How to Get a Death Certificate in UAE: Step-by-Step for English Speakers

Why the Death Certificate Is the First Bottleneck

Nothing moves without it. You cannot cancel a visa, unfreeze a bank account, file an insurance claim, or ship remains home until you hold an official UAE death certificate — attested and translated. For English-speaking expats, the process trips people up because the issuing authority depends entirely on which emirate the death occurred in, and the system recently changed hands.

The Ministry of Health and Prevention (MoHAP) no longer issues death certificates. As of 2024, the authority shifted to three separate bodies: the Dubai Health Authority (DHA) for deaths in Dubai, the Department of Health via the TAMM portal for Abu Dhabi, and Emirates Health Services (EHS) for the Northern Emirates (Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain, Ras Al Khaimah, and Fujairah).

Step 1: Police Clearance and the Death Declaration

Before any certificate application, the police must clear the case. If the death occurred outside a hospital — at home, in a hotel, or at a workplace — call 999 immediately. Police officers will secure the scene and transfer the deceased to the government forensic morgue.

If the death occurred inside a hospital, the hospital registers the event and transfers the body to the morgue directly.

The forensic doctor or supervising physician at the government morgue evaluates the cause of death and issues a "Death Certificate Declaration." This is not the official death certificate — it is the prerequisite document. If the forensic doctor suspects unnatural causes, the declaration is suspended pending a full autopsy by the Public Prosecution. That can add days.

Once the declaration is issued, present it at the district police station to get it stamped and to receive a police No Objection Certificate (NOC). Without this NOC, no health authority will process your application.

Step 2: Apply for the Official Death Certificate

With the police-stamped declaration in hand, apply through the correct portal:

• Dubai: DHA Smart App or DHA online portal. You can also visit a customer happiness center at Dubai Hospital or Rashid Hospital.
• Abu Dhabi (including Al Ain and Al Dhafra): TAMM portal (tamm.abudhabi) using UAE PASS credentials.
• Northern Emirates: EHS web portal or a designated public health center.

Request both the Arabic certificate (mandatory for all local legal proceedings) and the English certificate simultaneously. If you request the English version later as a separate application, you wait twice.

Fees: AED 65–70 per copy, whether Arabic or English. Budget for at least four copies — you will need them for the bank, the court, the embassy, and MoFA attestation.

Processing time: Typically one working day, assuming the police NOC and forensic declaration are in order.

Step 3: MoFA Attestation

For the death certificate to carry legal weight outside the UAE — or even for some local bank and court proceedings — it must be attested by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA).

Two routes:

• Digital: Through the MoFA Smart App or mofa.gov.ae portal. Costs AED 150 and processes in about two hours. The digital certificate must contain a scannable, high-resolution QR code or the system rejects it.
• In-person or via courier: Through the MoFA office or an authorized EGSH typing center. Costs AED 300 and takes one to three working days.

The digital route is dramatically faster and cheaper. Use it if the certificate's QR code scans cleanly.

Step 4: Embassy Registration

After MoFA attestation, take the attested certificate to your home country's embassy or consulate in the UAE. The embassy will register the death under home-country law, cancel the deceased's passport, and issue a consular NOC — the document required before the body can be buried, cremated, or repatriated.

Most embassies handle this same-day (one to four hours). You will need the deceased's original physical passport.

Common Problems That Cause Delays

Wrong emirate portal: Applying through DHA for a death that occurred in Sharjah gets rejected. Verify the emirate before applying.

QAID number retrieval failure: The health authority system relies on a central notification number (QAID) generated when the forensic morgue logs the case. If the hospital or morgue failed to push this to the central database, the portal cannot find the record. Follow up directly with the morgue administration.

Autopsy hold: If the Public Prosecution orders a forensic investigation, the declaration is frozen. There is no way to accelerate this — you wait for the investigation to conclude.

What the Certificate Unlocks

Once you hold an attested, bilingual death certificate, the rest of the administrative process can begin: visa cancellation for dependants, the employer's 10-day gratuity settlement clock, insurance claims, and eventually probate. Every step downstream requires this document.

For a complete, step-by-step walkthrough covering the full process from day one through estate settlement — including the bank freeze, visa grace periods, repatriation logistics, and probate options — the Someone Died in UAE: English Speaker's Emergency Guide covers everything in one place.

See more UAE guides →