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In order for my wife to get a married woman's pension from UK as my wife we need to send a certified copy of her birth certificate (She was born in the Former Yugoslavia, now Serbia). We have an original, stamped by the authorities in Yugoslavia, but the Pension Service in UK has asked for a certified copy. They pointed me in the direction of a Public Notary.

So went along to the notary Public Office in Barsha. They knew nothing despite the fact that their web page clearly states copy cerification to be one of their services and they pointed me in the direction of either the Court in Bur Dubai or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Has anybody else required a certified copy of a document and how did you get it? Can anybody help, even if it is only to tell me where the above offices are located.

Have you tried going to her embassy/consulate?

Well its going to be a bit of a faff I'm afraid, any foreign document needs to be attested by the UAE embassy in the country of orgin and they will only do that if it is attested from the locations own ( usually ) ministry of foreign affairs or equivalent. Then in the UAE it needs to have a legal translation in Arabic ( usually 100 dhs per page ) and then the Ministry of Foreign affairs in the UAE, cost 200 dhs and usually is a painless procedure. You pay 200 wait for your number to show up at a counter, take your papers, the person has a look and then stamps it and sends you on your. Takes about 20 mins max if it is busy.

I suggest you get it legally translated into Arabic and then go to the MOFA and see if it will get attested as nothing is written in stone over here.

Bora Bora,

Serbia does not have an embassy in UAE, nor does UAE have an embassy in Serbia

--- May 27, 2012 ---

I only need a certified copy, I don't need proof that the document is valid.