Legalization is the process of making prohibitions from the law be removed, hence for it be considered legal. As it pertains to documents, it is the act of certifying said document to be recognized by the country that issues it and is then recognized by that country as valid and original. All bureaucratic documents in any country will not be considered valid unless it undergoes legalization.

Processes such as residencies or banking would require legalized documents in any country. It is their way of making interactions between two parties legal and official. You have to, in all cases, go to the respective notary and have said documents legalized.

Why does a legalized wedding certificate matter in Dubai?

As mentioned, the country has to recognize the document as legal.

UAE is not a part of the Apostille Convention, hence the legalization process is different than for the Apostille countries. If you want your UAE wedding certificate to be valid in your home country, whether it is or it is not a part of the Apostille Convention, they would require legalization in their embassies. Countries like Kuwait, Lebanon and Oman for example are also not part of the Apostille Convention, therefore they need to be legalized by their respective embassies.

On the bright side once you legalize your certificate for one of the Apostile countries it will most probably valid for the rest of them (over 100 countries in total).

However you should always double check the requirements of your particular embassy as some countries still have different legalization process even being a part of the Apostile convention. Better safe than sorry.

Having your wedding certificate valid is of the utmost importance. If you are unsure of what steps your situation calls out for, contact our legal team for advice.

What other legislation would you like to be legalized in your country?