# Attestation of documents



## hanee79

*Attestation of Documents*

Just wanted to post on steps for attesting documents as I've recently had to go through the process and found lots of different advice out there.
For a visa you need to do the following:

1 - Get your documents attested by a notary/solicitor. I have accepted a job at a school and only needed my documents attested by a solicitor. They need to be practising, as their name needs to beon the law society register when they FCO check their signature. I got this done for free by a friend, but you can search online and firms will do it for a fee. You need their name in print, their firm name and their signature, confirming that the document is a true copy of the original.

2 - You then need to get the documents attested by the FCO legislation service. Please note, this service is no longer available in London for personal customers, you will need to send your documents to Milton Keynes (or drop off and collect if you are able). Details are as follows:

Legalisation Office
Norfolk House West
437 Silbury Boulevard
Milton Keynes
MK9 2AH
Tel: 03700002244

They charge £30 per document and you can pay online and print off the application forms to send with your document/s. I'm afraid I can't post the link as this is my first posting, by search for the FCO legalisation office and you will find the step by step guide of what you need to do to apply. You can opt to have the documents sent straight to the UAE embassy for certification by including a prepaid envelope.

3 - You need to send the documents to the UAE embassy (if you haven't had them forwarded by the FCO already).

Legalisation Department
48 Prince's Gate
London
SW7 2QA
Monday – Friday: 09:30 to 12:30
14:00 to 15:00 (Document Collection)
It costs £20 per document, or add £10 to that if you want to get the documents back on the same day.

And then, you are ready to go. It seems like a minefield, but is pretty straightforward. If you have time, great, if not, you can speed thing up by paying extra.

Hope this helps.


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## gracie_23

That's a great feed-thanks! 

I am currently in the process of doing this as I am moving over in 4 weeks, however I do not have a job to go over to and will be looking when I arrive so I'm just trying to make sure I have things done before I'm there to make the whole process easier.

The one confusing thing I've come across so far is that when I went to the notary she told me there were 2 'levels' of attestation so I had my highest and most recent degree done to this higher level and my other degree done to the lower level...is this making any sense...?

So now I send them both to the foreign office in Milton Keynes..?

Thanks for any help with this!




hanee79 said:


> Just wanted to post on steps for attesting documents as
> I've recently had to go through the process and found lots of different advice out there.
> For a visa you need to do the following:
> 
> 1 - Get your documents attested by a notary/solicitor. I have accepted a job at a school and only needed my documents attested by a solicitor. They need to be practising, as their name needs to beon the law society register when they FCO check their signature. I got this done for free by a friend, but you can search online and firms will do it for a fee. You need their name in print, their firm name and their signature, confirming that the document is a true copy of the original.
> 
> 2 - You then need to get the documents attested by the FCO legislation service. Please note, this service is no longer available in London for personal customers, you will need to send your documents to Milton Keynes (or drop off and collect if you are able). Details are as follows:
> 
> Legalisation Office
> Norfolk House West
> 437 Silbury Boulevard
> Milton Keynes
> MK9 2AH
> Tel: 03700002244
> 
> They charge £30 per document and you can pay online and print off the application forms to send with your document/s. I'm afraid I can't post the link as this is my first posting, by search for the FCO legalisation office and you will find the step by step guide of what you need to do to apply. You can opt to have the documents sent straight to the UAE embassy for certification by including a prepaid envelope.
> 
> 3 - You need to send the documents to the UAE embassy (if you haven't had them forwarded by the FCO already).
> 
> Legalisation Department
> 48 Prince's Gate
> London
> SW7 2QA
> Monday – Friday: 09:30 to 12:30
> 14:00 to 15:00 (Document Collection)
> It costs £20 per document, or add £10 to that if you want to get the documents back on the same day.
> 
> And then, you are ready to go. It seems like a minefield, but is pretty straightforward. If you have time, great, if not, you can speed thing up by paying extra.
> 
> Hope this helps.


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## dubaibound3

I am awaiting my school grade certificates to be re printed so i can get them attested,can someone advise me if i need to get my birth certificate and marriage certificate attested aswell
thanks


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## ky1976

slimtrader said:


> I am awaiting my school grade certificates to be re printed so i can get them attested,can someone advise me if i need to get my birth certificate and marriage certificate attested aswell
> thanks


Hi Slimtrader.. marriage certificate must be attested for processing residence visa of your wife and children. not sure about birth cert.. I don't see a reason for that.. I did only my highest education and marriage cert.


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## dubaibound3

ok thanks i dont want to pay out for stuff i dont need


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## katiepotato

Marriage cert yes (for reason KY1976 has given) but no need to get your birth cert attested


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## dubaibound3

Does anyone know any cheap notaries in the kent area that i can get these signed as i want to get the turnaround done asap
thanks


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## dubaibound3

can anyone tell me what level of attestation the notary needs to do for my secondary school certificates as i just recieved the following from a local notary

I'm afraid that it's a bit of a performance, however simple it may appear, and quite expensive 

If I am to certify a school certificate or degree certificate I have to check with the issuing authority that they it has been validly issued and that can take a little time. I then provide a notarial certificate not merely that it is a copy but also that I have verified it with the issuing institution.

