Guides / Government apps & documents / Attestation
Attesting marriage and birth certificates for Qatar
How to get a foreign marriage or birth certificate accepted in Qatar for a family visa or school place: the stamps you need at home, the Qatar embassy step, translation, and the final attestation by Qatar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA). It also covers certificates issued in Qatar that you need to use abroad.
Last reviewed: 13 October 2026
- Final step
- MOFA attestation in Qatar, online or in person
- MOFA fee
- QAR 100 per marriage or birth certificate, plus QAR 40 Qatar Post if you apply online
- Time
- 3–4 working days at MOFA once all foreign stamps are on; home-country steps often take weeks
- Apostille?
- Not enough on its own: Qatar is not a party to the Apostille Convention
If you want to sponsor your spouse or children in Qatar, the authorities need proof that you are married and that the children are yours. That proof is your marriage certificate and each child's birth certificate, and if they were issued outside Qatar they must be attested: stamped in a fixed chain in the country that issued them, then by the Qatar embassy there, and finally by Qatar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) in Doha. This guide is for residents bringing family on a residence visa, parents registering children at school, and couples or parents who need a Qatari certificate recognised back home. The order matters, because each stamp confirms the one before it. The home-country steps take the longest and are far easier to arrange before you move, so start them early, ideally as soon as you accept a job in Qatar.
Before you start
- The original marriage certificate, in the form your government issues for official use (a civil registration certificate, not only a religious or ceremonial one)
- The original birth certificate of each child born outside Qatar, issued by the civil registry
- Passports of everyone named on the certificates, so you can check that every name matches exactly
- Any document that explains a name difference, for example a passport showing the spouse's married name or an official name-change record
- Copies of both spouses' passports or national ID cards, which many home-country offices ask for
- Your Qatar ID (QID) and a Tawtheeq (National Authentication System) login if you will apply to MOFA online from Qatar
- A Visa or Mastercard for MOFA's online payment
- Clear PDF or image scans of every page and every stamp, each file under 10 MB
- A certified translation into Arabic or English for any certificate written in another language
Step by step
Work out which certificates you need
For a family residence visa you need your marriage certificate to sponsor a spouse and a birth certificate for each child, and both must be attested if they were issued outside Qatar. A child born in Qatar has a Qatari birth certificate, which does not normally need attestation for use inside Qatar. Schools also ask for each child's birth certificate, attested if it was issued abroad. Attest the certificates you will use, not every document you own, and ask your employer's PRO (the staff member who handles government paperwork) if your company has its own list.
Read guide: Bring your family to Qatar →Check the certificate before you spend money
Compare every name on the certificate with the passports, letter by letter. A different spelling, a missing middle name, or a wife's maiden name on the certificate but married name on her passport is the most common reason for questions later. If names differ, fix it now: get a corrected certificate, or carry an official document that links the two names. Also check that you hold the right version. Many countries issue both a religious certificate and a civil registration certificate, and attestation offices usually want the civil one. In Pakistan, for example, the computerised English Marriage Registration Certificate issued through NADRA is the version described as accepted for family visas, alongside the Urdu Nikah Nama.
Get the home-country verification
The first stamp confirms that the certificate is genuine and comes from an official registry. Who gives it depends on the country. In India, personal documents are usually counter-attested by the state government's Home Department (or General Administration Department in some states) before they go to the Ministry of External Affairs. In the UK, a solicitor certifies the document. Some countries let the civil registry itself issue a certified copy that the foreign ministry accepts directly. Check your own country's rules before you start, because skipping this step means the next office will refuse the document.
Have your foreign ministry authenticate it
Next, your country's foreign ministry confirms the stamp or signature from the previous step. In India this is the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), which works through authorised outsourced agencies. In Pakistan it is the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which must attest a Nikah Nama or marriage certificate before the Qatar embassy will. In the Philippines it is the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), which apostilles PSA certificates. In the UK it is the FCDO Legalisation Office, which issues an apostille. An apostille is the foreign ministry's step only; because Qatar has not joined the Apostille Convention, you still need the next two stamps.
