Quick answer: Yes — fax is still widely used in the UAE, especially in legal, finance, healthcare and government offices that need a secure, official paper trail. You can fax the traditional way (a landline machine, or a business centre or print shop for a per-page fee of roughly $2) or, more easily, online: an app like Municorn Fax turns your phone into a fax machine, needs no machine or phone line, and sends to over 90 countries.
Fax hasn’t gone away in the UAE. Government departments, banks, law firms and clinics still ask for faxed documents, mostly because a fax leaves them a signed page and a delivery record on file. You’ve got two routes: the traditional machine (or a shop that sends one for you), or an online service that runs off your phone.
Traditional Faxing Methods in the UAE
Fax machines. The classic way is a physical machine wired to a telephone landline. In the UAE that means a landline from a provider like Etisalat or Du plus a fax-capable machine or all-in-one printer. It works, but it isn’t practical for most people: buying and maintaining a machine for occasional use is costly, and it’s slower than digital — you dial the number, wait for the connection, and feed pages through one at a time.
Business centres and shops. If you don’t own a machine, business centres, print shops, courier offices and hotel concierge desks will send a fax for you for a fee. A FedEx or UPS office or a local print shop can handle it, but they charge per page — often around $2, with extra for long-distance or international faxes. For a multi-page document or an overseas fax the cost adds up, and you still have to travel there and wait your turn. It works in a pinch. It isn’t convenient. Either way you need your own equipment or a “fax near me” service, paid by the page.
Modern Digital Faxing Options in the UAE
You don’t need a machine or a phone line to fax. Three online methods cover it:
- Mobile fax apps. The easiest, most flexible option is a fax app on your phone. With the Municorn Fax app you use your phone’s camera to scan paper and send it as a fax, or send a file (PDF, Word, photo) straight from your phone or cloud storage. It dials over the internet, so no phone line is needed, and it notifies you the moment your fax lands. Scan a signed document and fax it to Abu Dhabi or New York without leaving your desk.
- Email-to-fax. You can send a fax straight from your email: compose a message, attach the document, and send it to a special fax address that turns it into a fax at the other end. If you can send an email, you can send a fax — ideal when you’re already at your computer. You’ll need an email-to-fax service such as EveryFax.
- Web fax portals. Most providers also offer a browser dashboard: log in from any computer, upload a PDF or image, enter the fax number and hit send. Same features as the app — attachments, a cover page, sent history and status updates — on a bigger screen, with nothing to install.
All three run on an online fax service behind the scenes. Municorn Fax supports every one — email-to-fax, a web portal and mobile apps — so you can pick whatever suits you. Most people in the UAE find the app the quickest.
How to Send a Fax in the UAE Using Municorn Fax
Here’s the send flow from the Municorn Fax app, step by step. It’s identical on iPhone and Android, and takes a couple of minutes.
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Download the app
Get Municorn Fax from the App Store or Google Play, install it and open it.
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Sign up and pick a plan
Create an account, then choose a plan — Municorn Fax is $9.99/week. Cheaper than buying and maintaining a machine, and every plan includes unlimited sending plus a personal fax number for receiving.
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Get your fax number
During setup the app helps you claim your own fax number — usually with a choice of country and area code. That’s the number others fax you on, and it’s live within minutes.
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Prepare your document
Start a new fax and attach what you’re sending:
- Scan with the camera — photograph each page in good light and the app makes fax-ready pages.
- Attach a file — a PDF or image from your phone, Google Drive, OneDrive or Dropbox.
- Add a cover page — optional, with a subject or note via a cover sheet.
Attach as many pages as you need — there’s no extra charge for length — then check everything’s legible.
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Enter the recipient’s number
For a UAE fax, use the local number with area code — a Dubai line looks like
+9714XXXXXXX(+971 is the country code, 4 is Dubai). For another country, add its code or pick it from the drop-down. One wrong digit and the fax won’t arrive, so enter it carefully. -
Send and confirm
Tap Send and the app transmits over the internet — no fax tones, no standing by a machine. When it goes through it’s marked Delivered with a timestamp, your proof of delivery. If the line was busy or the number wrong, you get a failure notice and can retry. Usually done in a minute or two.
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Check your inbox (optional)
Any fax sent to your personal number lands in the app’s Inbox, like email. Tap to read or download it, then forward it or save it to the cloud — pick up your faxes wherever you are.
First-time users may take a minute to find their way around, but the app prompts you through each step.
Making Faxing Easy in the UAE
An online service also does things a machine never could: every fax kept in secure cloud storage, a searchable history, and a delivery status on each one. Fax a local Abu Dhabi number or an overseas one and it’s the same process either way. Heading elsewhere in the region? Our guide to faxing in Israel covers the same ground.
