UAE: Legalised Birth Certificates Required for Dual Nationality Dubai International Financial Centre Applicants

Analysis

Following an earlier Alert, the Government Services Office at the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) is now requesting fully-legalised birth certificates to support employment residence permit applications for candidates holding dual nationality, regardless of their nationality.

In-country applicants must submit an original birth certificate counter-legalised by the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Exemptions

DIFC internal transfer applications are exempt from the above requirement.

What This Means for Employers and Foreign Nationals

Employers should review cases individually and, where applicable, ensure the birth certificate of their proposed new hire is fully legalised before submitting their immigration application. As long as employers plan this together with legalisation of the necessary academic qualifications, their impact on the overall processing time should be minimal.