# Authenticating qualifications?



## Dubaibound (Jul 5, 2011)

Hello all,

I could really do with some on advice on who to see and what I have to do to get my qualification certificate authenticted. 

Can anyone advise me on this?

Thanks in advance

james


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## Baker54 (Jul 5, 2011)

*Verification of certificates*



Dubaibound- said:


> Hello all,
> 
> I could really do with some on advice on who to see and what I have to do to get my qualification certificate authenticted.
> 
> ...


Hi James,
You will need to first have your qualifications verified/attestedlane:lane: by a solicitor and then depending on how many certificates,you will need to send it to the Legalisation Office in Milton Keynes.
The next step would be: once the our local foreign office has verified your certificates, send the cetificates to the U.A.E legalising department at its embassy in London.
This might help

LegalisationGeneral Information 

All documents (including academic qualifications) presented to the UAE Embassy’s Consulate Section for Legalization must first be certified by the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) or other relevant local authority (such as the Governors’ Offices of Jersey, Guernsey & Isle of Man, the Irish Ministry for Foreign Affairs or the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Iceland. 

Documents from British Overseas Territories will require attestation by the Government of the territory in question prior to submission to the FCO for certification. 

Please note that the Embassy is not able to legalize foreign documents and that all submitted documents have to be attested or apostilled separately. 

The FCO will accept for certification original documents which have been signed by:

• the Registrar of Companies
• the Registrar of Birth, Marriages & Deaths
Other UK documents submitted to the FCO will first need to be authenticated by a solicitor or notarized by a Notary Public. 

Documents from the UAE will need to be endorsed by the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs before legalization by the UAE Embassy in London. 

Power of Attorney and similar legally binding documents have to be authenticated by a solicitor who’s signature is accepted by the FCO. 

Documents for certification by the FCO should be sent to:


Address
General Contact Information

The Legalisation Office 

Norfolk House
437 Silbury Boulevard
Milton Keynes
MK9 2AH

Tel: 03700002244
Fax: 01908 29512
E-Mail: [email protected]

lane:


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## Baker54 (Jul 5, 2011)

Dubaibound- said:


> Hello all,
> 
> I could really do with some on advice on who to see and what I have to do to get my qualification certificate authenticted.
> 
> ...


SORRY JAMES ,FORGOT TO PASTE THE U.A.E. EMBASSY CONTACT DETAILS

Address
General Contact Information

Legalisation Department
48 Prince's Gate
London
SW7 2 QA 
Tel: + 44 (0) 20 7808 8306 / 8088351
Fax: + 44 (0) 20 7584 0989
E-Mail: [email protected] 



Hours of Operation



Embassy:
Monday – Friday: 09:00 to 16:00 
Consular Services: Visas, Passports & Legalisation

Monday – Friday: 09:30 to 12:30
14:00 to 15:00 (Document Collection)


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## Tropic (Mar 15, 2011)

Baker54 said:


> Hi James,
> You will need to first have your qualifications verified/attestedlane:lane: by a solicitor and then depending on how many certificates,you will need to send it to the Legalisation Office in Milton Keynes.
> The next step would be: once the our local foreign office has verified your certificates, send the cetificates to the U.A.E legalising department at its embassy in London.
> This might help
> ...


I thought once you have had them certified by nortary/solicitor then you send them off to Milton Keynes and they legalise the documents. I was under the impression you can then present these documents in Dubai. So are you saying once they have been legalised by FCO in Milton Keynes I need to send them to London??


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## Tropic (Mar 15, 2011)

There's a good explanation by hanee79 called attestation of documents. Must read


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## Baker54 (Jul 5, 2011)

*Baker 54*



Tropic said:


> I thought once you have had them certified by nortary/solicitor then you send them off to Milton Keynes and they legalise the documents. I was under the impression you can then present these documents in Dubai. So are you saying once they have been legalised by FCO in Milton Keynes I need to send them to London??


Well James,
This is the procedure i was advised by the U.A.E embassy to go through.I know it
is very absurd .


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## neilrock (May 7, 2011)

Having recently had to do this (3 weeks ago)...

1. Solicitor certifies a copy of the document.

2. Copy gets sent to Milton Keynes FCO to be apostled.

3. Copy with FCO stamp gets taken to UAE embassy/consulate.

Hope this helps.

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## Dubaibound (Jul 5, 2011)

> neilrock Having recently had to do this (3 weeks ago)...
> 
> 1. Solicitor certifies a copy of the document.
> 
> ...


Thank you for all the replies it is now underway. the above procedure is correct aprt from it has to notirized ( is tghis a word?) not certified. extra £40 hehe


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## neilrock (May 7, 2011)

That's the trap I fell into....

It doesn't HAVE to be notarised unless the FCO website says it needs to be...

N

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## neilrock (May 7, 2011)

The FCO and UAE embassy are not actually doing anything except stating that the stamp of the FCO or, signature of the notary/solicitor are genuine.

It is a horrible waste of time and money giving the bureaucrats an excuse to be paid for a job that is actually a non-job.

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## hanee79 (Apr 13, 2011)

Yep it is a pain, though an unavoidable one. Have posted some tips on this but think most has been covered here. Hardest part is starting but once you have the documents signed everything is is pretty straightforward (albeit expensive). Good luck!


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## neilrock (May 7, 2011)

Hanee... At least it's a fairly straightforward baptism of fire to the Middle Eastern "administrative overheads"....

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## MZB (Jun 12, 2011)

Once the certificates are attested and sent for visa application will the UAE visa issuing office do any other checks?

Or do they just check the type of qualification is suitable for the role?

I am in finance and have sent my ACCA cert off - just wanted to know if I should be aware of any issues


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## neilrock (May 7, 2011)

As I've already said, the UAE embassy do nothing except confirm that the stamp is, the stamp....

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## katiepotato (Apr 29, 2008)

Don't forget that once all the UK bits have been done, you also need to have your certificate stamped by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Dubai (office near the creek) before you can use it for visa purposes. This is a pretty quick process - you can either go yourself, or ask your company PRO to go for you - and costs AED150. 

It is frustrating, but for me falls into the category of having to accept the things I cannot change!


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