Certificates
Birth, marriage, divorce and death certificates, and academic records.
Professional Arabic translation in Dubai and the UAE
The language your documents have to end up in
Arabic is the official language of the UAE, and almost every document submitted at an official level here has to be in it. Birth certificates, marriage certificates, academic records, contracts, trade licences and court filings issued in another language must be translated into Arabic by a certified translator before an authority will accept them.
AGATO is a Ministry of Justice certified office. Our translations are recognised and accepted on official and legal platforms throughout Dubai and the UAE, and where a document is going abroad instead we provide the certification that destination requires.
We work in both directions. English to Arabic is the most requested pair in the country; Arabic to English is what expatriates, foreign courts and overseas universities ask for when a UAE-issued document has to travel.
Language pairs we cover
Our most requested Arabic pairs are:
- English to Arabic
- Arabic to English
- Arabic to French
- Arabic to Russian
- Arabic to Chinese
- Arabic to Hindi and Urdu
Other pairs are available too — see all 120+ languages we translate.
About the language
One language, many registers
There are multiple varieties of Arabic spoken in Dubai and across the UAE, all descended from the classical Arabic of the sixth century. Arabic is the official language not only here but in Egypt, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and more than twenty other countries.
That matters for translation because the right register depends on the document. Modern Standard Arabic is the language of law, government, education and the press, and it is what a certified translation uses. Gulf, Egyptian and Levantine dialects belong in marketing, broadcast and voice over, where sounding local matters more than sounding formal.
Arabic also reads right to left, which is a layout problem as much as a linguistic one. Translating a website or a software interface into Arabic means mirroring the whole design, not just replacing the text.
Documents
What we translate to and from Arabic
Personal, legal, corporate and technical — handled by translators who know the subject as well as the language.
Legal documents
Contracts, powers of attorney, court judgments and filings, certified for UAE courts and ministries.
Business documents
Trade licences, proposals, tenders, reports, manuals and corporate filings.
Medical records
Reports, prescriptions, discharge summaries and healthcare licensing documents.
Websites
Localised for the market rather than translated word for word, on any CMS.
Software and apps
Interfaces, strings and help content, tested in language before release.
Video and audio
Subtitles, captions, transcription and voice over.
Personal documents
Driving licences, passports, ID documents and application letters.
Industries
Sectors we serve in Arabic
A translator is matched to the subject, not only the language pair.
Need an interpreter rather than a translator? See interpretation services for on-site, remote and telephone interpreting in Arabic.
How it works
From your document to a certified translation
Five steps, with the price and the delivery time confirmed before we start.
Send your document
Upload a scan or photo, email it, or send it on WhatsApp.
Get a quote
We confirm the certification needed, the fixed price and the delivery time.
Translation
A native Arabic translator with the right subject background does the work.
Review
A second linguist checks names, dates, numbers and terminology.
Delivery
A certified PDF by email, with a stamped hard copy on request.
Why AGATO
Certified, and accepted where it counts
FAQ
Arabic translation questions, answered
Which Arabic should my document be translated into?
For anything official in the UAE, Modern Standard Arabic — that is what courts, ministries and government departments expect, and what a certified translation uses. Dialect belongs in marketing and broadcast work, where Gulf Arabic suits the UAE and Saudi Arabia, Egyptian is the most widely understood across the Arab world, and Levantine suits Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.
Do I need an MOJ certified translation, or is a company certificate enough?
Courts, ministries and government departments in the UAE require a Ministry of Justice certified translation. Universities, employers, banks and most embassies accept a company certified translation. We are an MOJ certified office and issue both, so tell us where the document is going.
Do you provide certified Arabic translation in Dubai?
Yes. Where the document is going to a UAE court, ministry or government department, we provide a Ministry of Justice certified translation, stamped and signed by a licensed translator. For universities, employers, banks and embassies, a certified translation on our company letterhead is normally what is required. Tell us the destination and we will issue the right one.
How long does an Arabic translation take?
Short documents such as a certificate are typically ready in about four hours when we receive them during office hours, Monday to Saturday, 8:00 am to 6:00 pm. Longer documents and rarer subject areas are usually returned within 24 to 48 hours. We confirm the timeline with your quote.
How much does Arabic translation cost?
Price depends on the length of the document, the language pair, the subject and whether you need certification, notarisation or a hard copy. Send us a scan and you will get a fixed price rather than an estimate that moves later.
Are your Arabic translators native speakers?
Yes. Arabic work is done by native speakers of the target language who also have a background in the subject — legal, medical, technical or commercial — because terminology is where a fluent but non-specialist translation comes apart.
Do you need the original document?
A clear scan or photograph is enough for the translation itself. If the authority receiving it requires a stamped hard copy, we produce one for collection at our office on Sheikh Zayed Road or for courier.
Will names be spelled the way they are in my passport?
They will if you send us the passport spelling. Transliterating a name into or out of Arabic has more than one valid answer, and a translation that disagrees with the passport is the most common reason a document is sent back. Send both together and we match them exactly.
Can you provide an Arabic interpreter as well?
Yes. We provide Arabic interpreters for meetings, hearings, medical appointments and conferences, on site across the UAE or remotely. See interpretation services for the modes available.
Is my document kept confidential?
Yes. Access is restricted, handling is secure, and your document is used only for your translation. An NDA is available on request, and it is signed as a matter of course for corporate and legal work.
Related
Other languages and services
English translationEnglish to Arabic and back, certified.
French translationCertified French for legal and business use.
Russian translationCertified Russian for business and legal documents.
Hindi translationCertified Hindi for personal and legal documents.
Chinese translationSimplified and Traditional, by native linguists.
All 120+ languagesEvery language we translate, in one place.