Most people do not need a police clearance certificate for a standard UAE family or employment visa. Some files do ask for one, depending on your nationality, your status, the job and whether the employer is on the mainland or in a free zone. A home country certificate must then be attested before the UAE accepts it.
Is a police clearance part of the normal UAE visa list?
Not as a general rule. The Dubai family residence visa document list from GDRFA asks for a photo, passport copy, employment contract or salary certificate, an attested birth certificate and a certified marriage contract. A police clearance is not on it. For work visas, the usual file centres on the passport, photo, medical fitness result and, for skilled roles, an attested degree.
There was once a blanket rule. In February 2018 the UAE required every foreign worker to submit a legalised good conduct certificate from their home country or from any country they had lived in during the previous five years. It was suspended from 1 April 2018 until further notice, and dependants and visitors were not covered by it.
When is a police clearance asked for?
Since the 2018 suspension, the request comes case by case. The common triggers are:
| Situation | What is usually asked for | Who asks |
|---|---|---|
| Teaching in a Dubai private school | Criminal checks covering every country you lived in | The school, under KHDA recruitment rules |
| Healthcare licensing | Certificate of good standing from your previous regulator, and sometimes a police check | DHA, DOH or MOHAP |
| Finance, security, work with children | Police check from home and recent countries | Employer or regulator |
| Certain nationalities, mainland or free zone | Home country PCC, attested | Visa authority or free zone |
| Already a UAE resident changing visa | Dubai Police or Ministry of Interior certificate | Visa authority or employer |
Nationality and status rules
Immigration advisers reported in September 2026 that police certificates are now asked for in certain UAE immigration applications, with the rule depending on nationality, immigration status and the authority. The lists differ between mainland visas and free zones such as those in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, and they change. In the same report:
- A person already resident in the UAE is asked for a UAE certificate from Dubai Police or the Ministry of Interior.
- A person in the UAE on a visit visa is asked for a home country certificate, legalised by the UAE embassy and by MOFA.
- The certificate should have at least three months of validity left when the application is filed.
Because these lists move, ask your employer's PRO or the free zone for the current list for your nationality before you order anything.
Teachers
KHDA's guide for appointing teaching staff in Dubai private schools requires background and criminal checks across all countries a teacher has lived in. Schools usually ask for a police certificate from each country, attested together with your degree. See attestation for employment visa for the degree side.
Golden visa
We have not found an official ICP rule that makes a police certificate part of every golden visa file. Some applicants are asked for one depending on category and nationality. The degree and equivalency steps are covered on attestation for golden visa.
Home country or UAE certificate?
The answer depends on where you have been living:
- You already live in the UAE. Apply for a Dubai Police certificate online. The steps, status check and validity are on our guide to Dubai police clearance status and validity.
- You are moving to the UAE. Get the certificate from the police or justice authority in your home country, or in the country where you lived most recently.
- You lived in several countries. Some employers and schools want one from each country in the last five years.
A UAE certificate used inside the UAE does not need attestation. A foreign one does.
How to attest a home country police clearance for the UAE
The UAE is not a party to the Apostille Convention, so an apostille alone is not enough. The chain is:
- Issue. Your national or state police, or the justice ministry, issues the certificate.
- Foreign ministry. Your country's foreign ministry authenticates it, or issues an apostille where it is a member of the convention.
- UAE embassy. The UAE embassy or consulate in that country attests it. For many countries this is now done online through the MOFA portal, with the embassy and MOFA stamps added together in one digital step.
- MOFA in the UAE, where the embassy step did not already include it.
- Translation by a licensed translator in the UAE if the certificate is not in Arabic or English. See legal translation in Dubai.
The official UAE embassy and MOFA fees are included in the one total price you get before any work starts. The route for each country is on attestation by country, and the embassy step is explained on embassy attestation in the UAE.
UK and US certificates have their own pages: ACRO police certificate attestation, UK DBS certificate attestation, FBI background check attestation and USA state police clearance attestation.
Timing tips
- Order late, not early. The certificate's age is what most offices check. A certificate that is too old by the time your file is submitted means starting again.
- Allow for the home country step. Some police authorities take weeks to issue, and the foreign ministry adds more.
- Use your passport spelling. A name that differs from your passport causes delays at the embassy and in the visa file.
How we help
We are a private attestation service in Dubai, not a government office. We tell you which certificate your file needs, then arrange the home country steps where possible, the UAE embassy and MOFA attestation, and any translation. Prices depend on the issuing country: send a photo of the certificate or the request you received on WhatsApp for the exact price and steps, all official fees included, before any work starts. See attestation fees.