Get the Qatar embassy stamp
Send or take the certificate to the Qatar embassy or consulate in the country that issued it. MOFA in Doha checks that the chain of seals ends with a Qatari mission abroad, or with a foreign embassy accredited to MOFA's Consular Affairs Department, so this step is what makes the document usable in Qatar. Each embassy sets its own rules, fees and timings. The Qatar embassy in London, for example, legalises personal documents including marriage and birth certificates for GBP 23 each, only after solicitor certification and an FCDO apostille, and quotes at least 4–5 working days.
Ask whether your embassy in Qatar can do it instead
Some people complete the chain through their own country's embassy in Doha rather than the Qatar embassy at home, because MOFA accepts seals from foreign missions accredited to it. This only works if your embassy actually offers attestation for that type of document, and only after your home foreign ministry has stamped it. Call or check your embassy's website before relying on this route. If it is not offered, use the Qatar embassy at home, or MOFA's completion service in the next step.
Already in Qatar without the foreign stamps?
If your certificate is missing the home-country or Qatar embassy stamps, MOFA's Attestation Completion Service can finish the chain for documents issued outside Qatar. You apply through MOFA e-services or at the Consular Affairs building, DHL collects the original, it is attested at the embassy abroad and then by MOFA, and DHL returns it. Expect it to take longer and cost more than doing it at home: QAR 150 for the service, QAR 120 for the Qatari mission, and the foreign ministry's own fee, which varies by country. Some home-country steps, such as a state verification, still need to be done in that country.
Apply to MOFA online
Once all the foreign stamps are on, go to mofa.gov.qa, open e-services and the Attestation section, and log in with Tawtheeq, Qatar's national login that uses your QID. Choose the service for documents issued outside Qatar and the personal document type, then upload clear scans of every page and stamp (image or PDF, up to 10 MB each). You can add several documents to one application. MOFA normally reviews it within one working day. Seals must be original, certified seals; MOFA notes that seals should carry watermarks.
Read guide: Tawtheeq (National Authentication System): signing up and logging in →Pay and hand over the originals
When the request is approved, pay online by Visa or Mastercard: QAR 100 per marriage or birth certificate, plus QAR 40 for Qatar Post to collect the originals and return them after stamping. Pay promptly, because an approved request is cancelled if the fee is not paid within the set period. A scan alone is not enough; the original must go to MOFA. MOFA says the whole process takes about 3–4 working days.
Or go in person
You can take the originals and copies to the Department of Consular Affairs building in the Diplomatic Area, open Sunday to Thursday in the morning, or to a government service centre that offers MOFA attestation: Al Wakra, Al Hilal, Al Rayyan, Al Shamal, Rawdat Al Hamama, Al Khor, Lusail or The Pearl. Al Wakra, Al Hilal, Al Rayyan and Rawdat Al Hamama also open in the evening (1 pm to 7 pm). Hours change in Ramadan, so check before you go. Bring your QID or passport.
Translate if the certificate is not in Arabic or English
MOFA accepts originals in Arabic or English, or with a certified translation. If your certificate is in another language, such as Urdu, Hindi, Tagalog or French, have it translated by a certified legal translation office and keep the translation with the attested original. For a family visa, upload the translation alongside the certificate in Metrash. Some offices and courts in Qatar may still ask for an Arabic translation of an English document, so ask the office you are dealing with before paying for one.
Use it, and attest Qatari certificates for abroad
Upload the attested certificate to your family visa application in Metrash, the Ministry of Interior's app; DohaGuides reports that the front page and the stamped back page of a marriage certificate are uploaded as separate items. Keep scans of every stamped page for school registration and later renewals. If you married or had a child in Qatar and need that certificate recognised abroad, attest it at MOFA first; your embassy or home authorities may want more. The Philippine Embassy in Doha, for example, asks for a court marriage contract to be translated into English and stamped by the Chamber of Commerce and MOFA, a church marriage to be stamped by the Ministry of Justice and MOFA, and an embassy marriage to be stamped by MOFA.
