Sick Leave Certificate Attestation in Dubai

A UAE-issued certificate is attested by DHA in Dubai or MOHAP in the other emirates. A foreign-issued certificate needs the home-country ministry, UAE Embassy and MOFA Dubai chain first, the same route as any other foreign personal document. UAE Labour Law requires employers to accept only verified certificates for sick leave beyond one day, and unattested certificates — particularly foreign ones — are routinely rejected by HR and payroll, which can turn a genuine illness into unpaid absence or a disciplinary conversation.

We identify whether your certificate is UAE-issued or foreign first, since the two routes are entirely different. UAE certificates go to DHA or MOHAP for the health authority stamp. Foreign certificates need home-country MOFA, UAE Embassy and MOFA Dubai attestation, the full chain. We collect the original, complete every step, and deliver the attested document directly to your workplace rather than leaving you to hand-deliver it to HR yourself.

Overseas hospital treatment is the most common scenario — sick leave certificates issued during travel or medical treatment abroad, before the employee has returned to work in the UAE. Private clinic certificates from clinics outside an employer's approved network often need a DHA or MOHAP stamp even when issued locally.

Extended sick leave beyond the duration an employer's policy allows without attestation is a UAE Labour Law requirement, not employer discretion. Insurance and payroll claims often require attested certificates for reimbursement, which pairs directly with broader document attestation needs where an employee has multiple certificates from the same trip.

Send a scan first for a fast pre-check — we confirm the exact chain within minutes. You will typically need the original certificate signed and stamped by the issuing hospital or clinic, copies of the patient's passport and Emirates ID, an employer letter if your company requires one for the attestation coordination, and a certified Arabic translation for most foreign-language certificates.

A handwritten or informal certificate, without a clinic letterhead, stamp or licensed practitioner signature, is rejected outright regardless of how legitimate the illness was. A foreign certificate missing the home-country MOFA stamp cannot be attested by the UAE Embassy or MOFA Dubai — this is the most common cause of delay for certificates issued abroad. A certificate from a clinic not licensed by the local health authority is refused at DHA and MOHAP. And any alteration, cross-out or lamination is treated as invalid at the counter, even where the alteration is minor and clearly not fraudulent.

• DHA sick leave attestation (Dubai): government fee From AED 100, service fee On quote, turnaround 1–2 working days.
• MOHAP sick leave attestation (other emirates): government fee From AED 100, service fee On quote, turnaround 1–2 working days.
• Foreign certificate embassy + MOFA chain: government fee Varies, service fee On quote, turnaround 1–3 weeks.
• Certified Arabic translation: government fee —, service fee On quote, turnaround 24–48 hours.

Payroll and HR deadlines don't wait for an attestation chain, which is why speed matters more here than on most other document types. We triage UAE-issued versus foreign certificates the moment we see them, which is what keeps the DHA/MOHAP route to 1–2 working days rather than getting a straightforward local certificate stuck behind the slower foreign chain by mistake.