3 steps to getting your Chinese academic degree attested for employment in the UAE

Have you just got a job offer in the UAE, or are you simply looking for job opportunities in the country? Did you know that you may need to get your academic degree issued in China, attested in the UAE, to obtain your employment visa? In case you are wondering what the attestation process is, refer to our detailed guide below.

While not all jobs require attested academic degree for employment visas, getting yours attested can save you time and trouble when you need to offer one, given the fact that the attestation process can take from five to six weeks.

Here are three steps you need to go through to acquire your academic degree attestation.

1. Get your academic degree notarised in China

The first thing you need to do is to notarise your academic degree in China. You will need to apply through a notary public office in your registered place of residence. You can do so by visiting the office or by applying online.

2. Get ‘double attestation’ of your academic degree in China

According to China’s Consular Affairs’ website, the notarised academic degree may not be accepted by related department in your country of employment, as they cannot confirm the authentication of the notarisation. This is the reason why you need to also get your academic degree attested by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China.

Again, according to China’s Consular Affairs’ website, depending on the country of your employment, single attestation from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China may not be enough.

In the case of the UAE, you will need ‘double attestation’, with the second attestation issued by the Embassy of the United Arab Emirates in China.

Documents needed for ‘double attestation’

You will need to prepare the documents listed below for the ‘double attestation’ application:

- Filled Application for Consular Authentication File Registration Form, which you can locate on this website: http://cs.mfa.gov.cn/zggmcg/lsrz/.

- Notarised academic degree

- If you are assigned by governmental organisations to work or study in the UAE, you will need to offer your organisation’s introduction letter, overseas assignment letter with approval, as well as your second generation National ID card, which was issued after 2004.

You should note that you cannot submit your documents, or apply for ‘double attestation’ personally to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China, or to the Embassy of the United Arab Emirates in China. To submit your documents and apply for the attestation, you will need to contact appointed organisations in your registered place of residency to do it for you.

You may refer to our list of appointed local Foreign Affair Offices and other organisations in different provinces in China for their contacts. Once you establish contact with them, you may entrust their staff to submit your documents and start the ‘double attestation’ process.

The process

After you establish contact with your chosen appointed organisation, the staff in that organisation will guide you to submit your documents to them, and start the application for you.

- First they will acquire attestation for your degree from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China.

- Afterwards, your attested degree, along with the remainder documents will be sent to the Embassy of the United Arab Emirates in China, for their attestation on your degree.

Fees and processing time

The fees for ‘double attestation’ are as follows:

- Normal case – 50yuan (Dh27.17)
- Urgent case – 100yuan (Dh54.34)
- Delivery fee (within China only) – 25yuan(Dh13.58)/500g

It takes four working days for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China to process the first attestation for a normal case, and two working days for an urgent case.

After the first attested degree and other documents are sent to the Embassy of the United Arab Emirates in China, it takes them four working days to process the second attestation for a normal case, and two working days for an urgent case. So overall – it should be done in over a week’s time.

3. Get the final attestation of your academic degree in the UAE

After the notarisation and ‘double attestation’ of your degree in China, you will need to conduct the final attestation in the UAE, through UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. And this marks the last step of your academic degree attestation, to be used for employment visa in the UAE.

Other than academic degree attestation needed for employment visa in the UAE, you may also need to get your marriage certificate and birth certificate of your children attested, to acquire family sponsor visa for your spouse and children in the UAE, if they are coming along with you. The attestation process is generally the same, however, instead of providing your academic degree, you would need to provide your marriage certificate, or birth certificate of your children instead.