Death Certificate UAE — Emirate-by-Emirate Process for Indian Families

Three Emirates, Three Different Portals

The UAE does not have a single national death certificate issuer. Registration is handled by regional health authorities, and each one has its own digital portal, fee structure, and processing quirks. Getting this wrong — submitting to the wrong authority or failing to request the bilingual version — costs days you do not have.

Abu Dhabi (Including Al Ain and Al Dhafra)

The Department of Health manages vital registration through the TAMM portal. You log in via UAE Pass, upload the clinical death notification, and apply digitally. The first two copies are free; additional copies cost AED 50 per application. TAMM integrates MOFA attestation at checkout for AED 300, so you can legalize the certificate for international use in a single transaction instead of visiting MOFA separately.

Dubai

Dubai Health Authority processes death certificates through its own portal. The initial registration and first bilingual copy (Arabic and English) are free. Replacement or duplicate copies cost AED 70 each. Physical document verification and pickup happen at government hospitals — Dubai Hospital, Rashid Hospital, or Jebel Ali Hospital.

Northern Emirates (Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain, Ras Al Khaimah, Fujairah)

Emirates Health Services handles registration through the EHS Birth and Death Portal. You need a UAE Pass account, the attested hospital notification, and AED 65 per bilingual certificate copy. The physical printed copy must be collected from the public health center in the specific emirate where the death occurred — not from a neighboring emirate.

The Bilingual Version Is Not Automatic

By default, the local health systems generate the death certificate in Arabic only. You must explicitly request the bilingual English-Arabic version during the digital application. If the certificate comes out in Arabic alone, you will need an official legal translation by a translator certified by the UAE Ministry of Justice, which adds time and cost.

Making the Certificate Valid in India

For Indian banks, insurance companies, and courts to accept a UAE death certificate, it must pass through a three-stage legalization chain:

1. Regional health authority verification — handled automatically upon digital issuance.
2. Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) attestation — standard processing takes 2–3 business days via the MOFA digital portal. Fee: AED 150 per document (or AED 300 if bundled through TAMM).
3. Indian consular legalization — the Embassy in Abu Dhabi or CGI in Dubai stamps the MOFA-attested certificate to confirm authenticity for use across Indian government departments.

Skip any of these three steps and the document will be rejected when you try to close a bank account or file an insurance claim in India.

The Indian Dies in the UAE — Family Guide includes the complete portal-by-portal walkthrough with screenshot references, fee tables, and the exact document sequence for each emirate.