Philippine Attestation Guide For UAE Bound Worker

It can't be denied that many Filipinos are working in United Arab Emirates (UAE) due to its expats friendly community and the above average salary it offers to professional and skilled workers. Because of this, I have also tried to penetrate its labor market recently though I used to work there before.

One of the major requirements before a worker will be granted a UAE residence visa is a diploma or educational attainment certificate attested by school and different government agencies and finally attested by UAE embassy in his/her country of origin.

I have been informed that the procedure for attestation in Philippines has been revised thus I tried to search the net but I wasn't able to get a clear picture and how much it would cost. Hence, I made this post so as to help my fellow Filipinos who intend to find their place under the sun in UAE.

In Philippines, we call these DFA attested documents as "DFA red ribbon." I am sure that many OFW, specially those who are working in the Midlle East, are familiar with this term.

A decade back, I processed the authentication of my diploma by following these steps:

School - CHED/TESDA - Malacanang - DFA - UAE Embassy.

At that time, Malacanang will fax your name to DFA while you need to hand carry your documents to all those mentioned government agencies. After finally receiving my DFA red ribbon diploma, I went directly to UAE embassy for the attestation and paid around 1,200 pesos, if my memory serves me right. After almost two weeks my DFA red ribbon documents was released with UAE stamp at the back of the first page. It took me almost two months to complete this requirement. Unfortunately, my previous company in UAE refused to return my attested diploma when I resigned thus I need to produce another set of attested educational certificate since I plan to work again in UAE.

The old procedure was tedious and time consuming since you need to bring your documents to all those government agencies and UAE embassy.

Presently, the procedure has been simplified because you don't need to go to Malacanang anymore. Moreover, due to numerous applicants for attestation, the UAE embassy is not accepting walk-in applicants anymore. You have to send your documents to them by DHL Express. For me, it is better this way (especially for those living outside MM) rather than waste your time and effort in locating the said embassy in the middle of Makati Business District. Trust me, you will find it inconvenient to travel in Makati city considering the one-way streets and lack of nearby parking areas.

The present procedures are as follows:

1. Recently, I asked for another set of certified true copies (CTC) of Diploma, Transcript of Records and SO (Special Order) form from my school and informed them that I would use the documents for employment abroad. I paid 50 pesos for CTC.

2. If you are a degree holder or college graduate then you need to bring your CTC documents to CHED otherwise go to Tesda for trade/vocational and technology graduate. By the way, to avoid delay, ask your school where is the correct location of CHED/Tesda that is authorized to authenticate your CTC documents.

3. For Tesda/CHED, the procedure is simple. Just fill-up some personal info sheet, pay a small amount, around 50 pesos, and submit 2 passport size pictures in white background with collar. Upon submission of all requirements, you will be given a (DFA) claim stub for your  red ribbon documents. Normally, it will take around 2 weeks before you can claim your documents from DFA. Be reminded however that you need to submit a glossy type picture taken at photo studio and NOT THE PRINTED TYPE done in 5 minutes in any internet shop. A glossy photo will take around 20-30 minutes to develop and usually done in photo studio. If by chance you have submitted a printed type picture and accepted by CHED/Tesda then chances are your documents will be sent by DFA back to CHED/Tesda. You've been forewarned. 

4. From the date of release indicated on your DFA claim stub given to you by CHED/Tesda, you have 3 months to claim your documents otherwise DFA will dispose the said documents accordingly. Upon arrival at DFA (Roxas Boulevard and NOT Macapagal Avenue where you get your passport) you will be asked to put your claim stub in a drop box and wait for your name to be called. Just follow the procedure being announced inside the DFA releasing area from time to time. You need to pay 100 pesos to the cashier before they will release your red ribbon documents. Prepare a valid ID or make an authorization letter for your representative in case you can't claim the document yourself.

I advise you to go to DFA even before it open. I arrived at around 8:30 am and noticed that more than 50 people were already in queue for the release of their documents. I received my "DFA red ribbon" documents almost 11 am. By the way, don't forget to bring a plastic long envelope to protect your documents from rain or else you would be forced to buy it from the street vendor for 15 pesos. Being frugal, I simply rolled my documents to protect it from slight drizzle, LOL.

5. Upon getting hold of your DFA red ribbon documents, you need to find a DHL Worldwide Express office. You can Google the locations of its branches. It is different from an ordinary DHL counter. I found one in Trinoma second floor near the entrance facing SM North. I paid 2,254 pesos in cash wherein 1,700 pesos was for UAE embassy attestation charge while the rest was courier charge.

DHL will deliver your DFA red ribbon document direct to your mailing address once it has been attested by the embassy while a tracking number will be given to you as well so you can check the progress of your documents on their website. As promised by DHL, it took only 7 working days for the entire process including UAE embassy attestation. Hence, my wife was surprised to receive my attested documents on the following week. I put my wife's name as authorized person to receive thus; you don't need to do this procedure by yourself, you can ask anybody to be your representative.

photo for illustration only - UAE embassy stamp  at the back of first page

Normally, it is enough to scan and send softcopy of the first page of DFA red ribbon and the back page where the UAE embassy stamp is attached to the company in UAE where you intend to work since there is a number series indicated above the UAE embassy stamp making it pretty convenient for them to verify your documents.