UAE: 4 Steps For Employees To Attest Education Certificates For Official Use

Question: I've just been offered a job at a mainland Dubai company. The HR department contacted me and mentioned that I need to submit attested education certificates. I'm not familiar with this process. Could you please help me understand it?

Answer: In the UAE, employees must submit attested educational certificates or qualifications as part of the employment visa and work permit process. This is mainly to verify that your qualifications are authentic.

The process of certificate attestation means legalising your academic documents in your home country and in the UAE.

Here is how this usually works:

1. Notarization: First, a relevant authority in your country must notarise your degree or diploma.

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2. Attestation by the Foreign Ministry: The notarised certificate must then be attested by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (or equivalent) in your home country.

3. UAE Embassy Attestation: Next, the document must be submitted to the UAE Embassy or Consulate in your home country for attestation.

4. MoFA Attestation in the UAE: Once in the UAE, the final step is to have the document attested by the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA).

This process validates your certificate as genuine for official use in the UAE. The requirement stems from general regulatory standards.

Additionally, in a few circumstances where qualification plays a vital role in certain professions, your employer may call upon you to provide an equivalency certificate from the UAE Ministry of Education (MoE), wherein, through its web portal, you may have to apply for an equivalency certificate. While applying, certain procedures needs to be followed, so that the MoE shall seek authenticity of your educational qualification from the university/professional board from where you have obtained such educational/professional qualification, which is outside the UAE.

Ashish Mehta is the founder and Managing Partner of Ashish Mehta & Associates. He is qualified to practise law in Dubai, the United Kingdom and India. Full details of his firm on: Readers may e-mail their questions to: ... or send them to Legal View, Khaleej Times, PO Box 11243, Dubai.

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