Schmidt & Schmidt offers the legalization of documents from the United Arab Emirates.

The United Arab Emirates has not joined Hague Convention on the Simplified Authentication of Documents. This means that documents from the United Arab Emirates cannot be legalized by apostille, they will only be recognized abroad after they undergo consular legalization.

Consular legalization is the process of authenticating or certifying a legal document so a foreign country's legal system will recognize it as with full legal effect that is carried out by the diplomatic or consular mission of the country in which the document is to be used.

Consular legalization is more complex, time-consuming and costly than the simpler apostille procedure. Consular legalization requires several pre-certifications before a public document can be certified at the embassy or consulate of the destination country.

It is a common requirement that the document has to be translated into the official language of the destination country before submission to the embassy. It is up to the diplomatic mission to decide about the authentication procedure.

Consular legalization includes confirmation of a document by the authorized bodies of the Ministry of Justice, divisions of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and then by the consulate (or consular section of the embassy) of the destination country. It must be remembered that the document will have legal force only in the territory of the country whose consulate stamp is on it.

Not only documents issued in the UAE are subject to consular legalization for their use in other countries, but also documents from other countries for their use in UAE.

The following documents can be legalized:

• Extracts from the commercial register
• Criminal Record Clearance
• Certificates of civil status (certificates of birth, death, marriage and divorce)
• Education documents (school reports, certificates, diplomas)
• Judicial decisions
• Notarized copies of documents
• Notarized translations
• Further notarial documents (authorizations, last will, declarations)

Consular legalization of foreign documents for use in the United Arab Emirates

Foreign documents must be legalized before they can be used in the United Arab Emirates. The representations and embassies of the UAE all over the world are in charge of this process.

Since the UAE is not a party to the Hague Convention on the Simplified Legalization of Documents, documents issued in other countries and intended for use in the UAE are also subject to consular legalization, which usually includes the following actions:

• The document must be translated into Arabic by an authorized translator;
• Have the translation certified by a notary;
• Certify the document in the Ministry of Justice;
• Certify the document at the Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs;
• Legalize a document at the consular department in the Embassy of destination county.

Only after going through all the above stages and putting marks on the document from all the listed authorities, the document is completely ready for submission to the official authorities in the UAE.

It should be noted that the UAE authorities impose a number of additional requirements for foreign documents used on their territory. Particularly in the field of education, they may insist on providing them with a Diploma Supplement or data on the accreditation of the university. Before legalizing a document, check all these requirements with the UAE institutions or organizations to which your document will be submitted.

Consular legalization of documents from the United Arab Emirates for use abroad

The exact legalization process of documents from the United Arab Emirates depends on the country you wish to use them in. To legalize a document issued by authorities and other authorized structures of the UAE, or executed in the UAE by a notary, and intended for use in the UAE, it is necessary:

• Check whether the document has the seal of the relevant authority and the signature of an authorized official (for birth certificates - the department or the Ministry of Health; for a marriage certificate - the court or the Ministry of Justice; for a court decision - the Judicial Department or the Ministry of Justice; for a business license - the Department of Economic Development, etc.);
• Certify the document in the authorized service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the UAE;
• Legalize a document at the the consulate of a destination country in the UAE;
• Translate the document into the language of the destination country.

Only after passing these procedures will the legalization of the document be completed, and this document can be used in the country for which it was legalized.