Case: Embassy Legalization of Degree and PCC for a UAE Work Visa

Last updated: June 2025 (subject to the latest requirements of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and embassies in China)

This case focuses on a client who obtained a job offer in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The employer required Chinese degree and China Police Clearance Certificate (PCC) documents that had completed a full chain of notarisation + Ministry of Foreign Affairs legalization + UAE embassy legalization. By planning the steps and combining parts of the process, we helped the client complete all required legalization within a tight timeline.

1. Client situation and destination-country requirements

Client D received a formal job offer from a company in the UAE. During the work visa and labour card process, the employer clearly required him to provide a degree certificate and China PCC that had been legalised through Chinese notarisation, Ministry of Foreign Affairs legalization and UAE embassy legalization in China.

The client had a busy work schedule in China and needed to complete the document chain before the employer’s deadline. He had briefly researched the procedures himself, but still felt unclear about the order of each step and how long the whole process would take.

2. Challenges and overall plan

• He needed to handle both degree and PCC documents, and each required a full chain of notarisation and legalization.
• The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and UAE embassy each have relatively fixed processing cycles, so the overall timeline had to be carefully planned.
• There were specific requirements on the language, validity period and issuing authorities for the documents.
• The client could not frequently travel between cities to handle procedures in person.

Based on this, we designed an integrated approach: first complete degree notarisation and PCC issuance, then submit them together for legalization at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the UAE embassy, in order to save time and reduce repeated steps.

3. Detailed handling steps

1. Confirm document list and priorities
   Together with the client and the UAE employer, we confirmed that the final package needed to include: a notarised degree certificate (with translation if required), the PCC and, where required, notarised versions of the PCC. We aligned the document preparation sequence with the employer’s visa process so that key documents would be ready earlier.
2. Degree notarisation
   We helped the client select a notary office experienced in education-related cases to issue a degree notarial certificate, and recommended a Chinese–English bilingual format according to the UAE side’s expectations.
3. PCC issuance and, where necessary, notarisation
   We assisted the client in obtaining a China PCC from the competent public security authority covering the required period, and arranged notarisation when needed, so that it could subsequently be legalised together with the degree.
4. Ministry of Foreign Affairs legalization
   After the notarial certificates and PCC were prepared, we submitted them to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (or its authorised local foreign affairs office) for legalization. Before submission, we again checked that names, ID numbers and document contents were consistent.
5. Legalization at the UAE embassy
   Once the Ministry of Foreign Affairs legalization was completed, we continued with UAE embassy legalization in China. According to the embassy’s current arrangements, we chose either in-person submission or postal handling, and reminded the client of details such as passport validity and signature consistency.
6. Final review and handing over the documents
   After all legalization procedures were completed, we helped the client carefully check each document, including spelling of names, passport numbers, the continuity of the legalization chain and clarity of seals and signatures. Only after confirming everything was in order did we hand over the documents for visa and onboarding use.

4. Timeline and outcome

• Degree notarisation and PCC issuance: usually about 3–5 working days in total.
• Ministry of Foreign Affairs / foreign affairs office legalization: about 4–7 working days.
• UAE embassy legalization: about 5–10 working days, depending on the workload at that time.
• The overall processing time was kept within the client’s expected window, successfully meeting the employer’s onboarding schedule.

5. Suggestions for non-Hague countries

1. Confirm whether the target country is a Hague Convention member state. Non-Hague countries typically require the full chain of “notarisation + Ministry of Foreign Affairs legalization + embassy legalization”.
2. Plan the sequence and estimated processing time of each step, so that delays at any single stage do not affect the overall schedule.
3. When multiple documents such as degree and PCC are needed, consider combining parts of the process to reduce duplicate appointments and courier costs.
4. Confirm with the employer or immigration agent in advance the required language, validity period and whether translated versions are needed.