An apostille is a document issued in the form of a specialized certificate, by the issuing country’s Secretary of State. It gets attached to the original document and serves to verify the latter’s legitimacy and authenticity in the destined country, as long as it is a member of the Hague Convention. UAE is one of the non-members of this convention.
The Apostille Convention
Since every document relevant to immigration requires authentication from its place of issuance, the tremendous hassle has long been given when it came to international travel. Convenience in this area was raised in 1961 when the Hague Apostille Convention was set up. Member countries do not require embassy attestation of documents from people traveling among them. Again, UAE is a non-member country, which is why it requires you to get apostille attestation services in Dubai.
Between Hague-Member Countries
For businessmen and other professionals who travel frequently, Apostille is something worth knowing about. It helps even more if you carry certificates issued by a Hague-member country, and seek to pursue education or employment in another member country. In order to get a visa processed successfully, you would need apostilles of the documents from various bodies, including the embassy, state government, MEA, HRD, SDM, and Notary. The Apostille functions as a final seal of approval from these parties, which permits using the particular documents in the destination country. Among Hague-member nations, the following documents are required for apostille attestation.
- Administrative Documents
- Court Documents
- Notarial Acts
- Official Documents
This means that basically, apostille processes can be split into those performed in relation to the MEA, State Government, and Notary.
The Apostille Attestation Procedure in Non-Member Countries like UAE
Hague Convention non-members such as the UAE, require further legalization with regard to document validity. This has to be done at the Embassy Office. If a document has already been attested and has no expiry date, it can be used in place of its original. Some documents such as case files would need updating every six months. Failing that, neither the embassy nor consulate would recognize them as valid.
If you hail from a Hague member country or have a credential issued from one, it is probably best to seek out and avail reliable apostille attestation services in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, and all over UAE. This is essential to ensuring your documents will be seen as valid inside UAE borders.
