Fees and steps checked on
Personal documents attestation is the set of routes that make civil, family and legal papers about you valid in the UAE, or make UAE-issued papers valid abroad. Every personal document ends at MOFA attestation, charged at the personal rate, but the steps before MOFA depend on what the document is and who issued it. This page sends you to the right one.
Price: from AED 985 plus VAT for a personal document from the UK (standard route), AED 1,025 plus VAT from the USA, from AED 1,600 on the UK premium route, from AED 1,900 plus VAT from Canada, and from AED 250 plus VAT for a UAE document that only needs MOFA, all official fees included. Other countries are quoted after you share a copy. See attestation fees.
Choose your document
| Document | Most common reason | Where it starts | Read |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marriage certificate | Sponsoring a spouse | Civil registry or religious authority | Marriage certificate attestation |
| Birth certificate | A child's residence visa, school place | Civil registry, or MOHAP for UAE births | Birth certificate attestation |
| Divorce certificate or decree | Remarriage, custody, family visa changes | Court or civil registry | Divorce certificate attestation |
| Death certificate | Inheritance, repatriation, bank and property matters | Civil registry, or MOHAP for UAE deaths | Death certificate attestation |
| Police clearance (good conduct) | A job or visa abroad | Police authority | Police clearance certificate |
| Medical certificate or sick leave | Employer, court or insurer | Hospital, then the health authority | Medical certificate attestation |
| Affidavit or declaration | Name change, single status, sponsorship | Notary | Affidavit attestation |
| No objection certificate (NOC) | Visa, travel, employer or school consent | Employer, sponsor or parent, then notary or chamber | NOC attestation |
Degrees, diplomas and transcripts are also personal documents, but they follow education routes: see degree certificate attestation.
Three routes, depending on where the document was issued
Issued abroad, used in the UAE. The issuing office or a notary, then that country's foreign ministry, then the UAE embassy there, then MOFA. For many countries, including the UK and the USA, the embassy and MOFA stamps now come together on MOFA's digital route, usually in 2 to 3 working days for that stage. An apostille alone is never enough, because the UAE is not in the Apostille Convention.
Issued in the UAE, used in the UAE. When a UAE authority asks for MOFA attestation on a UAE document, only the MOFA step is needed: online with UAE PASS and a courier, 1 to 3 business days, or within 2 hours for an eligible digital document with a QR code.
Issued in the UAE, used abroad. The issuing authority, then MOFA, then usually the destination country's embassy in the UAE. MOHAP-issued birth and death certificates can get MOFA and embassy attestation together in one procedure when applying through MOHAP. See UAE documents for use abroad.
What personal documents have in common
- Originals only for official civil certificates such as marriage, birth and death.
- Not laminated. MOFA refuses laminated documents.
- Arabic or English, or with a legally certified translation. See legal translation in Dubai.
- One fee per document. Each certificate is its own attestation, even if they belong to the same family file.
- Anyone can apply for you. MOFA allows applications on someone else's behalf, so you do not need to visit any office.
Personal documents for a family visa
The most common reason people attest several personal documents at once is a family residence visa. In Dubai, GDRFA asks for attested birth certificates for children and a certified marriage contract for a spouse. If the wife is the sponsor, a no objection letter from the father is also listed. Plan all of these together: see attestation for a family visa.
Common problems
- A short extract instead of the full certificate. Some authorities want the full record. Ask us before ordering a copy.
- Names that differ between documents. Spelling differences between a marriage certificate, a birth certificate and a passport delay family visas. An affidavit can sometimes bridge the gap.
- Wrong document type selected online. A personal document filed as commercial is charged the much higher commercial fee at MOFA.
Already know your country? Go to attestation by country.
