How to Get a MOHESR Equivalency Certificate in the UAE After Attestation (2026 Guide)

If you earned your degree outside the UAE and an employer, a regulator or a university has asked for a MOHESR equivalency certificate, you are in the right place. The Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research (MOHESR) now calls it the Certificate of Recognition, and the digital document it issues is often described as a Recognition Report. All three names refer to the same thing.

Getting one is a two-stage process, and it starts only after your degree is attested. This guide walks through each stage in order: how to get verification done for a Certificate of Recognition, how to apply to MOHESR, the documents you need, the fees, how long each step takes, and the mistakes that cause rejections.

The short answer: (1) attest your degree first; (2) check whether your UAE university is covered by automatic recognition; (3) get the degree verified through a MOHESR verification partner such as DataFlow or QuadraBay; (4) apply for recognition with MOHESR using the verification reference; (5) download the Certificate of Recognition once it is approved. Allow roughly 6 to 10 weeks after attestation. DocuGulf's Certificate of Recognition service handles both stages for you.

Equivalency certificate, Certificate of Recognition, Recognition Report: one document

Until 2024 the service was called degree equivalency, and the result was an equivalency certificate. MOHESR renamed the service Recognition of Higher Education Qualifications, and the result is now the Certificate of Recognition. Employers, HR teams and regulators in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah still ask for "equivalency", and they mean the same document. We explain the rename in Equivalency Certificate vs Certificate of Recognition.

Whatever it is called, it is MOHESR's formal statement that a qualification issued outside the UAE is genuine and is equivalent to a UAE qualification at the same level. It covers diplomas, bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees. School-level (Grade 12) equivalency is a different service, run by the Ministry of Education rather than MOHESR.

Do you actually need a Certificate of Recognition?

Not everyone does. Many private-sector jobs and most standard employment visas only need an attested degree certificate. Recognition becomes necessary when a UAE body has to treat your foreign degree as a qualification it accepts:

• Federal and local government jobs, and most semi-government roles
• Licensed professions (healthcare, engineering, teaching, law and others) where the regulator asks for a recognised qualification
• Admission to a master's or doctoral programme at a UAE university
• Some visa categories and sponsorship rules that depend on education level
• Employers that make it a condition of an offer, a grade or a promotion

If you are not sure which applies to you, see Degree Recognition in the UAE for Jobs and Professional Licensing, or Certificate of Recognition vs Attestation for how the two differ.

Before you begin: finish your degree attestation

Recognition is built on top of attestation, not instead of it. Attestation proves the paper is genuine and admissible in the UAE. Recognition is MOHESR's judgement on what that degree is worth. For most countries the attestation chain is:

1. 1Home-country authenticationNotarisation or university/education-department verification, then the foreign ministry (for India, for example, the MEA).
2. 2UAE Embassy legalisationThe UAE embassy or consulate in the country that issued the degree.
3. 3MOFA attestation in the UAEThe final stamp from the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

An incomplete or out-of-order attestation chain is one of the most common reasons recognition applications stall, so finish it first. Our Document Attestation in the UAE guide covers the full chain, and our attestation service can complete it alongside your recognition. If any document is not in English or Arabic, it also needs a legal translation before it is submitted.

Step 1: Check whether automatic recognition covers you

In January 2026 MOHESR launched automatic recognition for graduates of UAE-based universities. It began with 34 institutions, reached 38 in April and 42 in June 2026, and more are being added. If you graduated from a participating UAE institution, your qualification is recognised without a separate verification, application or fee, and the record can be checked through a QR code.

Automatic recognition does not cover degrees earned abroad, however well ranked the university is. If your degree is from outside the UAE, or your UAE institution is not on the current list, carry on to Step 2.

Step 2: How to get verification done for a Certificate of Recognition

Verification is the first stage, and MOHESR will not assess a qualification until it has been verified. MOHESR's approved verification partners, chiefly DataFlow and QuadraBay, carry out primary-source verification: they contact the university that awarded your degree and confirm that you studied there and hold the qualification you are presenting.

1. 1Open a verification caseCreate an account with the verification partner and choose MOHESR (higher education) as the requesting authority, plus your country of study.
2. 2Upload your documentsPassport copy, degree certificate, the complete transcript for every semester or year, and a signed Letter of Authorisation that lets the partner contact your university for you.
3. 3Pay the verification chargeThe charge depends on the country of study and the number of documents. On a DocuGulf quotation the DataFlow charge for one qualification is AED 370.
4. 4Wait for the university to respondThis is the slowest part and nobody can rush it. Large universities often reply within two to three weeks; smaller or older institutions can take five weeks or more.
5. 5Receive the verification reportYou get a report with a reference number. You will need that reference for the MOHESR application.

