Marriage certificate attestation for the UAE: Price guide

Are you sponsoring your spouse for a UAE residence visa, updating your marital status records, or engaging in any other formal process that requires you to produce your UK marriage certificate?

You’ll need document legalisation services, as UAE authorities will not accept the certificate without the requisite embassy attestation.

This article explains why document legalisation is required and outlines the price of marriage certificate attestation for the UAE.

Marriage certificate attestation for the UAE is a multi-step process that involves both the UK and UAE governments.

The standard fees are as follows:

Also, if you hire an agency to facilitate the FCDO apostille and embassy attestation processes, you’ll need to factor in their service charges.

An embassy attestation is required for the UAE, as you must legalise your UK documents for international use before the UAE authorities can accept them.

In 1961, many countries, including the UK, adopted the Hague Apostille Convention to streamline document legalisation processes. The convention required member countries to:

For the over 125 countries that are parties to the convention, an apostille issued by the Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office (FCDO) is sufficient.

However, the UAE is not a party to the convention. As such, an additional step, consular legalisation, is required.

Therefore, you’ll need embassy attestation in addition to the FCDO-issued apostille for UAE authorities to accept your marriage certificate.

Because document legalisation for the UAE involves both the UK and UAE governments, you must account for fees for both processes.

Here’s a price breakdown:

The above fees apply when you manage the processes yourself. However, navigating both bureaucracies can be overwhelming and time-consuming.

It’s much more efficient to use an agency. For instance, getting an apostille certificate under the DIY route will take you over 3 weeks. When you use our services at

London Apostille Services Ltd., you can get the apostille in 1 working day with our Express Service or within 3 to 4 working days with our Standard Service.

Our all-inclusive pricing for marriage certificate attestation for the UAE is as follows:

The apostille fees include our fees and the FCDO fees. The attestation fee also includes our fees and the UAE fees.

The above fees are straightforward, but there are two additional factors you must consider to budget effectively for UAE attestation:

Because we’ll need the original marriage certificate or a GRO-certified copy to obtain an apostille, it’s best to use tracked mail. The FCDO does not accept photocopies for apostille processing for marriage certificates.

The apostille and embassy attestation processes are standardised and follow clear guidelines. Here’s the step-by-step process to get your marriage certificate attested for the UAE.

While the processes are standardised, navigating both the UK and UAE government bureaucracies can be challenging and time-intensive.

You’ll find it much more efficient to use an agency to facilitate both stages of the document legalisation process.

We are London Apostille Services Ltd., an FCDO-registered apostille agent that can help you legalise your marriage certificate and other documents for use in the UAE.

Here’s why working with us is better than doing it yourself:

Further, there are instances where a UAE authority may request a translated document. We have sworn translators who can help translate your documents into Arabic.

Contact us today, and our experts will handle the UAE attestation process from start to finish on your behalf.

How does using our experts compare to the DIY option in terms of cost?

We believe in transparent pricing. Here’s a cost comparison:

Our fees include government fees. Therefore, the apostille stage fee includes our fees and the £45 FCDO fee. Also, the embassy attestation stage fee includes our fees and the AED 300 UAE fee.

Here are answers to some common questions about attestation of marriage certificates for the UAE.