So far as birth and marriage certificates are concerned these are covered by Crown Copyright, believe it or not, and I am not permitted to make a photocopy of them. What I usually do is obtain a formal copy from this website https://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates/default.asp and then provide a separate notarial certificate. The last time I did it the charge was £7

For Dubai, as you have probably discovered, the formalities are somewhat convoluted and after my notarisation, each document has to go to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office for an Apostille to be affixed. In basic terms an Apostille is a certificate under a Hague Convention from the British Government in the person of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office that the notary who has attested the document is a notary and is registered with them. Documents for Dubai must then go to the Dubai Consulate for legalisation. Please check if you were not already aware. 

Because the FCO are sometimes slow I always instruct a London agent to deal with these procedures. The FCO charges £30 per document as its fee - £73 if you want a same day service, the agent charges £25 per document with a maximum of £75, the Dubai Consulate charges £20 per document and won't permit the documents to be bundled, which would save fees, and I charge an additional £25 in total for dealing with the administration.

In terms of time, having just looked at the GRO website, they will take 15 working days to process a request for a copy certificate. Verification of the school certificates could be obtained within that period. I would take a day to deal with the certificates and they would be sent off to my agent the next day. The Apostille would be obtained the following day and according to their website the Dubai Consulate take 4 working days

Sorry to go on so long but, as I said at the beginning, it's quite a performance. I would be happy to help. My charges are based on time which I charge out at £210 per hour. I don't charge VAT. Based on my experience of dealing with these matters you should budget for £180, assuming that all the school certificates are from the same examining board, with the other fees, as set out above, in addition


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## mgb

slimtrader said:


> can anyone tell me what level of attestation the notary needs to do for my secondary school certificates as i just recieved the following from a local notary
> 
> I'm afraid that it's a bit of a performance, however simple it may appear, and quite expensive
> 
> If I am to certify a school certificate or degree certificate I have to check with the issuing authority that they it has been validly issued and that can take a little time. I then provide a notarial certificate not merely that it is a copy but also that I have verified it with the issuing institution.
> 
> So far as birth and marriage certificates are concerned these are covered by Crown Copyright, believe it or not, and I am not permitted to make a photocopy of them. What I usually do is obtain a formal copy from this website https://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates/default.asp and then provide a separate notarial certificate. The last time I did it the charge was £7
> 
> For Dubai, as you have probably discovered, the formalities are somewhat convoluted and after my notarisation, each document has to go to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office for an Apostille to be affixed. In basic terms an Apostille is a certificate under a Hague Convention from the British Government in the person of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office that the notary who has attested the document is a notary and is registered with them. Documents for Dubai must then go to the Dubai Consulate for legalisation. Please check if you were not already aware.
> 
> Because the FCO are sometimes slow I always instruct a London agent to deal with these procedures. The FCO charges £30 per document as its fee - £73 if you want a same day service, the agent charges £25 per document with a maximum of £75, the Dubai Consulate charges £20 per document and won't permit the documents to be bundled, which would save fees, and I charge an additional £25 in total for dealing with the administration.
> 
> In terms of time, having just looked at the GRO website, they will take 15 working days to process a request for a copy certificate. Verification of the school certificates could be obtained within that period. I would take a day to deal with the certificates and they would be sent off to my agent the next day. The Apostille would be obtained the following day and according to their website the Dubai Consulate take 4 working days
> 
> Sorry to go on so long but, as I said at the beginning, it's quite a performance. I would be happy to help. My charges are based on time which I charge out at £210 per hour. I don't charge VAT. Based on my experience of dealing with these matters you should budget for £180, assuming that all the school certificates are from the same examining board, with the other fees, as set out above, in addition


You do NOT need your birth and marriage certificates notarised - send them direct to the FCO for attestation and once you get them back send them off to the UAE embassy (with the appropriate forms and payment of course). Didn't take very long. They are not stamped on the front, but they have a sticky form on the back with both the FCO and UAE stamp on them.


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## sarahlou84

*paying by cheque*

I need to post my documents to the Embassy. Does anyone know if it's ok to pay by cheque and who to make the cheque out to? Also, if I pay the extra £10 per document will they post them back the same day (or does that only apply for collection?)

Thanks!


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## bodget

couple of questions:-
can you use either a notary or solicitor.is there any time that you need to use one over the other
does the notary/solicitor sign/attest the original and copies of the original?do you send originals to the f.o. as well as copies or just originals?


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## cannygood

I will just add to this, as i came out in January 2012 so have a good understanding of whats required. 

I took my original copy of my degree to the local solicitor in my home town. They are registered as a Notary Public. They took a copy, stamped and signed the copy and charged only 1 pound.
I then sent it to the FCO as described above and then to the UAE embassy in London. The whole process only took about a week.

If bringing a child, the birth certificate must be the 'Full' version. Not the short version i was actually given when I registered the birth. I only found this out a couple of weeks before leaving and had to pay extra for a same day copy.
Also, if your wife intends to drive out here, make sure the UK License name matches the Passport name. It makes the process a lot easier.


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