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NEW ADDRESS FOR MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS - DOCUMENT ATTESTATION

I went to the MOFA office in Deira this morning 16 Oct 08 only to be told that as of last week the Ministry of Foreign Affairs department for document attestation moved. It is now on the Bur Dubai side of the creek in the Bastakia district, near the corner of Street 11 and Street 8, virtually opposite the Consulate of Oman. Just look out for the UAE flag on top of the building. If the taxi driver (or you) doesn't know where the Omani Consulate is, it's also quite close to the Jordanian Consulate.

You go in and go to the front desk and show them the certificate(s) you want attested (marriage certificate in my case). They will then give you a ticket with a number. The police man was very friendly and helpful and directed me to the back of the office where there is a special sitting area for ladies and because I’m female I was also given a special number.

My number came up and went up to the desk, paid my 150 dirhams, the guy stamped it, I helped myself to some sweets from the bowls they have on their desks and that was it and I was on my way. I was in and out of there in well under 10 minutes – would presumably be longer for a guy (unless you go in drag). It was also so simple after it had started off with such frustration…..

Opening hours: 8am-12noon

Now the rant!

I turned up only to be told that last week they’d moved to Bur Dubai (old address is still a MOFA office there but not doing attestation) and shown a diagram on the door of where the new office was. As I was noting down the street name the security guy gave me a photocopy of the basic diagram of how to get there. I was impressed, a Dubai government office being so efficient as to have diagrams to hand out? Wow!

This being Diera at 8am I couldn’t get a taxi so I walked in the direction of Bur Dubai. After an hour of walking I finally got a taxi and we headed off to the street named on the diagram. With no building name we had no chance of finding it on a very busy Deira street so I called MOFA and was told it was near the Jordanian Embassy. I asked what building name: “no building, big villa” came the reply. I looked around the busy street I was on and seriously doubted there were any villas there. Luckily the taxi driver knew where the Jordanian embassy was so we went there and drove around till we found MOFA.

My rant is: why oh why did they show clearly on the diagram that the MOFA was on a large busy street which was actually about 10 minutes drive from where it is? Life would have been so much easier if they had said it was in Bastakia near the Omani consulate. Grrrr!

Kili

Thank you Kili for sharing this important information with us. It will save others from going through the troubles you had to go through.

Yeah..it is frustrating when you get wrong diections or wrong information. Get used it dear. But at least they made up for it by serving you rather quickly, and by not asking you for more documents, copies, or other requirements..etc.

I assume your marriage certificate had already been attested by the UAE embassy in your home country.

Hi Jack, re the marriage certificate, this info may also be useful for others: my husband and I are both British and were married in Sri Lanka. To be accepted by the UAE authorities, the marriage certificate (translated into English) had to be authenticated at the Sri Lankan ministry of foreign affairs in the capital, Colombo. I then had to get a letter from the British Embassy there saying they considered it a legal document. They won't actually stamp a certificate but will give a standard letter saying the above, getting this is quick and straightforward. I called in advance and it was waiting for me when I arrived at the embassy.

Finally, I had to hand the marriage certificate into the UAE embassy in Colombo the morning and collect it that same afternoon with their stamp on it.

It did not have to be seen, stamped or attested by anybody in Dubai except the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as described above.

Kili

Thanks Kili for the additional info. Good to know!

P.S. My name is Tom not Jack!

Cheers!!

[quote="Tom Jones"]Thanks Kili for the additional info. Good to know!

P.S. My name is Tom not Jack!

Cheers!! :)[/quote]

Dear Kili/Tom,
we got married in Philippines.I am from SriLanka & she is from philippines.In our Marriage contact already stamp by UAE Embassy in Phillipines.What I have to do it here in Dubai?.If you know anything please advice me

Thanks

Umadharshan,

Yes. If you need to use this document here in Dubai for any purpose, it must be first attested by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as described above by Kili !!!