If you are planning to work, relocate, or complete professional formalities in Saudi Arabia, you may be asked to provide an authenticated educational certificate. For many professionals, this means completing degree attestation for Saudi Arabia before the qualification can be accepted for its intended official purpose.
The process can seem complicated because a degree issued outside Saudi Arabia may need to pass through several authorities. The exact procedure also depends on the country where the qualification was issued, the type of certificate, and the Saudi authority or organisation requesting it.
At Easy Point Attestation, we assist individuals with degree and educational certificate attestation for Saudi Arabia, helping coordinate the required stages and reduce avoidable delays.
This guide explains how to attest a degree certificate for Saudi Arabia, the documents you may need, the authorities that can be involved, and the common issues to check before starting.
Degree attestation is the process of authenticating an educational document so that its origin and relevant signatures or seals can be formally recognised for its intended use.
If your bachelor’s degree, master’s degree, diploma, PhD, or another academic qualification was issued outside Saudi Arabia, simply presenting the original certificate may not always be sufficient.
The document may first need authentication in its country of origin before being submitted to the relevant Saudi mission.
Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs includes educational documents among the categories handled through its document ratification service. Current Saudi MOFA instructions also state that university certificates and academic records issued outside Saudi Arabia require authentication through the relevant Saudi cultural mission and Saudi embassy, or the nearest Saudi embassy in the country where the certificate was issued.
The precise route should always be confirmed for the country of issue and the purpose for which the degree will be used.
There are several circumstances in which an employer, government department, licensing body, educational institution, or another organisation may request an authenticated qualification.
Degree attestation may be requested in connection with:
Requirements are not identical for every profession or application. Before arranging certificate attestation for Saudi Arabia, it is advisable to confirm exactly which document the receiving organisation wants.
For example, an organisation may request the final degree certificate, while another procedure may also require an academic transcript or additional university documentation.
There is no single attestation route that applies to degrees issued in every country.
However, an overseas educational certificate will generally need to establish a valid chain of authentication from the issuing country through the authorities relevant to its use in Saudi Arabia.
Start by checking the certificate itself.
Your name, university name, qualification, course information, graduation details, and other important information should be correct and consistent with your supporting records.
The document should be genuine and issued by the relevant educational institution.
Do not make alterations to a certificate. Saudi MOFA’s current ratification conditions state that erasures or additions to information appearing on a document or its attestations can be grounds for refusing ratification.
If there is an error in your degree, contact the issuing university before beginning the attestation process.
A foreign degree normally begins its authentication journey in the country where it was issued.
Depending on that country’s system, the certificate may need verification, certification, legalisation, or authentication by one or more competent authorities.
The authorities involved vary considerably between countries. This is one reason why following an attestation process designed for a degree from another country can cause problems.
A UK degree, for example, should not automatically be assumed to follow exactly the same preliminary procedure as a qualification issued in India, Pakistan, the Philippines, the United States, Germany, or another jurisdiction.
Easy Point Attestation can help identify the appropriate route based on the country where your degree was issued.
Educational certificates issued outside Saudi Arabia may be subject to requirements involving the relevant Saudi cultural mission.
Saudi MOFA’s current document-ratification conditions specifically state that university certificates and university academic records issued by educational institutions outside Saudi Arabia should be authenticated by the Saudi cultural mission as well as the Saudi embassy, or the nearest Saudi embassy in the country where the certificate originated.
The exact verification requirements can depend on the jurisdiction, qualification and circumstances of the applicant.
Additional academic documents may therefore be requested during the process.
Once the required preceding authentication stages have been completed, the document can proceed to the appropriate Saudi diplomatic mission, subject to its current requirements.
This stage is commonly referred to as Saudi Embassy attestation or Saudi Consulate attestation.
The purpose is to authenticate the relevant preceding seals or signatures in the document’s chain of legalisation.
It is important to complete earlier stages correctly. Missing authentication, an incorrect sequence, or inconsistent information can prevent the certificate from progressing to the next stage.
Depending on where the document is being processed and its intended use, additional ratification procedures may apply.
Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs operates an electronic document-ratification service covering educational documents and other categories. Applications are submitted through the MOFA electronic system, with the applicable procedure depending on whether the applicant is dealing with a Ministry branch or a Saudi mission abroad.
Because requirements can change, applicants should verify the current procedure before submitting their documents.
Requirements differ according to the country of issue and the authority handling the application. However, you may be asked to provide documents such as:
Do not assume that a degree certificate alone will always be enough.
If your application requires both the degree and academic transcript, arranging the necessary documents at the beginning can prevent unnecessary delays later.
Depending on the relevant authority’s requirements and whether the qualification is eligible for authentication, the process may cover educational documents such as:
Bachelor’s degrees – including qualifications obtained from universities and other recognised higher-education institutions.
