Fees and steps checked on
A UK experience or employment letter is attested for the UAE by having it certified by a UK solicitor or notary, apostilled by the FCDO and attested by the UAE Embassy in London together with MOFA. The solicitor step is not optional: GOV.UK says documents that are not issued by a court, a public registry, a government department or a registered doctor must be certified by a UK public official before the FCDO can legalise them. UAE regulators use these letters to count years of practice, and some employers and golden visa files ask for proof of past roles.
Price: from AED 985 plus VAT per letter on the standard service (22 to 24 working days), AED 1,200 on express (18 working days) or AED 1,600 on premium (12 to 14 working days). FCDO, embassy, MOFA and courier fees are included; the solicitor's charge is confirmed in your quote. If a letter has to be filed as a commercial document instead, we tell you before you pay. See attestation fees.
A letter the regulator will accept
A letter that says only "worked here for several years" gets attested and then questioned. Ask HR to include:
- Your full name as in your passport
- Each job title with its start and end date
- Full time or part time, and weekly hours where a regulator counts them
- Main duties, for health, engineering and teaching licences
- The signer's name, position and contact details, on letterhead, signed in ink
A reference written by a manager on plain paper is weaker than an HR letter on letterhead. The solicitor will also want to know who signed it.
How the solicitor certifies it
There are two common ways. The person who signs the letter signs it in front of a solicitor or notary, who confirms the signature. Or a solicitor certifies a copy of the letter as a true copy of the original, after seeing the original. GOV.UK says a certified copy made for legalisation should be done by a UK-based notary. The FCDO then legalises the solicitor's or notary's signature.
Step by step
- HR signs the letter on letterhead.
- Solicitor or notary certifies the signature or the copy.
- FCDO apostille on the certified letter.
- UAE Embassy London and MOFA, filed on the MOFA portal, with VFS collecting the letter in the UK. The attestation is digital.
- Send it to the UAE office with your degree and licence documents.
Who asks for it
- Health regulators, for nurses, doctors and allied health staff. See NMC and GMC documents for the UAE.
- Schools, for teachers' level of entry. See UK QTS attestation.
- Engineering and other professional licences.
- Golden visa files, in some categories. See attestation for the golden visa.
What goes wrong
- Sent to the FCDO without a solicitor. It comes back.
- A company that has closed. No one can sign for it. Tell us early and ask the UAE office what else it accepts.
- Dates that do not match your CV. Regulators compare them, and Dataflow checks with the employer.
- One letter for several employers. Each employer writes its own letter, and each is one document.
UAE experience letters going abroad, and letters from other countries, are on experience certificate attestation.
