As an Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) staying in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, it is indeed a burden to process important documents from the Philippines especially when you are on a budget.
What does authentication of documents mean?
Just like the Authentication Certificate (or “red ribbon”), an Apostille only certifies the origin of the public document to which it relates. It certifies the authenticity of the signature or seal of the person or authority that signed or sealed the public document and the capacity in which this was done.
As a married couple staying in Dubai, United Arab Emirates and who are also expecting our first baby soon, we are required to provide a complete set of legal documents such as our authenticated Marriage Certificate, passport and etcetera.
On this blog, I will share how we did the process of Authentication (which is now recently called as ‘Apostille‘) from the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), stamping it in the UAE Embassy in Manila and authenticating it with the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA).
Securing our Marriage Certificate from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA)
Requesting any Certificates (such as birth Certificate, Marriage Certificate, Death Certificate and CENOMAR or Certificate of No Marriage) from the PSA has been made easier since everybody can now request and pay for it through online.
With just 3 simple steps you would be able to receive your document without going outside your home:
- Application Entry – Fill out the online application for your choice of certificate.
- Payment – Pay through accredited payment channels.
- Wait for delivery
As an Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW), this process is very accessible and hassle-free. We have requested for our certificate and my mother received it within 3 to 5 working days. My mother is actually the ‘authorized representative’ to receive the document, for that, you have to prepare an authorization letter to show to the courier person delivering the paper. Yet, with ours, they didn’t ask for it.
After receiving our PSA Marriage Certificate, we have then scheduled for DFA Authentication.
How to Authenticate Documents in Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA)
- Complete the DFA authentication requirements. It involves booking an appointment slot via the DFA Online Website.
- Proceed to the nearest DFA Consular Office that offers authentication services.
- Fill out the DFA Authentication application form.
- Submit documents to the Processing Window.
- Pay the DFA Authentication fee.
Sounds easy however, for you to start the process, you have to book for an appointment first, which is quite difficult as well. When we were trying to book a slot last February 2022, there were no available slots and all are full.
So, we’ve sent an email to them requesting for an urgent appointment. We have sent on all the below email addresses to request for an urgent appointment:
- oca.authentication@dfa.gov.ph
- oca.concerns@dfa.gov.ph
- oca.verification@dfa.gov.ph
- authentication.inquiry@oca.dfa.gov.ph
- ncreast.so@dfa.gov.ph
- authentication.inquiry@oca.dfa.gov.ph
- ncrnortheast.so@dfa.gov.ph
- appointments.ncreast@gmail.com
- authenticationncre@gmail.com
And only one of these addresses have responded, the last one – authenticationncre@gmail.com, after almost a week of waiting. They actually asked for a reason why the appointment was considered as urgent. For us, we have provided my Medical Reports since I was 6 months pregnant that time and we have mentioned that we are delivering our baby here in Dubai and that we need our authenticated certificate as soon as possible.
Here’s the confirmed appointment letter we got from their email:
Submission by a Representative:
Since we were here in Dubai (my husband and I), we have to ask an authorized representative, which was my mother-in-law, who can submit the document for authentication on behalf of us.
Here are the documents to provide the DFA officer:
- Confirmed Appointment Letter – In our case, we have printed above email and showed it to them.
- Authorization Letter from the Owner
- Owner’s ID
- Representative’s ID
- Medical Report or any proof of urgency – That is, the Medical reports showing my pregnancy.
Where to authenticate documents in the Philippines?
- Main Office: Authentication Division, Office of Consular Affairs, Department of Foreign Affairs.
- Address: ASEANA Business Park, Macapagal Avenue corner Bradco Avenue, Parañaque City.
- Satellite Offices and Consular Offices
There are several locations you could choose nationwide. Since we our representative lives in Metro Manila, we have selected the nearest location available, which was on one of their Consular Offices in SM Megamall, Mandaluyong City. This location has also been mentioned on the confirmed email from the DFA as well.
How to claim authenticated documents from the DFA?
After providing all the required documents to the processor and paying the corresponding fees to the cashier, you will have to wait for 3 working days to return to their office to claim the certificate. Just ask your Authorized Representative to bring any original valid government-issued ID and the DFA official receipt on the scheduled date and time of release.
Submitting our Document for UAE Embassy Stamping in Manila
After receiving our authenticated or apostilled document from the DFA. we have then proceeded for stamping done by the UAE Embassy in Manila,
Gladly, they already have service desk inside the DFA office so there’s no need to book any additional appointment or go to any other offices which is quite hassle-free.
We were given 2 options on how we will receive the documents:
First, is to pay PHP 3,000 (embassy fee) plus PHP 200 (service / delivery fee) to preferred Metro Manila address; or,
Second, we can pay PHP 3,000 (embassy fee) plus PHP 150 (service fee) plus another PHP 2,900 (direct delivery to UAE within 15 working days).
*Abovementioned charges as of March 2022 which may vary over time.
Therefore, we have selected the first option. Our plan is to receive the document on my mother-in-law’s house address and from there, we will arrange the shipping from Philippines to the UAE.
So, they processed as per our selection and the processor told us that the document will be delivered to our specified address within 15 working days, but surprisingly, we received it after only 10 days!
