Fees and steps checked on
Portugal certificate attestation is the chain that makes a Portuguese degree, civil certificate (certidão) or notarial document valid in the UAE. The usual order is notary and translation, the Ministry of Education for academic papers, Portuguese legalisation for a country outside the Apostille Convention, the UAE Embassy in Lisbon, and MOFA attestation. The stamp people most often already have, the apostille, is not the one the UAE asks for.
Price: Send a copy on WhatsApp and you get the total price plus VAT, all official fees included, before any work starts. See attestation fees.
The apostille trap
In Portugal, apostilles are issued by the Procuradoria-Geral da República (PGR), the Public Prosecutor's office. Portugal has been in the Apostille Convention since 1969, and the apostille is designed for other Hague countries. The UAE has never joined, so an apostilled Portuguese document still lacks the UAE steps.
What the published chain shows
VFS Global, MOFA's attestation service provider, lists this chain for Portuguese documents:
- Notarisation and translation
- Ministry of Education for academic documents
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs
- UAE MOFA
That list skips the UAE embassy, while the general MOFA rule for documents issued abroad is the issuing country's foreign ministry, then the UAE mission, then MOFA. The UAE does have an embassy in Lisbon, but its attestation page is not published. We do not guess between the two: when you send a copy, we confirm the live route for your document type, and only then quote.
Portuguese documents and the usual first step
| Document | First step in Portugal | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Licenciatura or mestrado diploma | University certificate, Ministry of Education | For a work permit, see degree certificate attestation |
| Birth certificate (certidão de nascimento) | Civil registry, paper certificate | Original paper certificate for the stamps |
| Marriage certificate (certidão de casamento) | Civil registry, paper certificate | For a spouse visa, see marriage certificate attestation |
| Power of attorney (procuração) | Portuguese notary | Commercial content changes the UAE fee |
| Company certificate (certidão permanente) | Commercial registry | Treated as a commercial document at MOFA |
Language and Portuguese names
Portuguese documents need a certified translation into English or Arabic. Names are the other trap: Portuguese people often carry several surnames, and the UAE visa may show only the last one. Send your passport copy and, where relevant, your spouse's, so every translation and every attestation matches. A licensed legal translator in Dubai can produce the Arabic version if a UAE court or ministry asks for it.
Online certificates
Portugal issues many certidões online, with an access code instead of paper. The UAE route depends on a physical original being stamped, so plan for a paper certificate from the registry. We confirm the right version before you order, which avoids paying for a certificate twice.
From inside the UAE
You do not need to fly to Lisbon. MOFA allows anyone to apply on your behalf, and the original travels to Portugal and back by courier. Spanish documents follow a different chain through Madrid; see Spain certificate attestation.
