How to attest documents with MOFA
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Ask a consultantThe Ministry of Foreign Affairs attests documents through its website and the UAE MOFA app, signing in with UAE Pass. A digital document issued in the UAE is attested within two hours during official working hours. A paper document goes through an approved courier and takes one to three business days. The service runs around the clock.
Which route you are on depends on the document, not on what you would prefer.
- Check whether your document is digital and carries a verification feature such as a QR code, reference number or barcode. If it does, and its type is supported, it takes the fast route.
- For a paper document, make sure it is in Arabic or English, or comes with a legally certified translation.
- Have it certified by the relevant competent authority first, where that applies. MOFA attests after those authorities, not instead of them.
- Sign in with UAE Pass on the MOFA website or app and submit it.
- Collect the digital attestation, or track the courier for a paper one.
Worth knowing. Do not laminate the document. MOFA states plainly that a laminated document is not accepted, and lamination cannot be undone without damaging the paper.
What this does not mean
MOFA attestation is one link in a chain, not the whole of it. A document issued abroad normally needs attestation in its own country and by the UAE mission there before MOFA will attest it here. We are not quoting a fee on this page: the ministry’s service card refers to an attestation guide rather than publishing amounts in a form we could read, and we do not print figures we cannot source.
The full sequence is in our guide to MOFA attestation, and certificates specifically in our guide to certificate attestation in Dubai. To confirm an attestation you already hold, see how to check if an attestation is genuine.
Sources: Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Attestation of Official Documents and Certificates (two hour digital attestation, one to three business days by courier, UAE Pass, document conditions including lamination).
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