UAE Attestation of Indian Documents for People Already in the UAE
The UAE is not an apostille country. Indian documents need a full attestation chain, and most of it has to happen in India.
Read the guide
Country guide
Certificate Attestation for UAE
The full four-stage chain for Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah — ending with UAE MOFA, now completed from India.
Non-Hague — full embassy chain required
The United Arab Emirates is not a member of the Hague Convention, so an apostille does not finish the job on its own. Documents for the UAE need the full chain: state verification — HRD for educational documents, a Chamber of Commerce for commercial ones — then the MEA stage, UAE Embassy attestation in New Delhi, and finally MOFA. Commercial documents take an MEA apostille as the Indian authentication. The MOFA stamp is now obtained from India, so the document does not travel to the Gulf for it.
The UAE is by some distance the destination we handle most. Most of our clients are heading to Dubai or Abu Dhabi for employment, and their employer or the relevant free zone authority has asked for attested educational certificates before the residence visa can be issued.
The step people miss is the last one. A certificate can arrive in Dubai with a perfect MEA stamp and UAE Embassy attestation and still be refused, because MOFA attestation has not been done. The good news is that it no longer means a round trip: we obtain the MOFA stamp from India, before the document is couriered to you.
Typical timeline
12–20 working days end to end, depending on the issuing state. We confirm an exact estimate for your specific document and issuing state before you commit.
What the MEA stage actually involves
Indian government charges are quoted with your job rather than published here, because they depend on the document, the issuing state and the destination. What is worth knowing is the shape of it: state verification, MEA submission, the embassy stage, MOFA and courier are separate stages, each with its own charge, and a quote that does not separate them is worth questioning.
One detail that surprises people: the MEA does not take documents over the counter from the public. Its own guidance states that no document is accepted directly from individuals at the Ministry’s counter, and that submissions are made through its outsourced agencies. Travelling to Delhi to hand your certificate in personally achieves nothing.
The MOFA stage, now completed from India
The final stamp is the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs’. It is now obtained through MOFA’s authorised channels while the document stays in India, so there is no round trip to the Gulf at the end and nothing for you to arrange once you are there. MOFA sets and collects its own charge for the stamp; because those are UAE government charges and they change from time to time, we confirm the current position when we quote rather than publishing a figure that quietly goes out of date.
The order has not changed. A document issued outside the UAE is attested first by the foreign ministry of the country that issued it, then by the UAE Embassy in New Delhi, and only then by MOFA. What has changed is where that last stamp is obtained, not whether the stages before it are required.
What the embassy stage still is, and is not
Some agency blogs claim the UAE Embassy stage in New Delhi has been abolished, or that one digital certificate now replaces both stamps. That is not so. Embassy attestation in New Delhi is still required, for educational and commercial documents alike, and no route skips it. The change is only that the MOFA stamp which follows no longer needs the document to travel.
The UAE also runs an electronic attestation system, eDAS, but MOFA describes it as being for documents of goods imported into the UAE, carrying a digital stamp — not as a replacement for the personal-document chain. If anyone offers you UAE attestation that skips the embassy in New Delhi, ask them to show you where the UAE government says that is allowed.
Arabic translation
Many UAE authorities, and most free zones, want the document in Arabic as well as English. Where a translation is needed it is normally legalised alongside the original rather than afterwards — a translation produced once the stamps are already on the original usually has to go through the chain again. Tell us at the outset if your employer or free zone has asked for Arabic and we will build it into the same job.
What affects the cost of UAE attestation
UAE attestation carries more separate charges than most destinations, which is why a single number quoted before anyone has seen your document is rarely the number you end up paying.
There are four: the state stage, the MEA, the UAE Embassy in New Delhi, and MOFA, which we now obtain from India. The embassy charge is set by the UAE and has been revised more than once in recent years; it is also charged per document, so two certificates cost twice as much at that stage, not a little more.
The largest variable is the document type. A degree needs HRD verification, which means a university has to be written to and sometimes charges its own fee. A birth certificate goes through the Home Department or SDM and skips that entirely, which is why personal documents cost less and finish sooner.
The rest is straightforward: how many documents, whether you want them back by international courier, and whether you need it urgently. Tell us the documents and the emirate they are going to and we will give you a full breakdown, including which part of it is the embassy’s charge rather than ours.
Guides by emirate
Process
The UAE attestation process, step by step
State verification
HRD for educational documents, Home Department or SDM for personal documents, Chamber of Commerce for commercial.
MEA attestation
Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi.
UAE Embassy attestation
The UAE Embassy in New Delhi applies its stamp and fee.
MOFA attestation
The UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs completes the legalisation, obtained from India.
Documents
Documents commonly attested for United Arab Emirates
| Document | Usually needed for |
|---|---|
| Degree & diploma certificates | Employment visas, free zone licences, professional registration |
| Mark sheets & transcripts | University admission, engineering and medical council registration |
| Birth certificates | Family and dependant visas, school admission |
| Marriage certificates | Spouse visa, family sponsorship, joint bank accounts |
| Police clearance certificates | Employment visa, certain licensing categories |
| Commercial documents | Trade licence, branch registration, tenders |
Clients outside India
Apostille & Attestation from Abroad, Simply Send by Courier or Scanned Copies
Most of our clients live outside India. There is no need to travel: send your Indian documents to our New Delhi office and we handle every stamp.
Message us first
Tell us the document and destination country. We confirm exactly what to send before you courier anything.
Courier your originals
Send them to our New Delhi office by DHL, FedEx or any courier you prefer.
We handle every stamp
State verification, MEA apostille or attestation, and embassy legalisation, with an update at each stage.
Returned to you
Your completed documents are couriered back to your address anywhere in the world.
Courier charges for sending documents to us and for returning them are paid by the client.
Guides
Read the guide
MEA Apostille vs MEA Attestation: Which Do You Need?
Two different routes, and picking the wrong one costs you weeks. Here is how to tell which one your destination actually wants.
Read the guideHow to Courier Your Documents to India for Attestation
Your originals are valuable and often hard to replace. A few simple precautions keep them safe on the way to New Delhi and back.
Read the guideHow to Apostille Indian Documents While Living Abroad
You do not need to fly to India. Here is how the process works when your documents travel by courier instead of you.
Read the guide
Questions
Frequently asked questions
The UAE is not a Hague Convention member, so an apostille does not finish the job on its own. It is accepted as the Indian authentication — commercial documents take one as standard — but UAE Embassy attestation and MOFA still follow. We obtain the MOFA stamp from India.
Typically 12 to 20 working days end to end. Personal documents are at the faster end; educational documents needing HRD verification take longer, and the exact figure depends on which state issued the certificate.
It can, but it is slower and more expensive, and your employer usually needs the completed document before the residence visa is processed. We coordinate MOFA through our channels in the UAE so it is finished before you travel.
In almost all cases, yes. UAE employers and the labour authorities require an attested degree to issue an employment visa, and free zones and professional councils have their own requirements on top.
Not sure where to start?
Send us the document and the destination country. We will reply within one working hour with the exact process, timeline and cost.