Master’s degrees – postgraduate qualifications may require supporting academic information depending on the procedure.
Doctoral degrees – PhD and other doctoral qualifications may also require authentication when being presented for professional or official purposes.
Diplomas and higher educational qualifications – requirements can differ depending on the issuing institution and intended Saudi use.
Academic transcripts – Saudi MOFA’s current conditions specifically refer to university academic records issued outside Saudi Arabia alongside university certificates.
If you are unsure whether your qualification can follow the standard degree attestation Saudi Arabia process, it is best to check before submitting the original document.
These terms are often used interchangeably by applicants, but they can refer to different stages.
Saudi Embassy attestation generally concerns authentication handled through a Saudi diplomatic mission abroad as part of preparing a foreign-issued document for Saudi use.
Saudi MOFA ratification refers to services administered by Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Saudi MOFA states that its document-ratification service covers educational documents, commercial documents, personal-status documents, letters, powers of attorney and marriage contracts. Its current online system also allows applicants to select Ministry offices/branches or Saudi missions abroad as applicable.
Which stages apply to you depends on where the certificate originated and what you need it for.
There is no universal processing time for degree attestation for Saudi Arabia.
The overall timeframe can be affected by:
A straightforward application with complete documents can naturally progress faster than one requiring additional university verification or corrections.
For this reason, it is sensible to begin attestation well before an employment, visa, relocation, or professional-registration deadline.
The total cost varies because degree certificate attestation for Saudi Arabia can involve more than one organisation and, in some cases, more than one country.
Costs may depend on:
Saudi MOFA’s current online ratification conditions list a Saudi MOFA ratification fee of SAR 30 per ratification, with specified exemptions for certain documents belonging to Saudi citizens. This is only one potential component of the overall process and should not be interpreted as the total cost of authenticating a foreign degree.
For an accurate quotation, the document and country of issue should be checked first.
A surprising number of attestation delays are caused by relatively simple issues.
Common problems include an incorrect authentication sequence, missing academic records, inconsistent names, incomplete university details, unclear copies, damaged certificates, missing seals, or submitting a document to the wrong authority.
Another issue is starting the process without checking country-specific requirements.
Saudi MOFA requires documents presented for ratification to contain the necessary chain of preceding authentications, ending with a seal and signature recognised by the Ministry.
Getting the sequence right from the beginning is therefore important.
In some circumstances, an authorised representative or professional attestation provider may be able to coordinate parts of the process.
Saudi MOFA’s current conditions state that documents should be submitted by the person concerned or someone holding an appropriate power of attorney or authorisation from that person.
The ability of an agent to handle individual stages will also depend on the rules of the other authorities involved.
This is particularly useful for applicants who are already living abroad or cannot personally visit different authorities during working hours.
Handling an international educational document can become time-consuming when several authorities are involved.
Easy Point Attestation provides assistance with degree and certificate attestation for Saudi Arabia. We can help you understand the process applicable to your document and coordinate the required stages based on its country of origin and intended use.
Our assistance can include:
Rather than starting with a generic checklist, we first identify where the degree was issued and what it will be used for. This helps establish the appropriate route before the original certificate is submitted.
For a degree issued outside Saudi Arabia, the process generally involves completing the required authentication in the issuing country and satisfying the applicable Saudi cultural mission and Saudi diplomatic mission requirements. Saudi MOFA currently states that foreign university certificates and academic records should be authenticated by the Saudi cultural mission and Saudi embassy, or nearest Saudi embassy, in the country of issue.
Saudi MOFA’s current ratification conditions specifically refer to Saudi cultural mission and Saudi embassy authentication for university certificates and university records issued outside Saudi Arabia. The precise requirements should still be confirmed for your country of issue and intended use.
A transcript or additional university documentation may be required depending on the applicable procedure. Since requirements vary, confirm this before sending the degree for processing.
Higher-education certificates may be eligible for authentication, subject to the issuing institution, country of origin, document type and requirements of the relevant authorities.
Depending on your certificate’s country of origin and the stages required, Easy Point Attestation can assist with coordinating the attestation process and advise which documents are needed before you begin.
If your employer, professional body, government authority, or another organisation has requested an authenticated educational qualification, it is worth checking the requirements before submitting your original certificate.
The correct degree attestation for Saudi Arabia procedure depends largely on where your degree was issued, the qualification itself, and its intended purpose.
Easy Point Attestation can assist you with understanding and completing the relevant degree certificate attestation process, from initial document checking through the applicable authentication and Saudi attestation stages.
Contact Easy Point Attestation today with a copy of your degree certificate and the country where it was issued to check the applicable process, expected timeframe, and cost.
