Certificate Attestation refers to legalizing the certificates/documents which are a proof of your qualifications. Attestation is required for educational as well as non educational documents.
Need for Attestation
When relocating to a foreign country, this is compulsory to convince the officials of that country that your documents are genuine and valid. The overseas Government requires proof that the certificates you present are not fake and attestation is seen as the verification of your documents.
Legal Formalities
Certificate Attestation while migrating should be done by the respective embassy /consulate .For example , if you want to move over to UAE from India ,you need to get your documents attested by the Ministry of External Affairs and respective State Home Departments and then submitted to the to UAE embassy or consulate in Delhi.
The UAE Federal Labour Law requires that any person who is newly appointed to work in UAE should get all their certificates duly attested by the UAE embassy of the country the employee belongs to.
The Attestation procedure differs with respect to each document. Documents can be educational (SSLC, Pre degree, Degree and other higher qualifications) and Non Educational (marriage, birth, death, divorce, medical, experience, nativity, training, passport copy, power of attorney etc) You will have to check with your UAE embassy to know if the documents have to be verified by any other agency in your own country??s Government before submitting it in the Embassy.
Normally the attestation is done first at the State level (Home Department of States), then the Central level (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) and finally the Respective Embassy.
Let??s have a look at the attestation formalities of some of the main documents required:
Note:
In all cases, the applicant must be personally present at the Embassy /Consulate with the necessary documents.For minors, either of the parents should be present.
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Birth Certificate
The applicant should appear at the Consulate with
- His /Her valid passport in original and a photocopy or one of the parents?? in case of a minor.
- Original birth certificate and a photocopy attested by the following:
In case of the birth certificate issued from India
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- Notary public of the district where the child was born.
- Home Department of the state/union territory where the child was born.
In case the birth certificate was issued by authorities in the UAE, the documents are to be attested by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dubai / Sharjah. In case of birth certificate issued from any other countries, the certificate is to be attested by the Indian High Commission / Indian Embassy / Indian Consulate in that country.
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Educational/ Transfer certificate
The applicant should appear at the Consulate with
- His /Her valid passport in original and a photocopy or one of the parents?? in case of a minor.
Certificates originating from India issued by Universities and other Institutions of higher studies have to be attested by:
- Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Higher Education of the same State.
- Consular Section, Ministry of External Affairs,Patiala House,New Delhi
- UAE Consulate in Mumbai or UAE Embassy inNew Delhi.
School certificate up to class XII (higher secondary level) issued by the educational institutions in India, in original and a photocopy, have to be attested by :
- District education authorities of the concerned state / union territory (District Education Officer).
- Education / Transfer Certificates from UAE need to be attested by UAE Ministry of Education and Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
For further information regarding the attestation of other documents, please visit the below link:
http://www.indembassyuae.org/conslr_attest.phtml
Approximate Fee structure for attestation
Birth Certificate ??AED 60
Education/Transfer Certificate ??AED 60
Court affidavit, surety bond, indemnity bond-AED 60
Marriage Certificate -AED 60
Driving License ??AED 60
Medical Certificate ??AED 60
Divorce Decree ??AED 60
Life Certificate ??AED 60
Death Certificate ??AED 60
Salary/experience certificate-AED 60
Power of Attorney for personal needs/assets-AED 100
Power of Attorney for Company Purpose ??AED 210
As most of the certificates have to be attested in your home country, its best to complete the attestation procedures there itself. Else you may be compelled to send the documents back and depend on your friends / relatives to complete the formalities at your native place.
Steps to get the document attested in Dubai
If by any chance, you find that you will have to attest your certificates in Dubai itself, there are three stages of attestation.
You will have to get the documents attested by:-
- Dubai Courts Notary Public.
- The Ministry of Justice
- The Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
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Dubai Courts Notary Public
There are DCNP branches at Al Towar Centre in Al Qusais and Al Barsha from 7.30 am to 1 pm and from 4 pm to 8pm to get your documents verified.
Al Towar Centre
Al Qusais : Tel: 04-2639000 Al Barsha/Bur Dubai Traffic Department: Tel: 04-3111300
You will have to take a token to visit the Notary who will verify the documents Then you will be given a second token and have your documents re verified by a second official ,who will also cross check your signature. There is a fee of around 110 AED for the verification. Its best to call the branches to know exactly which other supporting documents will have to be presented.
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Ministry of Justice
The Ministry of Justice is on the 5th floor of Al Serkal Building, Near Dnata/Airport Cargo Village,Dubai. You can also send a representative to obtain the stamp here. An enquiry at the reception will lead you to the room where you can get the stamp done. It may cost around AED 52 here.
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Ministry of Foreign Affairs
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is on the 7th floor, Union National Bank Building, opposite Etisalat in Deira. You will mostly be required to obtain two signatures (depending on your document) from two different officials here. This can be clarified by checking with the reception.Again there will be a fee of about AED 150.
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Concluding note :-
The process of attestation may vary according to the document,so its always advisable to check with the officials concerned beforehand .