How do I attest a foreign marriage certificate for use in the UAE?

A marriage certificate issued abroad usually must be legalised through a chain of attestations before UAE authorities will accept it. The general sequence is: have the certificate attested by the competent authority in the issuing country, then by that country's foreign affairs ministry, then by the UAE embassy or consulate there. Once in the UAE, it is attested by the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA). If the document is not in Arabic, you will normally also need a legal translation by an authorised translator. Attested marriage certificates are commonly required for spouse visa sponsorship, adding a spouse to residency, registering a birth, and family-court proceedings such as divorce or custody. Countries that are part of the Apostille Convention may follow a simplified route, so check whether an apostille is accepted for your document type. Processing steps, channels, and fees change, so verify the current procedure through the UAE government attestation service and MOFA before you start. For matters where the attested certificate feeds into a legal case, you can compare verified UAE legal professionals on LEXAI.