I'm on my way!!!!

[Maz25]

Originally Posted by Dino100

Hi i have recently got all my education certificates sorted and my company is handling my visa application. It doesn't cost £60 to have edu certificates/degrees notarised, i went straight to the FCO office in Whitehall, unkown to me i had to have them notarised, so they gave me an address of a solicitors, literally a 5 min walk away from the FCO office who done it for £5 each. Then take that back to the FCO and then go over to the UAE embassy near Royal Albert Hall/Science museum. It was pretty painless really but i would suggest doing it all in person and not via post!

Best of luck

I paid £60 + VAT per document. It all depends on which notary you use. You are right though in regards to solicitors; they do indeed charge less as I found out later!!!! You obviously got very lucky and ended up paying far less than I did but unfortunately, when I got mine done, I was in a bit of a hurry and effectively used the same notary that my current employer uses! If you have time, then by all means, make a few phone calls and ask around but it really depends on how far you are prepared to travel and how much time you have on your hands. There have been a few quotes posted on the forum which started from £20 upwards! £5, now I wouldn't have minded paying that kind of money!! The FCO was a breeze for me as well but I believe that littlemissconfused is from Scotland, so it would have to be by post, unless she fancies a train ride to Milton Keynes (I believe they have already moved to their new office but I also had mine done in London). They did say on their website that when they move to Milton Keynes, they are aiming to see people in less than 30 mins! I waited about 30mins as well but that probably had more to do with me getting there in the nick of time - they were about to close and it took a bit of begging and a sorry face to be able to convince the security guard to let me in!!!

Again for the UAE Embassy, as she is in Scotland, it would have to be done by post. You were very lucky if you had a nice time at the UAE Embasy. I waited over an hour just to hand in my docs and had to wait over 2 hours to get them back!!! On top of it all, my certificates were temporarily misplaced. I went into a blind panic until they eventually found them!!! I had thought about putting them in the post but I got worried that it might get lost! Some notaries will do everything for you for a fee and they do charge an arm and a leg for the privilege, as well as feeding you some story about how you need a corporate cheque or something of that sort but you are right, you can do everything yourself.

Up to FCO, yes, it is a breeze but the UAE embassy is something else!!

[Glasceb]

Looks like there's a good Scottish contingent heading over to Dubai soon!!!

I got my degree copy certified by a Glasgow City Centre notary for £35 today and have now posted this, marriage certificate and child's birth certificate to FCO in Milton Keynes today for legalisation. When the certificates are returned to me in a few weeks they then have to be sent to the UAE Embassy in London.

Once this is all done, just need to sit back and count the days until early October when we'll be flying out.

[Dino100]

it was alot of rushing around but a tip, particulary if you are not living in London, i got to the UAE Embassy about midday after going to the former FCO in London and there indeed was a queue and as i was on a tight deadline, had my cousins graduation the other side of Essex!!, i paid £30 i think at the UAE Embassy to send my attested edu cert to my home address, this was an "express" fee, make sure you send a self addressed envelope and plenty of stamps, i put 3 1st class stamps just to make sure and it actually arrived in 48 hours so was pretty quick. There was too big a queue and i couldn't aford to wait 2 hours. I have heard a few other say that it didn;'t go this smoothly but my experience was pretty painless!! glad i didn't have to go to Milton Keynes tho' given im in London!

Perhaps someone could help with this query, when my work visa is ready do i get it sent to my home address to have when i leave for Dubai or is it waiting for me when i arrive at airport??Not sure what happens next??

Dino

[littlemissconfused]

Thanks all for your replies. I am going to phone a few notaries today and get the education certificate(s) done hopefully locally! Then I can send them off together with the marriage/birth certificates to FCO then on to UAE Embassy. Why does it have to be so complicated? Am sure it is a test!!!

A large Scottish contingent indeed, everyone seem to going!!

I'm not sure about the visa thing, hopefully someone will answer your question, am hoping it will be waiting for us at the airport!

[Maz25]

Originally Posted by Dino100

it was alot of rushing around but a tip, particulary if you are not living in London, i got to the UAE Embassy about midday after going to the former FCO in London and there indeed was a queue and as i was on a tight deadline, had my cousins graduation the other side of Essex!!, i paid £30 i think at the UAE Embassy to send my attested edu cert to my home address, this was an "express" fee, make sure you send a self addressed envelope and plenty of stamps, i put 3 1st class stamps just to make sure and it actually arrived in 48 hours so was pretty quick. There was too big a queue and i couldn't aford to wait 2 hours. I have heard a few other say that it didn;'t go this smoothly but my experience was pretty painless!! glad i didn't have to go to Milton Keynes tho' given im in London!

Perhaps someone could help with this query, when my work visa is ready do i get it sent to my home address to have when i leave for Dubai or is it waiting for me when i arrive at airport??Not sure what happens next??

Dino

When your work visa has been approved, your employer will email you a copy for reference. The original visa will be left at the airport for you to collect. Your employer should inform you where to collect this. Most employers use a service called Marhaba - it's a meet and greet service, where they pay someone to meet you; Marhaba will also have your visa with them and you are then fast tracked through immigration.

Your company should provide you with all the details of what to do on arrival, where to collect your visa and where to go, etc before you fly out.