UAE: consular legalisation of a diploma for a work visa — five authorities instead of one apostille

An IT specialist received an offer from Dubai. The employer asked for an "attested degree certificate". The client was sure an apostille would do, as for Europe. But the UAE is not party to the Hague Convention, and apostilles do not work there. Consular legalisation is required — a chain of certifications in which each authority confirms the signature of the previous one.

The chain step by step

Step one — a notarised copy of the diploma and transcript, plus a translation if needed (often into English). Step two — certification of the notary's signature at the Ministry of Justice. Step three — legalisation at the consular department of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Step four — legalisation at the UAE embassy in Moscow. Step five — attestation at the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Emirates. For some professions there is also an equivalency check by the relevant ministry.

Where the chain breaks

At the junction between translation and the Ministry of Justice. If the translator is not registered with the notary or the signature is certified incorrectly, the Ministry returns the document. The second weak point is the embassy: it works by appointment, takes payment in a set way and can change rules without notice. The third is the final Arabic translation: in the UAE it is often done by a local legal translator for many purposes, and Russian translations into Arabic are not accepted.

Timing

Even well organised, the Russian part of the chain takes several weeks. The UAE embassy is a separate, unpredictable stage. That is why employers in the Emirates often start the visa process in parallel and accept the diploma later — check whether this is possible in your case.

The case

We prepared notarised copies and an English translation, took the documents through the Ministry of Justice and the Foreign Ministry, and the client submitted them to the embassy himself. In Dubai the employer handled attestation at the UAE Foreign Ministry, and a local translator translated the diploma into Arabic. The whole process took about six weeks.

Do not confuse legalisation with an apostille, and do not start with "an English translation by a friend": without proper certification, every next step will be a refusal.