Read guide: Getting married in Qatar as an expat →
What it costs
| MOFA attestation, marriage certificate or contract (each) | QAR 100 |
| MOFA attestation, birth certificate (each) | QAR 100 |
| Qatar Post collection and return of originals (online requests) | QAR 40 |
| MOFA Attestation Completion Service (documents issued abroad) | QAR 150 |
| Qatari mission fee under the completion service | QAR 120 (plus the foreign ministry's own fee, which varies) |
| Qatar embassy London, personal document (each) | GBP 23 |
| Philippine Embassy Doha: Report of Marriage for a marriage in Qatar | QAR 100 |
Official fees at the time of review. Fees change, so confirm before paying.
Common mistakes
- Attesting a religious or ceremonial certificate when your government's civil registration certificate is the one attestation offices and Qatar expect
- Starting attestation without checking that every name matches the passports, then having the file questioned later
- Relying on an apostille alone; Qatar is not in the Apostille Convention, so the Qatar embassy and MOFA stamps are still needed
- Doing the steps out of order: each office only stamps over the signature of the one before it
- Leaving everything until after arrival in Qatar, when the completion service costs more and takes longer
- Uploading a scan to MOFA and forgetting that the original must be handed to Qatar Post or taken in person
- Paying an agency without a receipt for your originals or a breakdown of official fees versus service charges
- Attesting a child's Qatari birth certificate for a family visa when it is not normally needed inside Qatar
Questions people ask
Does Qatar accept an apostille instead of embassy attestation?
No. As of October 2026 Qatar is not listed as a contracting party to the 1961 Apostille Convention on the Hague Conference's status table. If your country issues apostilles, such as the UK or the Philippines, the apostille counts as the foreign-ministry step, and you still need the Qatar embassy stamp and MOFA attestation.
My baby was born in Qatar. Do I need to attest the birth certificate for the residence permit?
Normally no: a Qatari birth certificate used inside Qatar, for the baby's residence permit or school, does not need MOFA attestation. You will need MOFA attestation if you use it abroad, for example for registration or a passport with your home country, if those authorities ask for it. MOFA charges QAR 100 for a personal document.
Can my own embassy in Doha attest my marriage certificate instead of the Qatar embassy at home?
Sometimes. MOFA accepts a chain that ends with a Qatari mission abroad or with a foreign embassy accredited to it, and some guides say either route works. Whether your embassy offers this for marriage or birth certificates, and what it needs first, differs by country, so check with your embassy before you rely on it.
We had a religious wedding. Which certificate should we attest?
Usually the civil registration certificate issued by your government, because that is what foreign ministries and embassies are set up to verify. In Pakistan, for example, the computerised NADRA Marriage Registration Certificate in English is the version described as suitable for family visas, and you need the Urdu Nikah Nama to get it. If you only have a church, temple or community certificate, ask your civil registry how to register the marriage first.
My wife's name on the marriage certificate is different from her passport. Will it be rejected?
It may be questioned, and recent guidance says differences may need supporting evidence. The simplest fix is a passport or official record that shows both names, or a corrected certificate from the registry. Sort this out before you start attestation, so you do not pay for stamps on a certificate you later have to replace.
Do I need an Arabic translation?
MOFA accepts documents in Arabic or English, or with a certified translation, so an English certificate usually does not need translating for attestation. A certificate in any other language needs a certified translation. Some offices in Qatar may still ask for Arabic, so ask the office that will receive the document.
I am already in Qatar and my marriage certificate has no stamps. What can I do?
Use MOFA's Attestation Completion Service, which sends the original abroad by DHL for the embassy stamp and then attests it in Doha. It costs QAR 150 plus QAR 120 for the Qatari mission plus the foreign ministry's fee. Many people instead ask family or an authorised agency at home to do the home-country steps, which is often quicker.
Does attestation guarantee the family visa will be approved?
No. Attestation only confirms that the seals and signatures are genuine. The family visa still depends on the sponsor meeting the salary, job and housing rules and on the authorities' decision.
Official sources
- MOFA Qatar: birth certificate (personal document) attestation, fee and seal rules ↗
- MOFA Qatar: attestation e-services ↗
- MOFA Qatar: e-services FAQ (timings, centres, payment, translation) ↗
- HCCH: Apostille Convention status table ↗
- Qatar Embassy London: document legalisation ↗
- Philippine Embassy Doha: Report of Marriage (marriages in Qatar) ↗
Always check the official source before acting. QatarSteps is independent and not a government website.