Abu Dhabi, UAE: Members of the Federal National Council on Tuesday passed a new regulation to prevent people cheating their way into employment with forged university degrees and certificates.

The new bill aims to crackdown on the use of fake degrees and education certificates by citizens and expats to get jobs in government agencies and private firms, or for any other purposes.

Whoever commits any of the following acts shall be punished with imprisonment for a period not exceeding three months, a fine not exceeding Dh30,000, or both penalties:

1. Submit an academic certificate issued by an unlicensed body to obtain the approval of the competent authority;

2. Present an academic certificate issued by an unlicensed party to obtain any work or seek help, permanently or temporarily, of any employer in the country;

3. Publish an academic certificate issued by an unlicensed body in one of the publishing media.

The penalty shall be doubled in the event that the person gets a job or any material or moral benefit based on that certificate.

A penalty of imprisonment for a period not exceeding one year and, a fine not exceeding Dh500,000, or both penalties, shall be inflicted on whoever intentionally commits any of the following acts:

1. Submit a scientific certificate issued by an unlicensed body to obtain the approval of the competent authority;

2. Present an academic certificate issued by an unlicensed party to obtain any work or seek his help, permanently or temporarily, in one of the employers in the state.

3. Publish an academic certificate issued by an unlicensed body in one of the media.

4. Pursuant to a scientific certificate issued by an unlicensed body, he or she obtains a scientific title or any other literary benefit.

A penalty of imprisonment for a period not exceeding two years and a fine not less than Dh100,000 and not exceeding Dh1,000,000, or both penalties, is to be imposed on any employee, who accepts an academic certificate issued by an unauthorised body in any transaction, with his knowledge of the truth of that certificate.

A penalty of imprisonment for a period not exceeding two years and a fine not less than Dh500,000 and not exceeding Dh1,000,000, or one of these two penalties, shall be inflicted on whoever deliberately commits any of the following acts:

1. Issue or participate, in any way, in the issuance of a scientific certificate from an unauthorised body.

2. Advertise or promote any unauthorised body that issues these certificates from inside or outside the country.

The draft law stipulated that in all cases, the court shall order the removal of all benefits obtained by the convict.

The Federal National Council (FNC) committee on education, culture, sports and information affairs said it has remotely discussed the federal draft law amendment on the use of bogus education certificates, especially from foreign higher institutions, to secure jobs in the country.

The proposed tougher legislation, which requires signing into a law by the President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, targets dishonest job seekers and will also punish recruiters and employers, who knowingly accept fake degrees and other certificates.

Current law

Currently, people caught faking certificates can face up to three years in prison under the UAE criminal law.

In 2019, the minister of state for higher education and advanced skills, told the FNC members that 143 fake degrees and certificates from foreign universities were detected by UAE authorities during 2018.

He noted that the federal government and local government in Abu Dhabi require the degrees from foreign universities to be accredited by the ministry before they recruit a person, but in some other emirates private companies don’t request it.

“Before accrediting any certificate, the ministry asks for stamps from parties concerned, for example the embassy of the country where the degree was issued. Then the officials call the university and confirm if the student graduated from there before an equalisation process is done,” the minister said, adding that the ministry was committed to ensuring cases of potential forgery didn’t slip through their net.