1st page (front): DFA Authentication / Apostille
1st page (back): UAE Embassy (Manila) Stamp
2nd page: PSA Marriage Certificate
Shipping our Authenticated Document from Manila to Dubai
There are several ways to ship documents from Philippines to abroad. Different couriers offer this service where you will receive the item within just a week, although it a bit more costly.
So, sending the document from Philippines to UAE, we have used a third-party contact. She’s a Filipino mum staying in Dubai and has an online business called “Taga-South Pasabay”. I have asked for her assistance to shipped our authenticated Marriage Certificate and she brought it together with other items reaching Dubai in just a week. We personally picked up the document from her business location and we finally got it! So instead of paying PHP 2,900, we have only paid less than PHP 500, it was hassle-free and we got it so quick! 🙂
Submitting our Document for UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) Stamping
Authentication does not end here. After receiving the document from the Philippines, we now have to send it for the UAE MOFA stamping.
MoFA Attestation is the final verification of a certificate or document, which then bears the stamp and seal of an authorized Ministry of Foreign Affairs personnel.
How to do the MOFA attestation in Dubai?
- STEP 1: Register on their website by opening the MoFAIC registration portal.
- STEP 2: Apply for MoFAIC attestation in the UAE and select which kind of documents you wish to be attested.
- STEP 3: Review your application and make sure all the details are correct.
- STEP 4: Pay the fees which are: AED 150 per document and AED 40 for the courier services.
- STEP 5: Receive your documents.
We have submitted application online on a Tuesday and receive the stamped document on a Friday, thus, the whole process just took us a week to process. The process was undeniably trouble-free and fast!
Our Timeline
Below is the timeline of Authenticating our Marriage Certificate from the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), stamping it in the UAE Embassy in Manila and authenticating it with the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA).
| 14 Feb 2022 | Requested for urgent DFA appointment via E-mail |
| 20 Feb 2022 | Received response from DFA E-mail requesting for Medical Report as our proof of urgency |
| 21 Feb 2022 | Received response for a confirmed DFA appointment |
| 4 Mar 2022 | DFA Appointment slot at 10:00 AM |
| 9 Mar 2022 | Document Release Date |
| 9 Mar 2022 | Document submitted to UAE Embassy for stamping |
| 19 Mar 2022 | Stamped document received from UAE Embassy |
| 29 Mar 2022 | Request submitted for UAE MoFAIC stamping |
| 29 Mar 2022 | Aramex courier collected the document from us |
| 30 Mar 2022 | Notification received from MoFAIC that our document had finished stamping |
| 31 Mar 2022 | Aramex courier shipped the document |
| 1 Apr 2022 | We received the stamped document from MoFAIC |
Our Expenses
Sharing you below our estimated expenses:
| DFA Authentication / Apostille | PHP 100 (AED 7 / USD 2) |
| UAE Embassy Stamping (PHP 3,000) + Deliver Charge to Manila (PHP 150) | PHP 3,150 (AED 225 / USD 60) |
| Shipping from Manila to Dubai (Third-Party) | PHP 500 (AED 40 / USD 10) |
| MoFAIC Stamping + Delivery Charge | PHP 2,730 (AED 195 / USD 53) |
| TOTAL | PHP 6,480 (AED 467 / USD 127) |
The Takeaway
Doing it on your own (DIY) is such a lengthy process, although through this, you will truly save a lot of funds. So if you are an OFW like us, working in the UAE, you might consider doing it DIY, otherwise, there are several courier companies who could do it for you such as the DHL or LBC especially when you are in a rush. I’m just not sure about their charges but for sure, it would be significantly higher than the rates if you do it on your own. Though with them, you don’t have to worry about anything because they will do it all from booking appointment until providing you the stamped document from the Philippines. Then, you just have to do the stamping in the UAE.
As an OFW, it is indeed costly to process important documents, sometimes it could give headaches too. But with the help of this guide, I hope it could help!
For any questions or clarifications, please feel free to leave your message on below comment section or directly chat with us using the messenger button on our page!
We would like to hear from you! Did you have the same experience?
Please let us know how you did the process.
How To Access Your Virtual Pag-IBIG Account – OFW Guide
The Benefits of Investing in Pag-IBIG MP2 Savings Program – OFW Guide
Why I Have Decided to Save with The UAE National Bonds
My First Pregnancy Journey
My First Pregnancy Journey: Having A Full-time Job
This is a very helpful and detailed guide for those who need an authenticated marriage certificate, thanks for sharing 🙂
I thought trying to get a marriage license where I am at is hard. But you had to take a lot more steps. I love that you wrote a detailed guide for anyone in the future who will need to do this.
This is going to help so many people. Government documenst are always a pain, but doing it there seems like it would be ultra confusing.
This is will help a lot of people to who will do it in the future. It gets a bit hard sometimes and take time. Thank you for sharing!
This is such a really great and very informative post! Thanks for sharing this great guide! This is so helpful!
Looks like a plan! You have all the important steps covered. There is more to this than people realize.
Very detailed and helpful guide. Thank you for posting!
Wow, you put together such a comprehensive guide in this matter. Very helpful and I’m sure this info is very much appreciated by those that need them 🙂
Smart to tell us about the booking appointment time. Even is something is super easy to do, if you have to wait forever to do it, you’d better book early!