United Arab Emirates Document Legalization

The full legalization chain, in order

1. Get the correct base document (certified vital-records copy, or notarize the document)
2. State authority certification — ask for an authentication for a non-Hague country, not an apostille (state documents only)
3. U.S. Department of State, Office of Authentications — $20 per document
4. Embassy of the United Arab Emirates, Washington D.C. — consular legalization
5. UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) attestation after arrival in the UAE

Embassy details & fees

Embassy of the United Arab Emirates — 3522 International Court NW, Washington, DC 20008. Confirm the current consular fee directly with the embassy. Confirm current consular legalization fees directly with the embassy — the UAE changes them without much notice. Embassy website →

Timeline & cost, worked out

For a state document: the state fee (roughly $10 in many states) + $20 federal authentication + the embassy's consular fee. Budget several weeks — federal authentication alone runs about 5+ weeks by mail.

Which documents does United Arab Emirates usually ask for

• Diploma / degree certificate (state example: California)
• Marriage certificate (state example: California)
• Single status affidavit (state example: California)
• FBI background check (Identity History Summary) (federal)
• Corporate documents (state example: California)

State documents vs federal documents

The routing never depends on United Arab Emirates — it depends on who issued your document. A birth certificate, diploma, or notarized paper is a state document, apostilled or certified by the issuing state. An FBI background check, IRS letter, or naturalization certificate is federal and goes only to the U.S. Department of State — Office of Authentications.