Certified True Copy in Dubai: What It Is and How to Get One
A certified true copy is a photocopy that an official authority has compared against the original and endorsed as identical. It exists because institutions routinely need to keep a copy on file while you keep the original — a bank opening an account, a university checking a degree, a free zone processing a licence, an embassy assembling a visa file. In Dubai that endorsement is made by the Notary Public inside Dubai Courts. This page explains what the certification actually proves, when a true copy is accepted in place of an original and when it is not, and where translation enters the process — because a copy of a document the receiving authority cannot read solves nothing.
- Certified by the Notary Public at Dubai Courts, not by a translation office
- It proves the copy matches the original — nothing about the original’s own validity
- The original must be produced for comparison
- MANJAZ prepares and translates the file; the certification is the notary’s act
- Dubai-based, UAE-wide service
- Arabic & English
- Clear guidance on every document
- Direct request, no middlemen
What a certified true copy certifies — and what it does not
The certification says one thing: an authorised officer placed this copy beside the original and found them identical. That is the whole of it. It is not a statement that the original is genuine, that it is still in force, or that its contents are true. A certified true copy of an expired licence certifies an expired licence accurately. This distinction decides which problems a true copy can solve: it lets you keep an original you cannot surrender, and it gives the receiving institution a copy it can rely on — but it cannot repair a document that is out of date, unattested, or in a language the institution does not read.
The situations that actually produce this request
A bank wants your trade licence and passport on file.
What is usually needed
A university abroad asks for your degree but will not accept a plain photocopy.
What is usually needed
A free zone needs corporate documents for a licence file.
What is usually needed
You are asked for a certified copy of a document issued outside the UAE.
What is usually needed
From original to certified copy
Confirm what is actually being asked for
Certified copy, attestation and legal translation are three different things and are often named interchangeably by the requesting institution. Getting this wrong is the most common and most expensive mistake.
Produce the original
The comparison cannot be made without it. A copy of a copy is not certifiable.
Translate, where the copy has to be read
Where the document is not in the language the receiving authority works in, a legal translation is prepared so the certified copy is usable rather than merely valid.
Certification by the Notary Public
The notary at Dubai Courts compares and endorses. This is the notary’s act; MANJAZ prepares the file and coordinates the submission.
Certified copy vs attestation vs legal translation
Questions people actually ask
No. Certifying a true copy is an act of the Notary Public inside Dubai Courts. MANJAZ prepares the file, produces the legal translation where one is needed, and coordinates the submission — the endorsement itself is the notary’s.
Yes. The certification is a statement that the copy was compared with the original, so the original has to be present for that comparison. A copy of a copy cannot be certified.
It depends on who receives it. A certified copy of an English document filed with an authority that works in Arabic is accurate but unusable on its own. Where the receiving body works in a language the document is not in, a legal translation is normally filed alongside it.
No, and the two are frequently confused. Certifying a copy says the copy matches the original. Attestation says the document itself is recognised for use — usually across borders, through MOFAIC and, where relevant, an embassy. Needing one does not give you the other.
This content is for general awareness and is based on the official sources available at the time of the last update. Company-formation and corporate-service requirements, fees, approvals and steps differ by the business activity, the legal form and the jurisdiction, and are set and updated by the competent authorities. It is not legal or financial advice. MANJAZ is a corporate-services provider that helps prepare, coordinate and follow up requirements with the relevant authorities — it is not the Department of Economy and Tourism or any government body, it does not issue trade licences, it cannot approve a business activity, and it does not guarantee any approval.
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