NOTARIZATION & ATTESTATION OF FOREIGN DOCUMENTS REQUIRED FOR USE IN THE UAE

1. Overseas documents should be notarized and attested as follows:

(a) notarized by a Notary Public in the country of origin
(b) attested by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in country of the documents’ origin.
(c) certified by the UAE Embassy in the country of documents’ origin.
(d) Lastly by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the UAE.

The above attestations are enough for some authorities, where translations are not required.

If documents are to be used in courts, then they have to be translated into Arabic and attested by the Ministry of Justice as well.

Step One:
Dubai Courts Notary Public (DCNP) Go to Dubai Courts Notary Public with 2 original documents and all original supporting documents including passport/valid ID. At reception, take the token and meet Notary who will verify the document. Take a new token and meet second official who will re-verify your documents and compare your signature. You will be sent to the cash counter to pay AED 110 (100+10 for knowledge fee). Collect documents from second official and return to Notary who will store one original in the archives.

DCNP Branch Locations: Please note that attestations are no longer being done at Dubai Courts. Branches are open at Al Twar Centre in Al Qusais and Al Barsha from 7.30 am to 1 pm and from 4 pm to 8pm. There are also two branches in Dubai Economic Department [DED] & Dubai Municipality [DM], but they follow regular government office timings. Al Twar Centre Al Qusais, Tel: 04-2639000

Al Barsha/Bur Dubai Traffic Department Tel: 04-3111300

Step Two: Ministry of Justice
The Ministry of Justice is on the 5th floor of Al Serkal Building, Near Dnata/Airport Cargo Village, Dubai. Go personally or send representative. Pay AED 52/- per document at the reception and you will be redirected to one of the rooms for the stamp, which takes place in a few minutes.

Step Three: Ministry of Foreign Affairs
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is in Bur Dubai in the Bastakiya area, near the Omani and Jordanian consulates. Fees for various documents might differ, though the average fee is AED 150/- per document.