Fees and steps checked on
Singapore certificate attestation gets a Singapore degree, birth or marriage certificate, ACRA business profile or board resolution accepted by UAE authorities. Private documents are notarised by a Singapore Notary Public, the Singapore Academy of Law (SAL) authenticates and legalises them, the UAE Embassy in Singapore attests SAL's stamp and the chain ends 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. Singapore is quoted per document because government records skip the notary. See attestation fees.
Why SAL is the centre of the Singapore route
Legalisation of Singapore documents can only be done at SAL. Since 16 September 2021, when Singapore joined the Apostille Convention, SAL affixes an apostille to every document it legalises, whatever the destination. For a Convention country that is the end. For the UAE, which is not a member, the apostille becomes one stamp in a longer chain. The difference is set out on attestation vs apostille.
The Singapore chain in order
- Singapore Notary Public (private documents). Degrees, transcripts, powers of attorney, board resolutions and copies are notarised. A notarised document without SAL authentication is treated as invalid.
- Singapore Academy of Law. SAL authenticates the notarial certificate, or legalises a verifiable government document directly, and adds the apostille.
- UAE Embassy in Singapore. The embassy attests SAL's stamp. VFS Global, MOFA's attestation service provider, lists Singapore with this chain.
- MOFA UAE. The last stamp, applied for online in the UAE.
Recipients can check a notarised and authenticated document on SAL's online register.
Singapore documents and their steps
| Document | Notary needed? | SAL | UAE steps |
|---|---|---|---|
| NUS, NTU, SMU or polytechnic degree | Yes | Authentication and apostille | UAE Embassy Singapore, MOFA |
| Transcript | Yes | Authentication and apostille | UAE Embassy Singapore, MOFA |
| Birth or marriage certificate (government issued) | Not if SAL can verify it | Legalisation and apostille | UAE Embassy Singapore, MOFA |
| Power of attorney | Yes | Authentication and apostille | UAE Embassy Singapore, MOFA |
| ACRA business profile, board resolution | Yes | Authentication and apostille | UAE Embassy Singapore, MOFA (commercial fee) |
Fees
The SAL fee, the notary's own fee, the UAE mission fee, the MOFA fee and the courier are all included in the total price you get before any work starts.
Singapore companies setting up in the UAE
Singapore holding companies opening a Dubai or Abu Dhabi free zone entity usually need the ACRA business profile, the constitution and a board resolution attested. Each is a commercial document, notarised, authenticated by SAL and attested at MOFA's commercial fee. See company documents attestation to check which ones the licensing authority actually wants.
Doing it from the UAE
Singaporeans and residents who studied in Singapore can run the file from Dubai or Abu Dhabi. The original travels to Singapore by courier, goes to the notary and SAL, then to the UAE Embassy in Singapore, and comes back for MOFA. Anyone may apply to MOFA for you.
Documents from Malaysia follow a different chain, set out on Malaysia certificate attestation, so if you hold papers from both countries the two routes can be planned side by side.
Problems with Singapore files
- Stopping at the apostille. The most common mistake. SAL's apostille is not accepted on its own in the UAE.
- Skipping the notary. A degree cannot go to SAL directly; only verifiable government documents can.
- Laminated originals. MOFA does not accept laminated documents, so use the original as issued.
- Chinese, Malay or Tamil names. Names may appear differently on school records and the passport. Keep a passport copy with the file.
Next steps by document: degree certificate attestation and marriage certificate attestation.
