Quick answer
A Florida death certificate is needed in the UAE when a family member who lived or held assets there dies in Florida: to close a bank account, cancel a residence visa, or open inheritance proceedings for property or an end-of-service gratuity. Florida issues an authentication certificate for United Arab Emirates, not an apostille — $220, 5–7 business days.
- Issued by
- Florida Bureau of Vital Statistics or a Florida county health department (deaths from 2009 on), on a certified copy signed by the State Registrar.
- Florida state fee
- $10 — included in $220
- Route
- Florida authentication → U.S. Department of State → United Arab Emirates embassy
- Online notarization
- Not applicable — needs a certified copy
- Consulate serving Florida
- Embassy of the United Arab Emirates, Washington, D.C.
- Translation
- The UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs says it accepts documents in English or Arabic, or an official translation.
How a Florida death certificate is used in United Arab Emirates
A Florida death certificate is needed in the UAE when a family member who lived or held assets there dies in Florida: to close a bank account, cancel a residence visa, or open inheritance proceedings for property or an end-of-service gratuity. Emirati courts and banks will want the certificate attested through the full chain and usually in Arabic. Order a certified copy from the Bureau of Vital Statistics or a county health department, and order several, since each UAE office may keep one.
Getting a death certificate Florida will authenticate
A certified copy signed by the State Registrar and certified in 2014 or later. The year of death doesn't matter; the certification date does. Copies with or without the cause of death can both be apostilled, but photocopies and notarized copies cannot.
Order through VitalChek (vitalchek.com), by mail or in person at the Bureau of Vital Statistics, or at the county health department for deaths from 2009 on. The version without the cause of death is available to anyone 18 or older; the version with the cause of death is restricted to eligible requesters. These fees are not included in our $220.
State fee for this document: $10 — included in our price. Full details on the death certificate page.
What happens after the Florida certificate — United Arab Emirates
After we return your document with its Florida authentication certificate, it must be authenticated by the U.S. Department of State; the UAE Embassy states that personal and educational documents need that attestation before submission. Next comes attestation by the UAE Embassy in Washington, D.C., through the processing center it designates. Finally, the document is attested in the UAE by the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs through its website or app. We don't handle, arrange or refer anyone for those steps.
We don't handle or arrange the U.S. Department of State or embassy steps. See how non-Hague authentication works.
Who receives it in United Arab Emirates — and translation
Inside the UAE, attested documents are used by the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs (which performs the final attestation), immigration and residency authorities for family sponsorship, the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation and professional regulators for employment and licensing, free-zone authorities and economic departments for company setup, and the courts and land departments for estates and property. In the U.S., attestation is done by the UAE Embassy in Washington, D.C., which accepts submissions through an outside processing center it designates.
The UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs says it accepts documents in English or Arabic, or an official translation. Courts, land departments and some ministries may still ask for a legal Arabic translation, often made in the UAE by a legal translator. Ask the receiving office before you translate anything in Florida; if it accepts a Florida translation, it should be certified by the translator, notarized by a different notary and authenticated in Florida.
We found no single published UAE rule on document age. Employers and authorities may want recently issued vital records or background checks, so ask your sponsor or the receiving authority how recent each document must be before you start the chain.
Consular office serving Florida: Embassy of the United Arab Emirates, Washington, D.C.
Four steps, one week
Order online
Pick the document and destination country on the order form and pay by card. After we review your documents, FedEx emails you a prepaid label.
Send your document
Drop the envelope at any FedEx location.
We file in person
We review it, then walk it to the Florida Department of State in Tallahassee for the authentication certificate.
Returned to you
Back in 5–7 business days — anywhere in the U.S., or abroad for a flat $100.
Why death certificates get rejected
- Certified before 2014, even for an old death
- Photocopy or notarized copy
- Funeral-home or hospital paperwork instead of the certified certificate
- Death recorded in another state
What it costs for United Arab Emirates
$220 per document, $380 for two and $160 each for three or more — the state fee, request form, in-person filing in Tallahassee and FedEx shipping inside the U.S. are included. Shipping the finished authentication to United Arab Emirates is a flat $100 per order.
Not included: whatever the issuing office charges for the certified copy or certificate, and notarization (online notarization is $40 for the first document — $10 notarization fee + $30 technology platform fee — and $20 for each additional one).