Immediate Changes at the UAE Consulate
Education Documents Changes
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) Consulate have changed their requirements for legalisation of educational certificates with immediate effect.
We have been told by a Consular Officer at the Consulate, that the Notary or solicitor is now required to certify educational certificates directly on the reverse page of the document itself or a certified copy of it and the Apostille is required to be attached to the reverse page of the original document or a certified copy of it before the Consulate will legalise it. This means that notarial cover sheets are no longer acceptable.
This is similar to the Brazilian Consulate’s previous requirements prior to Brazil joining the Hague Convention on Apostilles* . It represents a move away from the UAE Consulate’s previous status which allowed documents pertaining to the same award (for example, transcripts) to be copies, certified as true copies and bundled together.
This is seen as another step that the Gulf State is taking to combat fake educational certificates being used to secure employment.
Most Notaries will have a dedicated stamp setting out their details with words to the effect that ‘purports to be a genuine certificate’. There is no need to state that the Notary has directly verified the award with the awarding institution.
The UAE Consulate will no longer accept educational certificates attached to a notarial certificate with an Apostille attached to the notarial certificate.
The Consulate in London, will only accept educational certificates from the United Kingdom, Iceland and the Republic of Ireland. It is commonly known but worth restating that an Apostille must first be obtained from either by the Foreign & Commonwealth Office, the Icelandic Ministry of Foreign Affairs or the Irish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Since August 2016, the consular legalisation fee remains £37.50 per document for personal documents such as Degree Certificates.
For commercial documents the fee is £500 per document.
Another change in payment method came about in August 2016. Payments can be made in cash up to £1,000 otherwise a Bankers Draft or Postal Order must be used made payable to the ‘UAE Embassy’. It is advised to write your name, address, phone number and email on the back of such instruments so that you can trace your payment!
The UAE Consulate information page, can be found here.
The UAE Consulate can also be reached on 020 7008 5959 or visited in person at 48 Princes Gate
London SW7 1PT. Nearest Station is South Kensington or bus routes 9 and 10
* Brazilian footnote
We are informed that for Brazilian nationals, it is imperitive to use the original certificate or transcript and to certify on the reverse that the award has been authenticated directly with the Awarding institution by the Notary. For non-Brazilian nationals a certified copy is fine with no further authentication. However, the advice to non-Brazilians is to follow the procedure for Brazilian citizens due to the Federative structure of Brazil with many States having differing requirements.
Please do not hesitate to contact us should you have any queries and we will be happy to assist.
Edward Young Limited Notary Public London
www.notarypublicinlondon.com
notary@notarypublicinlondon.com
+44 (0) 20 7499 2605
