American consular services in the UAE

Which US office to use in Dubai or Abu Dhabi, what a passport renewal or notary appointment actually costs, how to vote from overseas, and who to call in a real emergency.

Use this guide if you're an American in the UAE who needs a passport renewal, a notary appointment, help voting from overseas, or an emergency contact after hours. It covers which office to use, what a passport renewal actually costs, notary services, voting, and where to call if something goes wrong.

Which office handles what

The State Department runs two American Citizen Services offices in the UAE: the U.S. Embassy in Abu Dhabi and the U.S. Consulate General in Dubai. More than 50,000 Americans lived in the UAE as of a 2015 estimate, according to Wikipedia's tally of the community, with most in Dubai and roughly 5,000 more attached to Al Dhafra Air Base outside Abu Dhabi.

The Dubai consulate sits at the corner of Al Seef Road and Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Road, a short walk from the Khalid Bin Al Waleed Metro station. The Abu Dhabi embassy is on Airport Road at Rabdan Street, in the capital's Embassies District. Use whichever is closer, though either office can usually handle a routine passport or notary case regardless of where you live.

Both work by appointment only. The online booking system is the only door in — showing up without one gets you turned away, no matter how routine the errand.

Neither office touches your UAE-side paperwork. Visas, Emirates ID, and work permits stay with UAE authorities — the consulate and embassy only handle what's American: passports, notarial acts, voting, and citizen welfare. Bringing a UAE visa question to the consulate just gets you redirected to GDRFA or your employer's PRO.

Renewing an American passport

An adult passport book renewal costs 130 US dollars (481 dirhams) and produces a book valid for ten years. Budget four to six weeks for the new passport to arrive once the embassy has your paperwork — longer if you're renewing during the summer rush, when half the expat community seems to remember its passport is expiring at once.

Eligible renewals don't need an appointment at all. You can mail the application using form DS-82, or drop it in the consulate's drop-box instead — open Monday to Thursday from 8 am to 4 pm, and Friday from 8 am to 11 am. Other passport services, including first-time applications, go through the same online appointment system as everything else.

Keep a digital copy of your passport's photo page and your UAE visa page somewhere you can reach without the physical document — a lost passport is a headache; a lost passport with no backup copy is a much longer one.

Notary services and document requests

Both offices offer routine notary services for 50 US dollars (185 dirhams) a document, strictly by appointment through the same online system used for passports. Bring the document unsigned — a notary has to watch you sign it, not just stamp something you already filled out at home.

If a UAE employer, bank, or government office asks for a document to be attested rather than notarized, that's a separate process run through the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs, not the U.S. mission. Ask whichever UAE body wants the document which route it actually needs before you book anything — a notarized power of attorney and an attested one aren't interchangeable, and the wrong stamp means starting over.

Common reasons Americans book a notary slot here: a power of attorney for a property sale back home, an affidavit for a UAE bank or school, or a signature witness on a document a US institution won't accept without one. None of these are complicated, but all of them need the original signer physically in the room.

Voting from the UAE

Living in the UAE doesn't cost you a vote. File a Federal Post Card Application (FPCA) through FVAP.gov every calendar year to register and request ballots for federal elections — most states will also mail you state and local ballots on the same request.

For UAE-specific questions, Abu Dhabi's Voting Assistance Officer is reachable on +971 2 414 2200 or VoteAbuDhabi@state.gov, and Dubai's on +971 4 309 4000 or VoteDubai@state.gov. The Federal Voting Assistance Program itself takes calls toll-free on 1-800-438-VOTE for anyone unsure which state's rules apply to them.

Emergency help and after-hours contact

For a genuine emergency involving a US citizen — an arrest, a death, a lost passport ahead of a flight — call the Dubai consulate's number, +971 4 309 4000, which stays staffed for emergencies outside normal office hours. From inside the US or Canada, the State Department's Consular Affairs Call Center is reachable on 1-888-407-4747, or 1-202-501-4444 from anywhere else.

None of that replaces calling 999 first for an actual UAE emergency in progress — police, ambulance, or fire. The consulate steps in afterward, for the parts of the process that touch your US citizenship specifically: notifying family, visiting someone detained, or replacing a passport that's gone missing.

Before you go

Confirm your appointment type and required documents on the embassy's own booking system before you travel across the city for it — a passport renewal appointment and a notary appointment aren't interchangeable, and turning up for the wrong one wastes the trip. Keep the consulate's number saved in your phone rather than searching for it after something's already gone wrong.

💬 Have you used the Dubai consulate or Abu Dhabi embassy for a passport renewal or notary appointment? Tell us how the appointment system worked for you.