Company POA in Dubai
Corporate power of attorney notarisation for a Dubai company
A company cannot simply sign a power of attorney. The person holding the pen has to be authorised to bind the company, and that chain of authority is checked before a notary public ratifies anything.
- Arabic and English drafting
- Signatory authority checked first
- We attend with you
Corporate power of attorney notarisation, in short
A corporate power of attorney is a written authority from your company to a named agent, ratified before a notary public in Dubai. We draft it, translate it into Arabic, check that the person signing is authorised to bind the company, and attend the appointment with them.
Who signs it
A person authorised to bind the company
Where it is ratified
Before a notary public in Dubai
Notary fee per party
AED 100 under the federal schedule, Dubai Courts sets its own
What a company power of attorney covers
A company power of attorney is a written authority from a company to a named person. It lets that person act in the company’s name on specific matters, such as completing a licence step, filing a trademark, signing a share transfer, collecting documents or appearing in a case. The company remains the principal. The agent only holds what the document gives, and never more than the person who signed it was able to give.
It is not a personal power of attorney with a company name typed at the top. An individual signs for himself and that is the end of it. A company can only act through a human being, so the document has to show who that person is and where the authority to bind the company comes from. That chain is what gets checked, and it is where corporate drafts come unstuck.
Who in the company can actually grant one
A company acts through a person. Before we draft, we ask to see the company papers that show who may sign and for what, so the wording matches the authority that person actually holds. This is our own drafting check, not a published requirement.
1
The trade licence names the company
Start with the current trade licence. It carries the company’s legal name, the licence number, the licensing authority and, in most cases, the manager on record. Every detail written into the power of attorney has to match it, including the spelling of the company name in Arabic. Send us the current licence rather than an old copy, so the names in the document and the names on file agree.
2
The memorandum sets the powers
The memorandum of association, with any amendment to it, says who holds the company and what the general manager may do without asking anyone. Some memoranda give the manager wide authority over day to day business. Others hold back anything touching shares, property, borrowing or litigation and reserve it to the shareholders. Read the memorandum before drafting, not after the appointment is booked.
3
A resolution fills the gap
Where the memorandum does not cover the act, the shareholders or the board pass a resolution that does. The resolution should name the person, name the act and use wording that matches the power of attorney rather than sitting alongside it. A resolution that grants less than the power of attorney asks for is a common reason a corporate draft has to be rewritten.
4
The authorised signatory signs before the notary
The authorised signatory then signs in front of the notary public. The notary verifies identity from an Emirates ID or a passport, checks capacity and consent, and reads out the content of the transaction before ratifying it. Dubai Courts carries out that check by virtual or personal attendance. We attend with your signatory, and the signatory still has to appear before the notary public.
What companies in Dubai grant one for
Six situations that come up again and again for mainland and free zone companies.
Company formation steps
A shareholder abroad can authorise someone here to complete licensing steps, sign forms and collect documents, so the company is set up without the shareholder flying in.
Cover for the general manager
When the general manager travels or leaves the company, a power of attorney lets a named person keep signing the day to day matters the memorandum already allows.
Share sale and transfer
A share transfer is a disposal rather than management, so it needs a special agency that names the shares, the counterparty and the terms being agreed.
A shareholder who lives abroad
A shareholder outside the UAE can sign before an accredited UAE consul, then have the document legalised, so resolutions and filings are not held up by travel.
Trademark filings
Dubai Courts runs a trademark power of attorney with its own terms and asks for the trademark registration certificate, so the filing agent can act for the company.
Tax and accounting work
A company can authorise an accountant or consultant to file and correspond on its behalf, with those matters written out rather than left to a general phrase.
What UAE law says about the scope of authority
Agency now sits in Federal Decree-Law 25/2025, the Civil Transactions Law. Article 869 says an agency may be general, special, conditional or deferred to a future time. Article 870 says any act that is not management and preservation needs a special agency specifying the type of act, and it names sale, mortgage, settlement, acknowledgment, arbitration and pleading before the court. The 1985 Civil Code, and the Article 955 still quoted across the market, is repealed.
Federal Decree-Law 25/2025, Article 871
If the agency is expressed in general terms without specifying what is intended, it shall only grant the agent the power to perform acts of management.
Mainland company or free zone company
Where the company is registered changes the paperwork you bring, not the need for a notary public.
Mainland
Licence and memorandum lead
A mainland company brings its trade licence, memorandum of association and any amendment. The document is drawn in Arabic, so the company name has to read the same way it is licensed.
Free zone
Same notary, different file
Free zone companies use a notary public too. Where the document is ratified in Dubai, the notary sits under Dubai Courts and Dubai Law 4/2013, whichever zone the company is registered in. The DIFC Courts notary service is a separate service, and it covers oaths, affidavits, affirmations, declarations and certified true copies, not powers of attorney.
What to have ready
Three stacks: the company, the people named, and anything arriving from outside the UAE. MOFAIC publishes its attestation charge as AED 150 for individual affairs documents and AED 2,000 for commercial documents, and a commercial power of attorney sits on the commercial side of that list.
Company papers
Current, not expired.