Tip: if verification has gone quiet for more than a month, contact your university's registrar directly and ask them to answer the verification request. A verification done for another body (a health authority, a bank or an immigration case) normally cannot be reused for MOHESR, so check before you rely on one.

Step 3: Apply for recognition with MOHESR

With the verification report in hand, the recognition application is submitted through MOHESR's e-services. UAE PASS is the usual way to sign in.

1. 1Select the recognition serviceChoose the recognition of higher education qualifications service and enter your verification reference. Check every auto-filled detail against your passport and certificate.
2. 2Upload the attested documentsThe attested degree, transcripts, the verification report, your passport and, if you live in the UAE, your Emirates ID.
3. 3Pay the MOHESR feeMOHESR's published fees have been AED 100 for a bachelor's degree, AED 150 for a postgraduate degree and AED 200 for a doctorate. Confirm the current amount on the portal before paying.
4. 4Submit and keep the referenceYou can track the application status online with it.

Ministerial Resolution No. 34 of 2025 simplified the process for foreign qualifications. It cut the required documents from 14 to four, and it requires the awarding institution to be licensed and accredited in its home country. For a master's or doctorate, the qualification beneath it is usually assessed as well, so have the bachelor's documents ready too.

Step 4: While you wait, and downloading your certificate

MOHESR's stated processing time is up to 30 working days once a complete application is received. If the Ministry asks for more documents, reply quickly, because an application left unanswered can be closed and you would have to start again and pay again.

The decision is either recognised or not recognised. When it is approved, you download the Certificate of Recognition as a digital document that employers and regulators can check for themselves. There is no physical certificate to collect.

Documents required for the MOHESR equivalency certificate

• The final degree or graduation certificate, attested (original or a legalised copy)
• The full academic transcript or mark sheets for a diploma or bachelor's degree; a thesis abstract for a master's or doctorate
• Passport copy, plus the passport you held while studying if it has changed
• Emirates ID, if you are a UAE resident
• The verification report from DataFlow or QuadraBay
• A legal translation of anything not in English or Arabic
• Clear colour scans (PDF or JPEG), each under 2 MB, which is what the portals accept

Certificate of Recognition fees and processing time

Allow about 6 to 10 weeks from verification to the decision, after attestation is complete. The time goes on the university's reply, not on paperwork, so a quick university can finish sooner and a slow one can take longer. For more detail, see Certificate of Recognition: Cost & Processing Time.

Why MOHESR rejects recognition applications, and what to do

• Accreditation gaps. The institution has to have been licensed and accredited by the competent authority in its country during the years you studied, not only today.
• Undeclared distance or online study. Online, distance or part-time study has to be declared, and it is assessed under its own rules.
• Name mismatches. A different spelling on the degree, the passport and the application causes delays and refusals. Fix it before you file, for example with a name-affidavit or a one-and-the-same letter.
• Missing transcripts. Upload every semester or year, not a summary sheet.
• Incomplete attestation. A missing embassy or MOFA stamp sends the file back.

If your application is refused, you can ask MOHESR to reconsider within three months of the decision. Fees already paid are not refunded, so it pays to check eligibility before you file anything.

How DocuGulf gets your degree recognised

Most delays come from small things: one missing transcript, one name spelled two ways, one stamp in the wrong order. Our MOHESR Certificate of Recognition service exists to catch those before a fee is paid.

1. 1Send us the certificateWe check the institution, the level and the route your case takes, and send you a written quotation.
2. 2Level 1: DataFlow verificationWe prepare and submit the verification and follow up with the university until it answers.
3. 3Level 2: MOHESR applicationWe file the recognition application with the verification in hand. MOHESR's fees are separate, and we tell you what they are before anything is paid.
4. 4Your Certificate of RecognitionWe send you the approved recognition report and keep a copy on your file.

Level 1 starts from AED 550 per qualification: the AED 370 DataFlow charge and our AED 180 service fee. If your degree also needs attestation or translation, we quote and run those in the same job so the stages do not wait for each other. See the Certificate of Recognition service and pricing.

Key takeaways

Key takeaways: The MOHESR equivalency certificate is now called the Certificate of Recognition. It needs an attested degree, then verification through DataFlow or QuadraBay, then a MOHESR application (fees reported at AED 100 to 200 by level, up to 30 working days). Graduates of 42 UAE institutions are recognised automatically, but foreign degrees always go through both stages. Allow 6 to 10 weeks after attestation.

Frequently asked questions

A note on scope: DocuGulf is a documentation facilitation service. All regulated work is performed by licensed notaries, translators and approved typing centres, and we do not provide legal advice. Recognition is granted by the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, not by us. Government fees and rules change, so confirm current figures on the MOHESR portal. Reach us at info@docugulf.com or +971 58 569 3628.