# UK couple with US marriage certificate for attestation



## bogglesuk (Sep 21, 2011)

Guys

Apologies if this has been dealt with before but would appreciate if anyone could answer.

We have been told by the people that deal with residency visas at my soon to be employer that as UK citizens, our US marriage certificate can be attested at the UAE embassy in the UK. I have my doubts however and emailed them and they indicated that it would need to be attested at the UAE embassy in US. 

Can anyone shed some light on what the correct answer is? I tried to call the embassy but no-one there can give you a straight answer. We are due to move to Dubai in mid-January.

Thanks.


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## katiepotato (Apr 29, 2008)

Hi Boggles

As far as I am aware documents can only be legalised by the country which issued them - so the UK Foreign and Commonwealth office cannot legalise paperwork issued in the US.

The bad news is that US attestation process is even more complicated than in the UK as documents have to be attested first in the state they were issued, then by the Department of State, then by the UAE embassy. The good news is that there are various agencies who can handle the full process and return your document to you fully stamped up - a bit more expensive than dealing with it yourself but well worth it for the convenience. I've used Roca Services before (www.rocadc.com); they were very reliable and kept me informed throughout. Im sure there are plenty of others who do the same thing, but Roca are the only ones I have experience of. 

Don't forget that once you get to Dubai, your marriage cert (and any other attested documents) also need to be stamped at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This is a relatively painless process and your new company's HR department should be able to handle it for you. AED150 per document. 

Good luck!


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## bogglesuk (Sep 21, 2011)

Katie - thanks for the answer. Really appreciate it. I'm pretty sure my new employer will cover all the costs so thanks for giving me the heads up re rocadc

Thanks again.

Craig.


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## PVD04 (Feb 17, 2010)

Contact ASAP Document Services in the US. You can send them a copy of your marriage certificate and they'll ship the attested document back to you. Very easy and not too expensive.


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## bogglesuk (Sep 21, 2011)

Thanks PDV - will try them too.

Cheers.


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## fcjb1970 (Apr 30, 2010)

bogglesuk said:


> Contact ASAP Document Services in the US. You can send them a copy of your marriage certificate and they'll ship the attested document back to you. Very easy and not too expensive.


Having gone through the process myself for my degree, I definitely agree that the best way is to get a service to do it. Would have saved me a lot of pain and been well worth the money.


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## xchaos777 (Dec 15, 2010)

Absolutely, use a service and be done with it!


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## bogglesuk (Sep 21, 2011)

Thanks everyone for your comments.

One further question - ASAP seem to be able to use a scanned copy whereas rocada.com have asked for the original.

Obviously I would rather not send the original if I have to, but do you not need an original to be able to attest that it is a true copy? Surely a scanned document can't be attested without the original present?

Perhaps I am being thick?

Cheers.

Craig.


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## katiepotato (Apr 29, 2008)

As far as I'm aware it needs to be the original. The back of our original marriage cert is now covered in stamps, as are my qualification certificates.


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## Pink Fairie (Sep 9, 2011)

Not sure if this info will help but when I had my certificates attested before coming to dubai I took my originals to a solicitor and asked them to notorise a copy which cost me approx £5 per certificate. I then sent the notorised copies to be attested. These copies have all the stickers on instead of my originals. Good luck


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## BedouGirl (Sep 15, 2011)

Pink Fairie said:


> Not sure if this info will help but when I had my certificates attested before coming to dubai I took my originals to a solicitor and asked them to notorise a copy which cost me approx £5 per certificate. I then sent the notorised copies to be attested. These copies have all the stickers on instead of my originals. Good luck


Me too.


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## PVD04 (Feb 17, 2010)

bogglesuk said:


> Thanks everyone for your comments.
> 
> One further question - ASAP seem to be able to use a scanned copy whereas rocada.com have asked for the original.
> 
> ...


Just send the scanned copy. I sent them a photocopy of mine and had no trouble getting my wife a visa.


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## Love2Travel (Mar 26, 2012)

BedouGirl said:


> Me too.


Hello,

Can I ask which company did you use to do this as I would prefer to not have stamps/stickers all over originals.
Thanks


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## Pink Fairie (Sep 9, 2011)

Love2Travel said:


> Hello,
> 
> Can I ask which company did you use to do this as I would prefer to not have stamps/stickers all over originals.
> Thanks


I didn't use a company I did it all myself as its much cheaper! Good luck


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## BedouGirl (Sep 15, 2011)

Love2Travel said:


> Hello,
> 
> Can I ask which company did you use to do this as I would prefer to not have stamps/stickers all over originals.
> Thanks


My first set was lost by an employer. The second set was done by Blair Consular http://blairconsular.com/en-gb/


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## XDoodlebugger (Jan 24, 2012)

bogglesuk said:


> Thanks everyone for your comments.
> 
> One further question - ASAP seem to be able to use a scanned copy whereas rocada.com have asked for the original.
> 
> ...


I just had my documents rushed through the US government and the UAE Washington Embassy by ASAP Document Services (the State was already done). They received the documents on May 16th, had them attested by the US and UAE offices and I received them today the 20th. I'm not sure if this is normal but I thought that was REALLY quick and well worth the $280 they charged me.


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