Fees and steps checked on
Iraq certificate attestation lets an Iraqi degree, marriage contract, birth certificate or company document be used in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and the other emirates. Iraq has no apostille. The document is ratified by the Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs, attested by the UAE Embassy in Baghdad, and finished with MOFA attestation in the UAE.
Price: send a copy on WhatsApp and you get the total price plus VAT, all official fees included, before any work starts. Iraqi ministry fees are not published in a form we could confirm, so there is no fixed Iraq price. See attestation fees.
How the Iraqi chain works
- Issuer's signatures. For a university degree, the registration director and the university president sign the documents meant for use abroad. Civil certificates come from the civil status office or court.
- Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The ratifications office of the Consular Department certifies documents issued inside Iraq. The ministry checks that the stamp and signature match its records.
- UAE Embassy in Baghdad. The embassy lists document attestation among its services. Iraq is not on the VFS Global list, so this step does not run through a VFS centre. How the embassy currently receives Iraqi documents is confirmed when you send a copy.
- MOFA in the UAE. The final stamp. Every official fee is included in our total price.
Iraqi documents and their path
| Document | Usual steps in Iraq | UAE steps |
|---|---|---|
| Bachelor's or master's degree | University signatures, foreign ministry ratification | UAE Embassy Baghdad, MOFA |
| Transcript (grades list) | University signatures, foreign ministry ratification | UAE Embassy Baghdad, MOFA |
| Marriage contract | Court or civil status office, foreign ministry | UAE Embassy Baghdad, MOFA |
| Birth certificate | Civil status office, foreign ministry | UAE Embassy Baghdad, MOFA |
| Power of attorney | Iraqi notary, foreign ministry | UAE Embassy Baghdad, MOFA |
| Company registration | Registrar of companies, foreign ministry | UAE Embassy Baghdad, MOFA (commercial fee) |
Some Iraqi guides say degrees also pass through the Ministry of Higher Education before the foreign ministry. We have not confirmed this from an official source, so it is checked for your university when we see the copy.
Kurdistan Region documents
Certificates from universities and offices in Erbil, Sulaymaniyah and Duhok are issued under the Kurdistan Regional Government. They may need a regional stamp before the federal foreign ministry will ratify them. The UAE side is the same once that is done. Tell us which city issued the document and we confirm the first step.
Language and names
Most Iraqi certificates are in Arabic, which MOFA accepts. Kurdish-only documents need a legal translation into Arabic or English. Names cause more trouble than language: the same name can be written several ways in Latin letters, and the UAE visa, Emirates ID and passport must match. Send a passport copy so the spelling is checked before the file starts.
Already living in the UAE?
Many Iraqi families in Dubai and Sharjah need a marriage contract or birth certificate attested for a residence visa. You do not need to travel to Baghdad. The original goes by courier or with a relative, passes through the Iraqi ministry and the embassy, and comes back attested. For the visa side, see attestation for a family visa.
How long Iraqi files take
The Iraqi side takes most of the time: university signatures, then ministry ratification, then the embassy. Civil documents that only need the ministry are usually faster than degrees. Your timeline is given with the quote, once we know which city and which office issued the document.
A spouse or child with certificates from Kuwait needs that country's own chain: see Kuwait certificate attestation.
Common problems with Iraqi documents
- Missing university signatures. A degree without the registrar and president signatures will not be ratified.
- Old handwritten contracts. Faded or handwritten marriage contracts may need a newly issued copy first.
- Wrong document set. A transcript and a degree are separate documents and are attested separately.
- Lamination. MOFA does not attest laminated certificates.
See degree certificate attestation and marriage certificate attestation for the document side.
