UK documents that need to be presented in the UAE, must be attested at the embassy in London. Before they can be attested they must also be issued with the UK apostille from the FCDO Legalisation Office.

For many years the UAE attestation process has not changed. The embassy added ink stamps and stickers to a document that had the UK apostille attached. The document was then attested for use in the UAE.

At the end of February 2025, the embassy updated their website to advise that they will now be issuing a digital attestation service. They will no longer be adding the stamps and stickers.

The new attestation will be a PDF document with a digital attestation.

In addition to the change of how documents are attested, the UAE Embassy has doubled its fees. No notice was given of the change to how documents are attested or the increase if prices.

Documents must still be issued with the UK paper apostille. An online application to the embassy must be made in advance of submitting the document to the embassy. When the embassy receive the documents, they will scan these and add a digital attestation.

The attested document will then be emailed as a PDF and the paper document with the paper apostille attached is then returned by courier.

This is a first for the attestation of documents in the UK. Issuing a digital attestation alongside a paper document with a paper apostille, is a new service and may cause some confusion to customers and organisations in the UAE.

• Document is sent to the embassy for attestation
• They check the apostille is on the document and make a scan
• The embassy add the attestation the scan of the document
• The paper document we submit is returned by courier
• The embassy will email us the digital attestation
• When the service is complete, we will send your paper document to you and email you the attested scan

Providing a digital attestation along with a paper based UK document with a paper apostille, my seem counter intuitive. Hopefully, it will mean your PDF email copy is all you need to demonstrate a document has been correctly attested.

At present, the embassy are still not accepting e-apostilles, so paper apostilles still need to be added to documents.

Whenever the UAE Embassy change the rules or prices, we will move quickly to keep customers informed and provide the latest advice.

We have adapted our processes to ensure we continue to provide a fast UAE attestation of documents. The new process may take some time to filter through to all organisations in the UAE.