UAE DOCUMENT VERIFICATION INSTRUCTIONS
In response to the spread of COVID-19 and consistent with the U.S. Government recommendations for social distancing, DocVerifications will not be accepting IN-PERSON legalization requests, EFFECTIVE MARCH 23, 2020. We will continue to process legalization request submitted by MAIL ONLY until further notice. Please refer to the section below, entitled “Verification Requests” for updated instructions for mail submission.
These instructions explain the process and requirements for obtaining verification of documents related to exports from the US to the UAE. Effective October 12, 2015, Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld will be the Embassy of the UAE’s exclusive Verification Agent. The Embassy will not legalize any documents that the Verification Agent has not verified. Please read these instructions carefully before preparing and submitting an export package for Verification review.
UPDATE: Effective May 31, 2017, we will implement the next step in the gradual phase-in of UAE Consulates in the Verification process. Upon completion of verification of documents at Akin Gump in Washington DC, all companies from the listed States below will be required to submit their verified documents to the respective Consulate (if outside of the Washington, DC coverage area). The exporter’s address (and not the State of Incorporation) will determine the location of the company.
The Embassy will no longer accept packages for legalization from companies in States covered by UAE Consulates according to the schedule below.
(Effective May 31, 2017) Consulate Coverage by State
UAE Consulate in Los Angeles: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington State
Houston Consulate: Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Texas
Boston Consulate: Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, Ohio, Vermont
UAE Consulate in New York: Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, New York, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina
UAE Embassy in Washington DC will continue to cover remaining States and will keep parties informed of anticipated State coverage updates to the Consulate list above on an ongoing basis.
The Embassy and Consulate offices will use the exporter’s address as reported on the Certificate of Origin and Commercial Invoices to validate that the package has been sent to the correct location. If a package has been sent to the wrong Embassy/Consulate, then it will be rejected and returned to the company or company representative for proper resubmission.
For example:
ABC Technologies, 123 Smith Place, Patterson, NJ, is a (hypothetical) company with an address in New Jersey. This company’s documents will be verified by Akin Gump’s DC office, and the verified documents must be sent to the UAE Consulate in New York and not to the UAE Embassy in DC as was previously done. If sent to the UAE Embassy in error, then the Embassy will reject the package based on the company addresses as reported in the Certificate of Origin and Commercial Invoices. The company/company representative will be required to resubmit the package to the UAE Consulate in New York.
Please note that you will still need to submit original copies to the Consulate offices—nothing can be sent over fax or email. In order to help accommodate the extra day required for processing, the Consulates will provide a 24 to 48 hour turnaround on their legalization process.
Akin Gump will continue to provide 24-hour regular turnaround and the Embassy will continue its 3-5 day review.
If you have any questions about this process, you may contact an Akin Gump representative at docverifications@akingump.com or 202-416-5250 (voicemail only). Please allow up to 24 hours for a response to your question. For all questions outside of the scope of the process described herein, please contact the UAE Embassy or local Consulate office directly.
TERMS AND CONDITIONS
Each exporter that requests Document Verification Services must complete and submit the UAE Document Verification Terms and Conditions form in advance of, or with its first submission to the Verification Agent. Once the Exporters or their agents have submitted the Terms and Conditions, they do not need to resubmit them with subsequent packages.
VERIFICATION REQUIREMENTS
Country of Origin Certificates: Exporters must submit Certificates of Origin (“COOs”) for each product exported from the U.S. Each COO must be signed by an agent or representative of the exporter and notarized.
The Verification Agent will review every page of the COO if the COO is multiple pages, not just the last page of the COO. If the exporter or its authorized representative requests that any page of the COO not be reviewed, the entire document set will be rejected.
Invoices: Exporters must also submit invoices for each product listed in a COO. Invoices must clearly identify and describe the products listed in the COO. Each invoice must be signed by an agent or representative of the exporter and notarized.
The Verification Agent will review every page of the invoice if the invoice is multiple pages, not just the last page of the invoice. If the exporter or its authorized representative requests that any page of the invoice not be reviewed, the entire document set will be rejected.
Additional Documents: Exporters must separately list any additional documents (e.g., FDA or Halal certificate) submitted for Verification.
