NOTARY & ATTESTATION SERVICES

Corporate & Commercial Document Attestation in the UAE

A company’s papers pass through the same UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) chain as a diploma or a birth certificate, but not on the same terms. MOFA files them in a commercial category with its own fee, routes invoices and certificates of origin through a separate system, and the authority that receives them, whether the Ministry of Economy and Tourism, an emirate’s licensing authority or a free zone registrar, sets its own list of what the file must contain. This page follows those corporate-specific steps, source by source.

LAST REVIEWED 30 SEPTEMBER 2026

What MOFA Counts as a Commercial Document

MOFA’s published FAQ splits the papers it attests into personal status documents and commercial documents, and sends commercial invoices and certificates of origin to a separate electronic system. Its commercial list reads like a company’s minute book: contracts and agreements, commercial registrations, the appointment of a manager or director, minutes of board or partners’ meetings, board decisions, company name changes, trade licences, partnership or shareholder certificates, memorandums, company branch registrations, financial statements, trademark registrations, commercial powers of attorney, corporate tax certificates and company closure advice. It also names distribution agreements, corporate insurance certificates, bankruptcy documents, and the annexes and appendices to commercial documents. MOFA presents the list as inclusive, not exhaustive.

The category decides the price. MOFA’s FAQ gives the service fee as AED 2,000 for a commercial document against AED 150 for a personal status document, and notes that a commercial contract may be counted as several documents depending on its content, so fees for agreement-related papers can vary. On the service page, the amount shown before payment also reflects how many documents are included and which completion option applies.

Foreign Company Records: Getting the First Link Right

For a company paper issued abroad, MOFA’s route runs through the issuing country’s foreign ministry and the UAE mission there before MOFA itself. The corporate question is what goes into that route. A registry certificate is issued by the registrar; a board resolution is written by the company. According to MOFA’s service page, attestation certifies that the signatures and seals a document carries are authentic. What a registry certificate or board resolution must show is set by the UAE body that receives the file, so that content check belongs before the first stamp.

The Ministry of Economy and Tourism’s branch service is a clear example. For a branch, it wants an official certificate from the authority in the country of establishment stating the date of establishment, the entity’s name, legal form, owners, activity and capital. A registry printout is worth checking against that list before it enters the chain. Language is the other early check: MOFA accepts an original in Arabic or English, or one accompanied by a legally certified translation, while the DIFC and ADGM registrars described below set their own translation standards, so a registry extract in a third language is best translated with the final recipient in mind.

Opening a Branch: The Ministry of Economy and Tourism Steps

Unless it is licensed in a free zone, a foreign company may not carry on an activity in the UAE, or open an office or branch here, without a licence from the competent authority subject to the Ministry’s approval, and it must be entered in the Foreign Companies Register kept by the Ministry (Articles 336 and 337 of Federal Decree-Law No. 32 of 2021 on Commercial Companies). Article 337 leaves the list of registration documents to Ministry decisions.

The Ministry’s initial-approval service states that the required documents shall be duly attested. Alongside the home-country certificate described above, it asks for the resolution of the entity’s administrative body to open the branch or representative office, and any agency contract with a service agent. Its investor FAQ asks for the board resolution establishing the branch and appointing the manager, and a copy of the articles of incorporation and commercial registration attested by the UAE embassy and MOFA. The initial approval is valid for four months, during which the entity may not trade; the Ministry gives one working day as the average service time.

Once the competent authority issues the licence, the branch must apply to register with the Ministry within one month. The Ministry states that missing that window carries an administrative fine of AED 100,000, and lists a copy of the licence, the parent company’s commercial registration or official certificate, duly certified, and, except for representative offices, a letter appointing an auditing firm registered with the Ministry.

Onshore Memoranda: Authenticated by the Competent Authority

For a company formed onshore, the memorandum of association is not by default a notary’s document. Article 14(1) of the Commercial Companies Law, as substituted by Federal Decree-Law No. 20 of 2025, requires the memorandum and every amendment to be written in Arabic and authenticated by the competent authority, which Article 1 of the law defines as the local authority competent for company affairs in the relevant emirate, failing which the memorandum or amendment is void. Where a foreign-language text sits alongside the Arabic, the Arabic version is the one adopted in the State. Authentication takes place in person or by electronic signature, as the competent authority determines; authentication before a notary public is the exception, for cases the competent authority specifies by decision.

The attestation chain matters here for the supporting papers from abroad, such as the parent-company records the Ministry of Economy and Tourism asks for. LEXNOVA describes its own role here as coordinating and attesting those supporting foreign corporate documents, such as a foreign parent’s certificate of incorporation or a board resolution appointing a UAE manager; that is a description of LEXNOVA’s service, while authenticating the memorandum itself remains with the competent authority.

DIFC and ADGM: Registrar Checklists for Corporate Shareholders

The financial free zones publish their own document rules. DIFC’s handbook for private non-financial and retail companies, approved on 24 March 2026, asks for a certificate of incorporation or equivalent official document for each body corporate stakeholder not registered in DIFC, certified by the issuing authority; where that certification is not electronic, the document must have been issued within the last six months. A body corporate shareholder also supplies a board resolution that approves the incorporation, confirms the adoption of the articles, and appoints both the authorised signatories to be listed on the DIFC licence and the person who signs the articles for the shareholder; the handbook says that resolution must not be older than six months from the date of approval. Documents not in English need a legal translation certified to the satisfaction of the Registrar of Companies, and a notarised power of attorney is required where an individual shareholder authorises someone else to sign the articles.

