If you are moving to the UAE for work, study or family reasons and your education certificates, birth certificate or marriage certificate were issued in Vietnam, you will almost certainly need them attested before UAE employers or government departments accept them. Attestation is a chain of stamps that proves a document is genuine, and each link in the chain must be completed in the right order. This guide walks through the process step by step so you can plan your timeline realistically.
Why Attestation Is Required
UAE employers use attested degree certificates to verify qualifications for work permits, professional licensing bodies check them for regulated jobs, and government departments require attested birth and marriage certificates for family visas, school admissions and official registrations. A document that skips a step in the chain is normally rejected, which is why understanding the sequence matters more than speed.
The Attestation Chain, Step by Step
- Notarisation and authentication in Vietnam: The document is first authenticated by the competent Vietnamese authorities, typically involving notarisation and then authentication by Vietnam’s foreign affairs authorities. Certified translations may be needed if the document is not in a language accepted later in the chain.
- UAE embassy or consulate attestation in Vietnam: Next, the UAE’s diplomatic mission in Vietnam attests the document. Confirm the current procedure, fees and appointment requirements on the mission’s official website, as processes change.
- MOFA attestation in the UAE: Once you are in the UAE, the final step is attestation by the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), which can be arranged through its official website, app or service centres.
- Legal translation if required: Documents not in Arabic or English may need legal translation by a UAE-licensed translator for certain uses.
Documents Commonly Attested
- University degrees and diplomas
- School and training certificates
- Birth certificates
- Marriage certificates
- Police clearance certificates
- Commercial documents and powers of attorney
Using an Agent Versus Doing It Yourself
Many people use a document attestation agency because the Vietnam-side steps are hard to manage from Dubai. A reputable agency will quote a total price and timeframe, collect your originals securely and return them with a tracking record. Fees vary widely by document type and speed; as a guide, expect the full chain to take one to several weeks and to cost a few hundred dirhams per document through an agent, though you should always get a written quote first. If you use an agent, choose one with a verifiable UAE trade licence, avoid anyone who asks for your passport unnecessarily, and keep copies of everything you hand over.
Start early. Attestation delays are one of the most common reasons a start date or family visa application slips, and original documents tied up in the process cannot be used elsewhere in the meantime. Check the current requirements on the UAE MOFA website and the official Vietnamese and UAE mission websites before you begin, because fees and procedures are updated periodically.
Common Mistakes That Cause Rejection
Most attestation problems come from small oversights. Names spelled differently across a passport and a certificate cause trouble, so check that every document matches and raise discrepancies early. Laminated certificates are sometimes refused because stamps cannot be applied properly, and documents issued long ago may first need a fresh certified copy from the issuing body. Another frequent error is starting the UAE-side steps before the Vietnam-side authentication is complete, which wastes fees because the chain must run in order. Keep the original document, the attested version and certified copies together in one folder, and scan everything as you go. If an employer or university in the UAE has its own additional requirements, such as an equivalency assessment for degrees, ask about them at the start so attestation and equivalency can run in parallel rather than one after the other.
If your attested degree will be used for a government or regulated-sector job, ask the employer whether a UAE equivalency certificate is also needed, because that is a separate process with its own timeline. Planning both together, rather than discovering the second requirement after the first finishes, can save you several weeks at exactly the moment a new job is waiting on your paperwork.
FAQ
How long does attestation take?
As a guide, the full chain usually takes one to several weeks depending on document type, whether you use an agent, and how busy each authority is.
Can I attest documents after arriving in the UAE?
The final MOFA step happens in the UAE, but the Vietnam-side authentication and UAE mission attestation in Vietnam must be done first, often through an agent or family member.
Do my documents need translating?
Documents in Vietnamese may need certified or legal translation for some steps and some UAE uses; confirm requirements with MOFA and the receiving employer or department.
For more step-by-step paperwork guides, visit DXB Talk and browse the How-To archive.