Additional Due Diligence: The Verification Agent will not verify any documents that require additional due diligence (e.g., because the transaction potentially involves denied parties or a boycott request). Embassy officials will contact the exporter regarding the specific reason why the Verification Agent could not verify the document.
Rejection: The Verification Agent will not verify documents that do not comply with the Verification Requirements. Unless the documents require additional due diligence, the Verification Agent will stamp each page that could not be verified as “rejected.” The Verification Agent will not stamp documents that require additional due diligence.
VERIFICATION REQUEST
EFFECTIVE MARCH 23, 2020 DOCVERIFICATIONS HAS TEMPORARILY CHANGED ITS PROCEDURES TO BE CONSISTENT WITH THE U.S. GOVERNMENT RECOMMENDATIONS FOR SOCIAL DISTANCING DUE TO THE SPREAD OF COVID-19. AS A RESULT, WE ARE ONLY ACCEPTING VERIFICATION REQUESTS BY MAIL UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.
Below are the requirements for submitting your documents to DocVerifications for legalization. Please note that the legalization process is a two-part process. The first part entails verification by our office, DocVerifications. The second part entails attestation by the UAE Embassy or Consulate in your region. For more information on the UAE Embassy instructions and requirements, please visit https://www.uae-embassy.org/services-resources/legalization-documents/commercial-invoices-shipping-documents.
Verification Request Form: All submissions must include a UAE Document Verification Request Form. Agents may submit one Verification Request Form that covers submissions by multiple exporters. Packets that the Verification Agent cannot completely verify must be resubmitted for review with a new Verification Request Form after the identified issue is remedied. Please provide the entire packet for resubmission, including any Verified documents. The Verification Agent will only review the previously rejected pages, but for record keeping purposes requires the entire package.
Number of Copies:
Please provide one (1) copy of each document submitted for legalization.
Payment: The fee for a First Verification Request is $35/page. Upon submission, please Include a U.S. Postal Money Order, certified check, or company check payable to “DocVerifications”. Companies or agents that submit checks that cannot be processed will be subject to a $200.00 penalty and will have services denied until the penalty is paid. Agents may submit one check per Verification Request Form covering multiple exporters.
In the event we are unable to verify your document, the fee to resubmit a document that we have previously rejected is $10/pg. If you are directing DocVerifications to forward your submission to the UAE Embassy or Consulate in your region, please include a separate cashier’s check or money order for the Embassy or Consulate’s service. (Please note that the Embassy does not accept company or personal checks.) To determine the fees for the Embassy’s attestation, please visit their website, available at https://www.uae-embassy.org/services-resources/legalization-documents/commercial-invoices-shipping-documents.
Requests In-Person(Intake): In response to COVID-19, DocVerifications has temporarily discontinued its in-person intake service. Please see below for instructions on how to submit your request by mail.
Requests by Mail: Exporters, or their authorized agent or representative, may submit requests by MAIL to the following address:
DocVerifications
2001 K Street, NW
Washington, DC 20006
Please direct any questions about submission instructions, operations or closures to docverifications@akingump.com or 202-416-5250. Please be sure to include a pre-paid self-addressed envelope so that all submissions may be returned to the sender. You may have your request forwarded directly to the UAE Embassy or Consulate in your region (please see above for Consulate coverage by region) once the DocVerification staff has completed verifying it. In order to have requests forwarded to the UAE Embassy or UAE Consulate in your region, please also include the following:
1. A pre-paid self-addressed return envelope
2. A pre-paid envelope addressed to the Embassy or regional consulate to which you would like you request forwarded;
3. A check or money order made out to “DocVerification”, covering the fee for the first part of the legalization process; and
4. A check or money order made out to the Embassy or regional Consulate to cover the second part of the legalization process.
We kindly ask that you allow 24-72 hours for all requests to be processed.
Rush Service: Same-day rush service is discontinued until further notice.
PACKAGE RETURN
Absent special circumstances, the Verification Agent will make documents available within 24 hours of their submission. Packages can be picked up between the 10 and 11am, Monday through Friday, holidays, in the street-level main lobby of the Robert S. Strauss building at 1333 New Hampshire Avenue, NW DC. The exporter or its agent or representative must submit the signed package ticket at pick-up. With each returned package, the Verification Agent will provide a Document Verification Form summarizing the reasons for verification or rejection. A verification or rejection stamp will be included on each page of the reviewed packet.