- Trade licence
- Memorandum of association and amendments
- Board or shareholder resolution
- Proof of the signatory’s appointment
The people named
Names spelled as in the passport.
- Signatory’s passport
- Signatory’s Emirates ID
- Agent’s Emirates ID number or passport
- Agent’s full name and contact details
Documents from abroad
There is no apostille route into the UAE.
- Foreign ministry attestation in the issuing country
- UAE embassy or consulate attestation there
- MOFAIC attestation inside the UAE
- Arabic legal translation by a Ministry of Justice translator
What the wording has to name
Article 870 asks for the type of act and the dispositions it entails. A line that grants authority over all company matters does not meet that, and a notary reading it down to acts of management is the outcome.
- The company’s full legal name and trade licence number, exactly as they read on the licence
- The name and position of the authorised signatory, and the document that authority comes from
- The agent’s full name and identity document, spelled as in the passport, not as in the email
- Each act being granted, written out act by act instead of in a single general phrase
- Whether the agent may appoint a sub-agent, and whether that is limited to named acts
- The term the authority runs for, because an agency ends on the term written into it
Why a corporate draft gets sent back
The first list is what we check in the company papers before an appointment is booked. The second is what we check in the document itself.
- The resolution grants less authority than the power of attorney asks for
- The memorandum reserves the act to the shareholders and no resolution was passed
- The company name, licence number or agent’s name does not match the source document
- That the signatory still holds the position on the day of signing
- That the Arabic and the English versions say the same thing
- That every delegated act is named, so a special agency is not read down to management
Frequently asked questions
The questions we are asked most often on this one.
Can a company sign a power of attorney itself?
No. A company acts through a person, so the document is signed by a human being who is authorised to bind it. That authority comes from the trade licence, from the memorandum of association, or from a resolution of the shareholders or the board. The notary public verifies identity, capacity and consent before the instrument is ratified, which is why the chain matters more than the drafting.
Which court makes a power of attorney in Dubai for a business?
In Dubai a business power of attorney is ratified by a notary public sitting under Dubai Courts, or by a private notary registered on the Dubai Courts roll. Dubai Law 4/2013 governs notaries public in the emirate. The Dubai Courts service is the attestation of powers of attorney, and it verifies capacity and eligibility by virtual or personal attendance.
What does notarising a corporate power of attorney cost?
Under the federal fee table in Cabinet Resolution 19/2024, execution or notarisation of a general or special power of attorney is AED 100 per party to the document, and notarising a translation included in the instrument is AED 50 per page. Dubai Courts publishes its own fee schedule, so confirm the current figure with the notary office you use before you budget.
Does a general power of attorney let the agent do everything?
No, and this is the most expensive assumption companies make. Article 871 of Federal Decree-Law 25/2025 says an agency written in general terms, without specifying what is intended, grants only acts of management. Article 870 says anything beyond management and preservation, such as a sale, a mortgage, a settlement or pleading before the court, needs a special agency that names the act.
Does the UAE accept an apostille on a company document?
No. The UAE is not a contracting party to the Hague Apostille Convention, so there is no apostille route into the country and an apostille from the issuing state does not replace anything. A power of attorney signed abroad is attested by the foreign ministry of that country, then by the UAE embassy or consulate there, then by MOFAIC inside the UAE.
Does a company power of attorney have to be in Arabic?
In Dubai, notarial instruments are in Arabic. Dubai Law 4/2013 allows a foreign language document only when a certified translator has translated it, with both versions signed by the parties. Dubai Courts asks for documents translated into Arabic as legal translation approved by the Ministry of Justice. We handle the translation and check the two versions carry the same authority.
How long does a corporate power of attorney last?
There is no general statutory validity period in UAE law. Article 897 of Federal Decree-Law 25/2025 says an agency is extinguished when the work entrusted to the agent is completed, when the term specified for the agency expires, or on the death or loss of legal capacity of either party. Individual authorities can apply their own acceptance rules, so ask the one receiving it.
Can the company cancel it later?
Yes. Article 898 of Federal Decree-Law 25/2025 lets the principal revoke or restrict the agent’s authority at any time, unless the agency involves the right of a third party or was issued in the interest of the agent. Under the same law, revoking the main agency also revokes any sub-agency derived from it. Tell the agent, and tell anyone relying on the document.
Start here
Send us the licence and the memorandum
Start by sending the trade licence, the memorandum of association and a short line about what the agent needs to do. We come back with the authority chain set out, a draft in Arabic and English, and resolution wording where the memorandum does not reach far enough. We then attend the notary public appointment with your signatory. We make the file ready and attend the notarisation with you.
Tell us what the document has to do
Say who will receive it and what you need it to allow, and you will get a straight answer on the wording, the government fees and what to bring. You can also send it through the contact form.
Call us
Speak to the person who will handle your file and get an answer on the same call.
Send photographs of your passport, your Emirates ID and anything the matter attaches to.
Best for a company matter, or anything that runs to several documents.
Visit the office
Jebel Ali area, Sheikh Zayed Road, Dubai. Come in, or have it handled remotely and only turn up to sign.
Opening hours. Monday to Thursday, 9:00 to 18:00. Friday, 9:00 to 12:00. Saturday, 9:00 to 18:00. Sunday, closed.