WORKING IN THE UAE AS A CANADIAN CITIZEN AND PROVIDING THE RIGHT DOCUMENTS AUTHENTICATED AND LEGALIZED BY UAE EMBASSY
People go to the UAE to work from all over the world and the trend is no different for Canadians. Working in Dubai, for instance, has many benefits. Whether you a professional designate such as a doctor, nurse, engineer, lawyer, or looking to work in the corporate world, the perks of working in Dubai versus here at home can be
many. For one thing, jobs of similar nature often have much better remuneration in comparison to the same jobs at home. Pay may be up to 20 percent more in comparison and it is not uncommon for companies or the government to provide benefits that are unheard of here. For instance, many jobs provide sign-in bonuses, include a residence and car, and may also include personal help such as in-home nannies and cooks. Not to mention, the lifestyle and glamour of Dubai with the city’s crowd-pleasing entertainment services for expats in and of itself is a great motivator to make a living there. So, if you have or are interested in pursuing a career in Dubai, congratulations!
However, there are a few things to keep in mind before and when you embark on this new journey. For one thing, it is worth noting that as with working in any foreign country, you will need to know what sort of documentation will be necessary in order to get started. Also, in case you think you will fall in love and want to continue living there, you should note that it is very difficult for expats to own property or become citizens of Dubai. As long as these are terms you are aware and accepting of, your journey to living and working in Dubai should be nothing but a unique lifetime experience!
Once you have landed the job of your dreams and are ready to accept, you will need to gather some documents in order to obtain a residency visa as well as fulfill the requirements of your employment process. The documents asked of you may vary depending on the nature of the job as well as your employer, but here is a list of things you may be asked to provide:
- Your diplomas/degrees
- A copy of your practitioner’s license
- A copy of your Canadian passport, which must be valid for at least 6 months
- A background check
- Resume, cover letter, and contacts for reference
- Teaching or work experience confirmation letter
- Your marriage and children’s birth certificate if you travel with a family.
It is mandatory to obtain a residency visa in order to work in the UAE and detailed instructions for how to obtain the visa can be found on the UAE government website. Regardless of whether it is for the visa process or for your employer, you will need to have all required documents authenticated and legalized, also known as attested or apostilled, by Global Affairs Canada and the UAE embassy in Ottawa.
To authenticate, Global Affairs Canada will validate the signature on your documents as being valid and authentic. Once they are satisfied, they will place a large red stamp to identify this documents as having been authenticated. Then, your documents will need to be attested by the UAE embassy or consulate in Ottawa. The UAE embassy will validate that the Global Affairs Canada stamp is authentic and that your documents meet all requirements. Once they are satisfied, they will affix their stamp to your documents.
There are many benefits of going through a professional service provide such as Legalization Service Centre for your document authentication and legalization needs. For example, a professional can save you time, hassle, and significant due-diligence. The authentication process through Global Affairs Canada can become unnecessarily long if the documents are not prepared as per guidelines. Because we do this on a regular basis and have an existing network at GAC, we can speed up the process to have your documents authenticated in less than a week. Also, embassies often have changing requirements which makes the process of legalization complicated at times. Since we are conveniently located minutes from most embassies in Ottawa, we can keep up-to-date information on embassy requirements and make in-person submissions of your documents.
Give us a call at Legalization Service Center at 1-800-857-1215 for a phone consultation to answer any remaining questions or to discuss your specific needs. The process of authentication and legalization does not have to be tedious, time-consuming or expensive, and we do our best to ensure this is true for each of our clients.
