Document Attestation
The United Arab Emirates is not a party to the 1961 Apostille Convention, confirmed against the HCCH status table on 31 July 2026. An apostille on its own will not make a foreign document usable here, which is the single most common and most expensive mistake founders arriving from Europe and Asia make. The document needs the full consular chain instead, ending at the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs. We run that chain for corporate documents, degree certificates, and personal status papers used in company formation, visa files, and bank onboarding.
Key Features
- Step 1, the notary or the issuing authority in the country of origin certifies the document, then that country's foreign ministry legalises it
- Step 2, the UAE Embassy or Consulate in that country attests it
- Step 3, the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs gives the final attestation inside the UAE, certifying the signatures and seals on the document
- You supply the original physical document, in Arabic or English, or with a legally certified translation, which is what the Ministry of Foreign Affairs requires
- MoFA's published attestation fee at the time of writing is AED 150 per personal status document and AED 2,000 per commercial document, checked 31 July 2026, and MoFA warns that one commercial contract may count as more than one document
Benefits for Your Business
- Documents that arrive in the form UAE authorities, free zones, and banks actually accept.
- No wasted spend on an apostille route the UAE does not recognise.
- One point of contact across the country of origin and the UAE, instead of four separate desks.
- Commercial documents costed before you commit, since the fee turns on how the content is counted.
General information, not legal advice. The attestation chain and the fees above were checked against the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the HCCH Apostille Convention status table on 31 July 2026. Requirements and final cost vary by document type and country of origin, and typing centre or service charges can apply on top.