UAE Import Invoice Attestation: The AED 10,000 Rule

Commercial invoice attestation for imported goods is a Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) process, not a VAT invoice approval by the Federal Tax Authority. MoFA says electronic attestation applies to goods imported into the UAE with a value of AED 10,000 or more. An importer should first identify the shipment, its bill of entry and the commercial invoice to determine whether the eDAS 2.0 process applies.

What is the AED 10,000 import-invoice rule?

The threshold concerns the value of imported goods. MoFA identifies Cabinet Resolution No. 38 of 2022 as the basis for mandatory electronic attestation from 1 February 2023. This is separate from the AED 10,000 threshold sometimes mentioned for simplified UAE VAT tax invoices. A customs commercial invoice and a domestic VAT tax invoice serve different purposes and should not be conflated.

MoFA guidance says the importer has 14 days from the bill-of-entry date to proceed with pre-approval attestation. Its published guidance describes an AED 500 fine per invoice if that step is missed. Check the live eDAS account for the exact transaction, exemptions and payment status; do not apply an old blog date to a new shipment.

How does eDAS 2.0 work?

A business registers its primary account using its trade licence, manages authorised users through UAE Pass, reviews the imported invoice or certificate-of-origin data, submits the request and pays through the MoFA service. The result is a digitally attested record and payment receipt. The current MoFA service page lists a fee of AED 150 per invoice or certificate of origin. The platform and customs data should be reconciled before payment.

• Match the importer, invoice number, supplier, value and shipment to the bill of entry.
• Confirm whether the document is a commercial invoice for imported goods or a certificate of origin.
• Keep the eDAS attestation, payment receipt and customs entry with the shipment records.
• Review a rejected or unmatched transaction with the responsible customs and MoFA channels before resubmitting.

Does attestation replace VAT or customs compliance?

No. MoFA attestation does not itself determine customs classification, duty, import VAT recovery or the entries in a VAT return. The importer should separately reconcile the customs registration number with its FTA tax registration number, bill-of-entry data, supplier invoice and accounting records. SAIF can help organise these records and review their accounting and VAT treatment while the authority decides the attestation request.

Check the current MoFA commercial invoice attestation service before acting on a particular shipment.