ADGM’s Registration Authority checklist for a private company limited by shares asks for a body corporate’s certificate of incorporation or registration, with a certified legal translation into English for foreign-language documents, and registers of members and directors certified as true copies by an incumbent director, company secretary or registered agent not more than three months earlier, plus a separate board resolution from each body corporate shareholder. For a branch of a foreign company, its checklist adds the parent’s articles certified as a true copy within the same three months, its latest audited accounts, and a parent resolution confirming the intention to register the branch.

The direction can also reverse. ADGM’s Registration Authority certifies an ADGM company’s resolutions and registers as true copies, and issues a Notary Pack, a declaration letter plus a letter stating the directors’ powers under the ADGM Companies Regulations, for a company notarising a document with the ADGM Notary Public.

UAE-Issued Company Documents Going Abroad

For a UAE company’s paper needed overseas, MOFA’s condition is that the original has been attested by the government entity that issued it and bears that entity’s seal, unless it is a digital document issued by a government entity or one already attested electronically. The commercial fee described above then applies, and the destination country decides which embassy steps follow MOFA; the general chain for documents leaving the UAE is set out on the notary and attestation hub.

Dubai Chambers runs a separate set of attestation services for its members. Signature Attestation, in the Chamber’s words, verifies and authenticates authorised signatories and related documents, correspondence and contracts, and the document must be signed by the authorised signatory. Authentication covers government-related documents already attested by the issuing authority or entity, and True Copy confirms that copies are accurate copies of the originals. Each is open only to Dubai Chamber of Commerce members, with a listed processing time of two hours. The Chamber also publishes a list of documents it does not attest, which includes employment contracts, lease contracts, any foreign contracts, local sales contracts and local authorisation letters or powers of attorney.

Invoices and Certificates of Origin: eDAS 2.0

Trade paperwork has its own channel. MOFA does not take commercial invoices or certificates of origin through its general attestation service; they go through the Electronic Documents Attestation System, eDAS 2.0, which MOFA’s service page describes as digital attestation for commercial invoices and certificates of origin issued in the UAE or abroad. A company opens the primary account with its trade licence, and once that is approved, individual users are added and sign in with UAE PASS.

MOFA’s FAQ states that, with eDAS 2.0 and Cabinet Resolution No. 38 of 2022, electronic attestation became mandatory for goods imported into the UAE valued at AED 10,000 and above, effective 1 February 2023, and that a flat rate of AED 150 plus service fees applies to the attestation of commercial invoices from that date. The service page gives a completion time of two minutes, and a copy can be uploaded to receive the MOFA seal physically at no additional fee.

Published Timelines, and Where None Exist

MOFA publishes its processing times by attestation method rather than by document category, and the hub covers that general chain. The times published for the corporate-specific steps on this page are these: one working day as the Ministry of Economy and Tourism’s average service time for a branch’s initial approval, two hours for each of the Dubai Chambers member attestation services, and two minutes for an eDAS 2.0 attestation. For companies with regular volumes, MOFA’s FAQ also mentions prepaid courier packages for companies and entities, arranged by contacting the Ministry.

The sources above give no end-to-end figure for a foreign company file, because the steps before MOFA follow the registry’s, the foreign ministry’s and the UAE mission’s own schedules. The fixed points are at the UAE end: the Ministry of Economy and Tourism’s four-month initial approval and one-month registration window, DIFC’s six-month limits on a certificate without electronic certification and on a shareholder’s board resolution, and ADGM’s three-month limit on certified registers and articles.

Account Terms for Recurring Corporate Work

For organisations that send company papers through notarisation or attestation regularly, such as law firms, real estate brokerages and corporate clients, LEXNOVA offers dedicated account terms instead of a fresh quote for each engagement, with scope and volume pricing agreed with its corporate team. These are LEXNOVA’s own commercial terms, not a feature of any government service.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Corporate & Commercial Document Attestation

MOFA’s FAQ gives the service fee for a commercial document as AED 2,000, against AED 150 for a personal status document. It adds that a commercial contract may be counted as several documents depending on its content, so agreement-related fees can vary. Commercial invoices and certificates of origin are attested and charged separately through eDAS 2.0.

The Ministry of Economy and Tourism asks for an official certificate from the authority in the country of establishment showing the date of establishment, the entity’s name, legal form, owners, activity and capital, together with the resolution to open the branch. The Ministry says the required documents must be duly attested, and its FAQ asks for embassy and MOFA attestation.

DIFC’s private company handbook asks for a certificate of incorporation, or an equivalent official document, certified by the issuing authority for each body corporate stakeholder not registered in DIFC. If that certification is not electronic, the document must have been issued within the last six months, and documents not in English need a legal translation certified to the Registrar’s satisfaction.

No. MOFA handles commercial invoices and certificates of origin through eDAS 2.0 rather than its general Documents Attestation service. A company registers with its trade licence and its users sign in with UAE PASS. MOFA states that electronic attestation has been mandatory for imported goods valued at AED 10,000 and above since 1 February 2023.

Yes. ADGM’s Registration Authority certifies an ADGM company’s documents, such as resolutions and registers, as true copies. For a company notarising a document with the ADGM Notary Public, it also issues a Notary Pack: a declaration letter and a letter stating the directors’ powers under the ADGM Companies Regulations; both are requested online.

MOFA’s service page allows up to five documents in a single application, all processed through the same attestation method, which the first document added determines. Digital and courier-based documents therefore need separate applications. Separately, MOFA’s FAQ mentions prepaid courier packages for companies and entities, arranged by contacting the Ministry.

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