Attesting foreign documents for use in the UAE (including documents from Iran)

UAE MOFA's rule for documents issued outside the UAE: (1) the original is attested by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the issuing country (after any earlier stamps that country requires, e.g. the issuing body or a notary); (2) it is then attested by the UAE embassy or consulate in that country; (3) finally it is attested in the UAE by UAE MOFA through mofa.gov.ae or the UAE MOFA app (online only, courier pick-up). The document must be the original (or digital with QR), not laminated, and in Arabic or English or with an official translation. MOFA fees: AED 150 per personal document, AED 2,000 per commercial document; courier AED 40 (normal, 3 working days) or AED 150 (express, 1 working day). Documents from Iran: Iran is not a party to the Apostille Convention, so the full consular chain applies. Step 2 is done at the UAE Embassy in Tehran. In practice Iranian documents are first translated by an official (sworn) translator in Iran and stamped by the Iranian Judiciary's translator office and the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs — this local Iranian sequence comes from secondary sources and must be confirmed by staff. After MOFA attestation, most UAE authorities (courts, notary, MOHRE, immigration) also need a legal Arabic translation made in the UAE. If a country has no UAE mission, MOFA asks applicants to contact its call centre (+971 800 44444).