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hi all,

after browsing thru some related postings on degree attestation by dbxsoul, scarlet and others, i am getting more confused as to what the right process should be.

i have my degree from australian university in sydney and i am currently living and working in jakarta.

my would be dubai employer asked me to send to them, among other things, original degree certificate attested by ministry.

now the confusion starts. after browsing thru the postings in this forum, it seems that there are 2 methods to attest certificate, one is thru uae embassy in the country and the other one is thru empost [which i assume more practical if you are already in uae].

so, i contacted the uae embassy in jakarta and was told that since my degree is issued by australian university, the embassy in jakarta can not attest the certificate. instead, i have to get it attested at their embassy in australia. this is after i told them that i will get a formal letter from australian embassy education center stating that my certificate is issued by legit university in australia.

i am shocked with this information, since this may require a quick trip down under and do the steps done by scarlet. not to mention delaying my move to dubai.

my questions:
1. has anyone experienced this kind of problem?
2. is there a better way? there has to be!
3. is it better to travel to dubai on a visit visa and perform degree verification using empost over there?
4. will the employer do the verification locally in dubai [thru empost] if i send them the document to them?
5. why do the employer need the original certificate for visa processing?

any input, comment, will be much appreciated. Thanks.

Surely this can be done through certified mail to the embassy?

I received no time benefit by having my degree attested in Australia, however, in your case it might be the way to go.

Here's what you will ordinarily need to do:

(1) Contact your university and ask for them to send you a copy of your degree with the "This is a true and valid degree blah blah.." on the back.
(2) Contact the Australian Dept. of Foreign Affairs and find the details on who to send this to and the exact cost. Send this by registered mail with a return envelope to them, along with a money order for the required amount.
(3) Upon receipt, contact the UAE Embassy in Canberra and do the same thing, i,e, registered mail, money order, return envelope.

The whole process will probably take 2 weeks.

JeepDude wrote: 2. is there a better way? there has to be!
.

Welcome to the bureaucracy process of UAE.

The laws change here all the time as has the one regarding attestation. Your employer may not know of the the new Empost service - as mine didn't.

All up it cost about $200 Aus to go through the dept of foreign affairs then UAE embassy route and my employer still then payed 500AED to send it off for further attestation - go figure.

Anyway my suggestion is if you can hold off attesting and make your employer jump through the hoops then do that.\\

thing is - you can't get residency until its been attested, and if they do it from here - the degree may still have to go back to Australia

I know this is still more confusing - but that's the way it is

JeepDude wrote:so, i contacted the uae embassy in jakarta and was told that since my degree is issued by australian university, the embassy in jakarta can not attest the certificate. instead, i have to get it attested at their embassy in australia. this is after i told them that i will get a formal letter from australian embassy education center stating that my certificate is issued by legit university in australia.

Try the Australian embassy there?

try not to complicate the situation more than it is.

the rules here do change regularly.

you cannot have your educational qualifications attested at an embassy - they simply cannot verify the contents of the document and won't attest it - in anycase under the previous rule the ministry wouldn't accept an embassy attested document in anycase.

attestations must currently be done through Empost. if you have an offer of employment from an employer, give them the original document to the companies PR and let them get it attested for you (through empost).

if you don't have an offer and are only visiting the UAE to look for work, then simply hand the certificate in to Empost (with the 500AED) and let them do the work.

you have to submit the original document

thanks mate.

I finally contacted my would be employer and explained the situation. guess what? they said they will do the attestation of that document in dubai. Yippeee. 1 less hassle, 999 to go.

Just FedEx the docs and photos across. Gee, they charge quite a bit, don't they, this so called courier.

Interestingly, I have just received the attested marriage certificate and childrens' birth certificates. All complete with the mandatory stamp and seal from 2 ministries and the UAE embassy. They look very official indeed.