuing country's foreign ministry.
One embassy's procedure: the UAE embassy in Rabat
The "Attestation Information" page of the UAE embassy in Rabat, on the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs website, shows how step 2 works in practice:
| Stage | What the embassy page says |
|---|---|
| Sign-in | Sign in to the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs website with UAE Pass and choose "Attestation Service" in the services section |
| Country | Choose the issuing country (Morocco in this example) |
| Request and payment | Complete the online request and pay |
| Collection | A courier company approved by the ministry calls to collect the original document; collection within 24 hours of a successful submission |
| Return | 24 to 48 hours after release from the embassy; remote areas 48 to 72 hours |
The same page has several other important rules:
- a document issued in another country must be attested by the UAE embassy or consulate in the issuing country, not by the Rabat embassy;
- documents apostilled together as one bundle are not accepted, and each document must be apostilled separately;
- commercial invoices and certificates of origin go through the ministry's eDAS 2.0 system;
- articles of association and memoranda of association are attested separately;
- if a request is rejected for a deficiency, the attestation fee is refunded automatically, but the service and delivery fees are not.
Other embassies' rules may differ; this example only makes the procedure clearer.
Fees
| Type of document | UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs attestation fee |
|---|---|
| Personal affairs documents (such as marriage certificates, birth certificates, degrees) | AED 150 |
| Commercial documents | AED 2,000 |
| Commercial invoice (from 1 February 2023) | A flat AED 150 plus service fees |
The fees for steps 1 and 2 are separate and depend on the issuing country and the embassy.
Time and delivery
The UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs gives these options for delivering attested documents:
| Delivery method | Time | Limit |
|---|---|---|
| Regular courier | 3 working days | Up to 25 documents per transaction |
| Express courier | 1 working day | Up to 10 documents per transaction |
Elsewhere in the same FAQ the express courier is called "same-day delivery"; check the exact time when filing the request.
Points that keep a request from being rejected
- **Language:** the original document must be in English or Arabic, or be accompanied by a legal translation.
- **Laminated documents:** the ministry says a laminated document is not attested and will be rejected. Do not laminate a document before attestation.
- **Refund:** for a rejected request, the ministry says the amount is refunded automatically within 14 working days; the delivery fee is not refunded.
- **Original document:** the steps are done on the original document, not on a copy.
An example
This example is hypothetical and only shows the fee the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs announces. A family needs three documents issued in its home country for family residence in Dubai: a marriage certificate and two children's birth certificates.
| Line | Calculation | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs attestation (step 3) | 3 × AED 150 | AED 450 |
| Legal translation, if the document is not in English or Arabic | At the translator's price | — |
| Steps 1 and 2 in the issuing country | Under that country's and embassy's rules | — |
If these documents are prepared in the issuing country before travelling, the family only has step 3 left after arriving in the UAE.
Practical points
- Start the attestation earlier than the residence application or employment contract; the steps outside the UAE usually take the most time.
- If the document comes from a contracting state of the Apostille Convention, ask the UAE embassy in that country about its rule on apostilled documents.
- For documents issued in the UAE and needed in another country, check the rules of that destination country.
- For legal translation, see the article "English translation of documents for a citizenship application".
Royal Golden does not give legal advice. This article is general information, and the decision on any document rests with the receiving authority and the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Sources
- UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs, FAQs — https://www.mofa.gov.ae/en/faqs (checked on 24 October 2026)
- UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs, UAE embassy in Rabat, Attestation Information — https://www.mofa.gov.ae/en/missions/rabat/services/services-for-individuals/attestation-information (checked on 24 October 2026)
- Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH), Apostille Convention status table — https://www.hcch.net/en/instruments/conventions/status-table/?cid=41 (checked on 24 October 2026)