Digital Transformation in UAE: Is Online Certificate Attestation the Future?

United Arab Emirates has been one of the first in innovation, technology, and modernization. E-governance services to digital health records, the nation is still open to transformation so as to allow residents and expatriates lead a less complex life. Certificate attestation in UAE is one of the areas that is required by any individual planning abroad for any given reasons.

Traditionally a process that requires several government offices, long queues and courier services, the certificate attestation in UAE is becoming more oriented toward online platforms. This is a digitization activity that leads to the following question. Will online issuance of certificate attestation become the future of the UAE, lets have a look at it:

The conventional Attestation process

Certificate attestation in UAE is a procedure required for verifying educational, non-educational and commercial documentation. The documents are obtained with notarization in the home country, authenticated by the Ministry of External Affairs or by apostille attestation and lastly by the UAE Embassy. MOFA attestation in UAE is the ultimate green light to avail.

Although it is widely regarded as secure, this process has frequently been criticized as being lengthy and bureaucratic. Individuals are required to use certificate attestation in UAE service providers for verification.

Increasing Online Certificate Attestation

With the UAE vision to become a smart nation, the government has started to streamline its attestation services using online platforms. Under such digital services, applicants will be able to scan their documents and obtain their digitally certified documents upon uploading scanned copies of their certificates, check their application status in real-time and much more within the comfort of their homes.

To use another example, certificate attestation in Dubai can now be introduced through registered digital service centers and certificate attestation Abu Dhabi and certificate attestation in Sharjah are also experiencing the introduction of similar types of e-services. The necessity to visit in person is also removed by the implementation of online payment gateways.

Benefits of Digital Transformation

• Time-saving and convenience: The processing time is cut down in online attestation that does not require one to visit the office over and over again.
• Transparency: The status of documents entered by the applicants is trackable.
• Security: The systems used in digital verification curtail fraud or tampering of documents.
• International Availability: To initiate apostille attestation or embassy authentication, Expatriates outside of UAE are able to do so remotely.

Issues of Full Implementation

Even though the digital system has a bright future, full transition cannot be achieved without obstacles. Certificate attestation in UAE is not eligible on all types of documents to attend online, and moreover, sometimes, physical verification is inevitable. Moreover, expatriate awareness is quite low and people do not use sophisticated electronic certificate attestation in UAE services, they still use agents.

The Future Prospectus

The tendency of the UAE giving rise to smart government projects suggests it is quite probable that within next few years, MOFA attestation in UAE and all procedures related to documentation confirmation will shift nearly fully to the online setting. 

Digital transformation is changing the way certificate attestation in UAE is performed throughout the Emirates. Be it in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, or Sharjah, the transition to digital attestation of certificates is efficiency, availability, and trust. Although a few obstacles are still encountered, one may expect that soon the entire attestation system will be digitized, simplifying the lives of millions of expatriates living in the UAE.