Driver's License Copy Authentication for United Arab Emirates

U.S. driver licenses come up in the UAE when converting to a local license. Rules depend on the emirate and your license; some licensing authorities accept a direct exchange, others want a translation or a letter. Attesting a Florida license copy is rarely needed, but if the authority asks for a certified copy, it can be a notarized true-copy statement authenticated in Florida. Check with the licensing authority first.

A front-and-back copy of your current license attached to your sworn statement, signed in front of a Florida notary who completes a jurat. If the foreign office wants your driving history instead, it needs FLHSMV's certified record, unaltered. The plastic card itself can't be apostilled.

Sign the sworn statement before any Florida notary or through our online notarization add-on: $40 for the first document ($10 notarization fee + $30 technology platform fee) and $20 for each additional document. For a certified driving record, order from FLHSMV online or with form HSMV 90511, which lists $10 and about two weeks of processing. Notarization and FLHSMV fees are not included in our $220.

State fee for this document: $10 — included in our price. Full details on the driver's license copy page.

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.

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.

$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).