If your company is opening a branch or subsidiary in the UAE, the licensing authority will usually ask for your parent company's articles of association (AOA), attested so it can be relied on here. We plan the route through your home country and the UAE embassy, then handle UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) attestation, translation and collection.
Your articles of association set out who owns the company, what it may do and who can sign for it. When a foreign company sets up a branch, forms a UAE subsidiary or becomes a shareholder in a UAE company, the licensing authority needs to see that document and trust it. For a Dubai mainland setup that is the Department of Economy and Tourism (DET); in a free zone it is the zone authority.
Because the AOA was issued under another country's system, the UAE relies on a chain of confirmations. Your home country's foreign ministry attests it, the UAE embassy or consulate there attests that ministry's stamp, and MOFA completes the chain in the UAE. Banks opening an account for the new entity often ask for the same attested set, so it pays to get it right once.
A branch is the same legal entity as its parent, so the authority wants to see the parent's constitution in attested form.
Where a foreign company will hold shares in a new UAE company, its articles and the resolution to invest are usually requested.
Adding a foreign company as a shareholder in a UAE company typically needs its constitutional documents attested.
Banks may ask for attested parent documents as part of their checks on who owns and controls the business.
Clear boundaries, so you know exactly what you're paying for and who decides each step.
The exact list depends on the licensing authority, the legal form and the activity, so we confirm it with you before anything is attested.
Government fees, paid at cost
MOFA charges AED 2,000 per commercial document. Charges in your home country, at the UAE embassy, for translation and for courier are set by those bodies and paid at cost. We list them separately from our service fee, which we quote in writing before work starts.
Global Sky PRO service fee
Quoted in writing before we start, so you know the full cost up front.
Timing
Most of the time is spent in the issuing country, and it varies by country and by how each office works. The UAE stage runs more smoothly when documents arrive complete, which is why we check everything before it leaves your hands.
Each step shows who does what, so you always know where things stand.
Send scans of your articles, incorporation certificate and any resolution, and tell us which UAE authority or bank asked for them.
We compare names, dates and signatures across every document, flag anything the next authority might reject and give you a step-by-step route for your issuing country.
Your home country's foreign ministry, then the UAE embassy or consulate there, attests the documents. You or a representative there submits them using our checklist.
When the originals reach us, we submit them for MOFA attestation through MOFA's online channels and follow the request through.
MOFA checks the embassy attestation and adds its own. This is the step that lets UAE authorities accept the document.
If the authority needs Arabic, we arrange legal translation, then check the full set and return it to you or pass it on for your setup.
Countries call a company's founding rules different things: articles of association, memorandum and articles, by-laws, a constitution or a statute. A UAE authority may use its own term in its request. Send us what your company holds and we match it to what was asked for, so you don't attest the wrong document or pay MOFA twice.
Each of these can send a document back to the start of the chain. We look for them before your documents travel.
Short answers here. Your situation may differ, so ask us before you decide.
Because a UAE authority cannot verify a foreign company record on its own. Attestation gives it a chain of official confirmations, from your home country through the UAE embassy to MOFA, so it can accept the articles as genuine. Without that chain, a licensing authority or bank will normally not process a branch, subsidiary or shareholder application that depends on the document.
For company documents issued abroad, the chain is your home country's foreign ministry, then the UAE embassy or consulate in that country, then MOFA in the UAE. Some countries need a notary or another local certification before their foreign ministry will act. We confirm the exact sequence for your country and document before anything is submitted, so nothing has to be repeated.
MOFA charges AED 2,000 for each commercial document, and articles of association fall into that category. If your set includes several documents, such as the AOA, an incorporation certificate and a resolution, each is charged separately. Home-country, embassy and translation charges come on top and are paid at cost. Our service fee is quoted separately, in writing, before work starts.
Not usually. The home-country and UAE embassy steps can be handled by a colleague, agent or courier service in that country using our checklist. MOFA accepts attestation requests made on the owner's behalf, so once the documents reach the UAE, we take care of that stage and keep you updated.
No. The UAE is not a party to the Hague Apostille Convention, so an apostille on its own does not make your articles of association acceptable here. Whatever certificate your home authority issues, the articles still need attestation by the UAE embassy or consulate in the issuing country and then by the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA). We confirm the exact sequence for your country before anything is sent, so no step has to be repeated.
Only if they are not in English or Arabic. The UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) attests documents in English or Arabic, or with an official translation, so articles written in another language need a translation MOFA will accept before submission. Articles already in English can usually go straight through, although a UAE licensing authority may later ask for a legal Arabic translation. We check the language at the start and plan any translation at the right point in the chain.
Source: MOFA: document attestation FAQs
Usually, if the receiving body needs your current articles. MOFA attestation has no expiry date, but it covers the document as it stood when it was attested. After an amendment, the older attested copy no longer shows the rules in force, so a UAE licensing authority or bank may ask for the amended or restated articles to go through the chain again. We check what the receiving body will accept before you start, so you only attest what it needs.
Source: MOFA: document attestation FAQs
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Attestation is performed by the issuing authorities, the relevant embassy and the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs. We handle preparation, submission and collection. Last reviewed 31 October 2026 by the Global Sky PRO team.