WHERE THIS FITS
Related services
The service pages behind this guide — each sets out what the authority actually accepts.
Working out what your own document needs
The rules above are general. Applying them to a specific document in your hand comes down to five questions, in this order — and answering them in a different order is where most of the wasted time comes from.
1. Where is the document going?
The receiving authority sets the language, not the document. An onshore court, a notary, the Department of Economic Development or the Land Department will expect Arabic. The DIFC and ADGM Courts work in English. Establish the destination before commissioning anything, because the same document can need different treatment for two different recipients.
2. Where was it issued?
A document issued inside the UAE usually needs translation alone. A document issued abroad generally has to be legalised in its home country and through the UAE mission there before a UAE authority will act on it, and the translation has a fixed place in that sequence. Getting the order wrong is the most expensive mistake available, because it means paying twice.
3. What language is it in now?
Certification attaches to a language pair. If your document is in Urdu, an Arabic–English certified translator cannot certify it, however fluent they are. Confirm that a certified pair exists for your actual source language rather than assuming an English relay will be accepted.
4. What exactly are you holding?
An original, a certified copy, a scan and an already-attested document are four different starting points. Some authorities will only act on an original or a certified copy, and a translation attached to the wrong artefact does not fix that.
5. Is a deadline attached?
Court steps, visa applications and tender submissions carry fixed periods. The translation has to be complete inside the period, not merely started, and the legalisation steps ahead of it are the slow part.
What to ask before you commission
Three questions separate a certified service from a translation service: which Ministry of Justice licence number will appear on the document, whether that licence covers your specific language pair, and where the translation sits in the sequence for your receiving authority. A provider who answers all three has understood the job; one who quotes a price without asking where the document is going has not.
Last updated: 11 August 2026 · Reviewed against UAE federal legislation
Certified legal translation in the UAE is translation produced by a translator who is registered on the Ministry of Justice roll, licensed by the competent local authority, and who has sworn the legal oath before an appellate court circuit. A translation without that chain is not a certified translation, whatever a stamp on it says — and UAE courts and ministries are entitled to reject it.
The short answer: if your document is going to a UAE court, ministry, embassy or licensing authority, it needs an Arabic translation carrying the stamp of an MOJ-registered, sworn translator. A fluent bilingual colleague, an agency without MOJ registration, or a machine translation will not be accepted.
The legal basis — what actually makes a translation “certified”
Two separate pieces of UAE federal law create the requirement. Most articles about legal translation skip both, which is why the topic stays confusing.
1. Why Arabic is required at all
Federal Decree-Law No. 42 of 2022 promulgating the Civil Procedure Law, in force since 2 January 2023, keeps Arabic as the official language of the courts. Statements from litigants and witnesses who do not speak Arabic are heard through a sworn interpreter.
There is one exception worth knowing, and it is frequently missed: Article 5 allows the President of the Federal Judicial Council or the head of a local judicial authority to designate specific divisions handling specialised disputes where the language of proceedings, judgments and decisions may be English. This is why some specialised commercial divisions operate in English — but it is a designated exception, not a general right to file in English.
2. Who is allowed to produce the translation
Federal Decree-Law No. 22 of 2022 regulates the translation profession and replaced Federal Law No. 6 of 2012. Under it, the profession may not be practised in the UAE unless the translator is registered on the Ministry of Justice list and holds a licence from the competent licensing authority.
The Decree-Law also established the Translators Affairs Committee and a Translators Disciplinary Board inside the Ministry of Justice — meaning a registered translator carries ongoing professional liability for what they stamp.
What “sworn” actually means — and why it is not a marketing word
You will see the words sworn translator and مترجم محلّف used loosely. In UAE law it has a precise meaning: after being entered on the Ministry of Justice list, the translator must take the legal oath before one of the competent appellate court circuits. Translation work may not be submitted before that oath is taken.
Practical test: “certified” without MOJ registration is just a company promise. “Sworn” without the appellate-court oath is not sworn at all. Ask which of the two applies before you pay.
Certified legal translation vs. ordinary translation
| Ordinary / business translation | Certified legal translation | |
|---|---|---|
| Who may produce it | Anyone | MOJ-registered, licensed, sworn translator |
| Stamp & signature | Optional, no legal weight | Required — carries professional liability |
| Accepted by UAE courts | No | Yes |
| Accepted by ministries & embassies | No | Yes |
| Consequence of an error | Commercial | Disciplinary — Translators Disciplinary Board |
When you actually need it
- Court and litigation files — claims, evidence, foreign judgments and affidavits. See court document translation.
- Rental disputes — tenancy contracts, notices and evidence filed at the Rental Disputes Center.
- Company formation and corporate filings — memoranda of association, resolutions and contracts for DED, DMCC and free zones. See corporate and commercial translation.
- Personal status and immigration — birth, marriage, divorce and police clearance certificates. See certificate translation.
- Notarisation — a UAE notary will generally require an Arabic version before attesting a foreign-language document.
Five mistakes that get documents rejected
- Translating before attesting. Many foreign documents must be attested in the issuing country and by MOFA before the Arabic translation is produced. Doing it in the wrong order can mean paying twice.
- Name spelling that does not match the passport. The single most common rejection cause. The translation must follow the passport transliteration, not the phonetically “correct” one.
- Partial translation. Stamps, marginal notes, seals and back-page endorsements form part of the document and are usually required.
- Assuming English is enough. Outside the designated English-language divisions under Article 5, Arabic is required.
- Using an unregistered provider. The rejection surfaces at the counter — after the deadline matters.
How long it takes and what drives the price
Turnaround depends on document type, length and how legible the copy you send is. Single-page certificates are typically completed within hours; court bundles and company packs take longer because terminology must stay consistent across every file. We have set out the detail separately in turnaround times and what determines the cost.
We do not publish fixed per-page rates, because word count, language pair, complexity, urgency and the certification required all move the number. The price is confirmed before any work starts.
Need a document certified for a UAE authority?
Send a clear photo or PDF and tell us which court, ministry or authority will receive it. We confirm the exact price and turnaround within one business hour.
Send your document for a quoteCall +971 54 526 6500For the full service — document types, languages and the certification process — see certified legal translation in Dubai.
