The United Arab Emirates remains a dream destination for many, and every year thousands of people immigrate to the UAE in search of better opportunities, whether commercial or social. The UAE government requires all documents to be duly attested by the UAE Consulate or Embassy in one’s home country. This may sound like a simple process, but services such as urgent attestation and normal attestation differ depending on the document, and it can get very confusing.

What is Document Attestation?

Attestation of a document is considered an acknowledgment of the authenticity of a particular document by an entity. Certificate attestation is essential without which a document is rendered invalid by the government. For immigration, all documents must be attested by the UAE Embassy. With multiple documents and procedures, there is a lot of room for error, so it is advisable to opt for attestation services in Dubai to help with the same, but here is an overview of how one can go about it.

Which Departments are involved?

Certificates and documents to be attested go through multiple departments such as the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), the HRD Department, and the Home Department. Once the documents are verified, they are stamped and sealed by the Embassy.

●     Notary Attestation

Authorized government officials attest documents at the local level.

●     Home Department

The second step of UAE Embassy attestation involves verification by the Home Department, which is done by one’s home state. This is specific to personal documents only.

HRD or Sub-Divisional Magistrate Attestation is required for all educational, university/college, or government-issued documents. After the HRD department attests the documents, they are handed over either to the External Affairs Ministry or the Home Department.

For the attestation of commercial documents, one has to approach the Chamber of Commerce for an attestation stamp instead of the HRD Department.

●     Attestation by the Ministry of External Affairs

After this tedious process, the Ministry then certifies the documents and places the MEA Stamp on the document as proof of their verification.

●     UAE Embassy Verification

The UAE Embassy confirms the verification of the MEA by revisiting the entire verification process to ensure the authenticity of the documents.

●     MOFA Attestation

In addition to document attesting that occurs before the journey, The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of UAE must attest the same documents in UAE after the UAE Embassy in one’s home country is done with the same. Many departments’ involvement might make the process complicated, but there exist companies who offer attestation services in Dubai that make this simpler and hassle-free.

These companies usually take up clients and offer a quote on their charges after understanding and gauging the client’s intended purpose for the attestation, so have the following things ready before enlisting their services.

• Reason: Before taking a person as a client, the first matter discussed is the reason for document attestation.
• This could be for VISA purposes, higher education, commercial or business purposes, medical reasons, marriage, and divorce, etc.
• Documents to be attested: Immediately after the purpose, one should be aware of the documents that need to be authenticated. The government might provide a list of this beforehand. They could include birth certificates, marriage certificates, education-related documents such as diplomas or degrees, police clearance certificates, medical certificates, divorce certificates, and so on. The quote will depend on this list of documents.
• Other Essentials: Moving forward, remember to keep aside passport photographs, the original copies of all documents, passport and copy, VISA and its copy, a declaration form, and an authorization letter. The attestation services company will most likely ask for all of them.

If one enlists the services of an attestation/certification company, the following can serve as a general idea of what the process will be like:

1. Communication of Information: The company will enquire about which documents need to be attested and the purpose of their attestation. After this, they will clearly state if they will take them as a client or not.
2. Communication of Charges: The company will communicate its service charges. To avoid confusion, they usually have a list of fixed prices that one can request to look at. If there are multiple documents, it is recommended to ask for a price breakup.
3. Collection of Documents: An executive or an agent will collect all necessary documents at a convenient time. This will mostly be decided a day before the collection.
4. Attestation: The agent will take the relevant documents to the respective attestation authority.
5. Delivery: The attested documents will be delivered to one. One might have to sign for the reception of these documents, given their sensitive nature.
6. With that, one has successfully attested one’s documents by the UAE Embassy.

One can never be too prepared or completely prepared. It is advisable to ask the experts such as attestation services available in Dubai for assistance with this long process. Stay safe and bon voyage!