In most cases, translate after attestation. MOFA accepts Arabic or English, and any other language needs a legal translation, best made in the UAE by a Ministry of Justice licensed translator once every stamp is on the document. Translate first only when the home country chain asks for it, and then attest the translation too.
Does your document need a translation at all?
Start here, because many people pay for a translation they never needed.
- English or Arabic documents. MOFA accepts them as they are. A UK degree, a US birth certificate or an Indian marriage certificate in English goes through the chain with no translation.
- Documents in any other language. French, Spanish, Russian, Serbian, Thai and others need a legally certified translation for MOFA.
- Arabic for a specific office. Some UAE offices want Arabic even for an English document. Dubai courts work in Arabic, and some notary acts are drafted in Arabic or bilingual. The office tells you if it needs one.
The rules MOFA applies are on MOFA attestation requirements.
Why is after usually the right order?
A legal translation covers everything on the page: the text, the seals, the stamps and any handwritten notes. If you translate before the foreign ministry, the UAE embassy and MOFA have stamped the document, those stamps are missing from the translation. Some offices then ask for a new one, and you pay twice.
Translating at the end also means one translation in the language the UAE office actually needs, made by a translator it recognises.
When must you translate before attestation?
Some countries want a translation into English or Arabic early in their own chain, so the foreign ministry and the UAE embassy can read what they are stamping. In those countries the translation is part of the chain, not an extra at the end.
| Country | Where the translation sits | Source of the rule |
|---|---|---|
| Serbia | Court interpreter translates into English or Arabic, the court verifies original and translation, then the Ministry of Justice and foreign ministry | UAE Embassy Belgrade |
| Italy | Notarisation and translation, then the Prefecture, then the UAE embassy | MOFA's service provider chain |
| Spain | Notarisation, translation, then the ministries and the UAE embassy | MOFA's service provider chain |
| Russia | Notarisation and translation, then the Ministry of Justice and foreign ministry | MOFA's service provider chain |
| Thailand | Thai documents translated first; the foreign ministry certifies the seal, not the translation | Foreign embassy guidance |
| Colombia | Legalisation in Spanish, English translation, then legalisation of the translation | MOFA's service provider chain |
Our country pages show the full order, for example Serbia certificate attestation and Italy certificate attestation.
Other countries put the translation after their own stamps. Malaysian documents, for instance, are usually translated after Wisma Putra authentication so the ministry stamp is translated too.
When must the home country translation be attested too?
Whenever it travels with the document. A translation made abroad is a new document, signed by a sworn or court translator. The UAE embassy can only rely on it if that translator's signature has been confirmed by a court, notary or ministry and then legalised in the same chain as the original.
In practice:
- The translator signs the translation, often bound to a copy of the original.
- A court, notary or ministry of justice confirms the translator's signature.
- The foreign ministry legalises it.
- The UAE embassy attests it, and on the digital route MOFA's attestation is included.
A translation that skipped these steps is just a piece of paper to a UAE office. If yours did, the simplest fix is usually a fresh legal translation in the UAE once the original is attested.
What makes a legal translation valid in the UAE?
The translation profession in the UAE is regulated by Federal Decree-Law No. 22 of 2022, and legal translators must be registered and licensed by the Ministry of Justice. A valid legal translation carries the licensed translator's stamp and signature. When an office wants the translator's signature notarised, the Dubai government notary attests it. See legal translation in Dubai and notary public in Dubai.
The usual order, step by step
- Check the language and ask the receiving office whether it needs Arabic.
- Check your country's chain for a built-in translation step.
- Complete the home attestation: notary where needed, foreign ministry, UAE embassy and MOFA attestation.
- Legal translation in the UAE, covering the document and every stamp.
- Notarise the translator's signature if the office asks for it.
- Submit the attested original with its translation.
Common translation mistakes
- Translating a UAE document before MOFA when the destination country wanted its own translator.
- Names spelled differently in the translation and the passport. Give the translator your passport spelling. See name mismatch on your certificate.
- Missing back pages, where stamps often sit.
- Machine translation or an unlicensed office.
How we help
We are a private document service, not MOFA, not the Ministry of Justice and not a government office. Licensed translators make and stamp the translations; we place the translation at the right point in your chain and take the document through its stamps. Send a photo of every page on WhatsApp and you get the exact steps and the total price, all official fees included, before any work starts. See attestation fees.
