For the receiving party
How to verify a Dubai power of attorney
Someone has handed you a power of attorney and expects you to act on it. This page is written for you, the person on the receiving end, not for the person who signed it.
- What to check first
- Why genuine can lapse
- Who can confirm it
Quick answer for the receiving party
You cannot confirm a Dubai power of attorney by looking at it. You check the face of the document for the things that decide whether it covers your transaction, then ask the office that ratified it, or a lawyer, to confirm the rest.
Who ratifies it
A notary public under Dubai Courts
Governing law
Federal Decree-Law 25/2025, Articles 866 to 903
How it ends
Term expiry, death, lost capacity, revocation
What a power of attorney is doing here
A power of attorney is an agency contract. One person, the principal, authorises another, the agent, to act in their name. In Dubai the document only carries weight once it has been ratified before a notary public. Notarial duties are reserved by Federal Decree-Law 20/2022 to public notaries, private notaries and accredited UAE consuls, and Dubai runs its own notaries under Dubai Law 4 of 2013, which sits under Dubai Courts.
When you accept a power of attorney you are letting one person sign in another person’s name. Forgery is the rare problem. The common problem is a document that was correctly ratified on the day and has since ended, because nothing on the paper changes when that happens. So verifying a power of attorney in Dubai is two questions, not one: does it cover this act, and is the authority still alive?
What to check on the face of the document
None of this tells you the document is good. It tells you which questions to ask, and which office to ask them of.
The Arabic text
Dubai Law 4 of 2013 requires notarised instruments to be in Arabic. A foreign language document is allowed only with a certified translation, and both versions signed by the parties.
General or special
Article 869 splits agency into general, special, conditional and deferred. Article 870 requires a special agency that names the act for sale, mortgage, settlement, acknowledgement, arbitration and pleading in court.
The acts it names
Article 871 says an agency written in general terms grants only acts of management. If the document does not name the act you need, ask before you rely on it.
Any term and date
Article 897 ends an agency when the term specified in it expires. There is no general statutory validity period in UAE law, so the term is whatever the document itself says.
Names and identity numbers
Full names and Emirates ID or passport details for principal and agent. Article 7 of Federal Decree-Law 20/2022 requires the notary to verify identity from an ID card or passport.
The ratifying office
Dubai Courts, a private notary office on the Dubai Courts Roll, the Ministry of Justice, or a UAE consulate abroad. Whichever is named is the body that can speak to it.
Genuine is not the same as still in force
This is the point that matters most, because forgery is rare and a lapsed document is not. Article 897 of Federal Decree-Law 25/2025 extinguishes an agency on completion of the work, on expiry of its term, and on the death or loss of legal capacity of either the principal or the agent. Article 898 lets the principal revoke at any time, and Article 903 revokes every sub-agency with it. The paper does not change.
Federal Decree-Law 25/2025, Article 897
An agency shall be extinguished in the following cases: 1. Completion of the work entrusted to the agent. 2. Expiry of the term specified for the agency. 3. Death of the principal or their loss of legal capacity. 4. Death of the agent or their loss of legal capacity.
How to check it, step by step
Work through these in order. Stop at the first one that does not give you a clear answer.
1
Match the document to the act
Read the acts named in the power of attorney against the exact thing you are being asked to accept. A sale, a mortgage or a court filing each need naming.
2
Ask for the original and the ID
Ask to see the ratified original rather than a photograph, alongside the agent’s Emirates ID or passport. Check the name and the number against the person in front of you.
3
Go back to the office named on it
The body that ratified the document is the one that can speak to its status. Take it there, or to a lawyer who can take it there for you.
4
Ask the principal to confirm in writing
Ask the principal to confirm directly that the agency stands and has not been revoked. If nobody can reach the principal at all, that is a reason to pause.
Who can confirm it, and who cannot
There is a short list of bodies whose word counts here, and a long list of people whose word does not.
Can confirm
The office that ratified it
Dubai Courts, a private notary office on its Roll, the Ministry of Justice, or the UAE consulate that issued it abroad. Take the document to the body named on it.
Cannot confirm
Anyone simply reading it
A translator, a typing centre, a courier or the agent holding it cannot tell you the agency still stands. Nor can we. We read the wording and we go with you.
What should slow you down
The first group is worth a closer look before you go further. The second is a reason to stop and ask.
- Only a scan or photograph is offered, never the original
- The act you need is not named anywhere in the text
- There is no Arabic text and no certified translation with it
- You have reason to think the principal has died
- The holder is a sub-agent under another power of attorney
- It was issued abroad with no attestation chain on it
What to ask for, by where it came from
Ask for different things depending on where the document was ratified. For property, Dubai Land Department applies its own acceptance rules on top of these.
Ratified in Dubai
Ask the holder for all four
- The ratified original, not a photograph
- The agent’s Emirates ID or passport
- The Arabic text and any translation
- The name of the ratifying office
Issued outside the UAE
The chain has three links, in order
- Foreign ministry of the issuing country
- UAE embassy or consulate in that country
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs attestation in the UAE
- A legal translation into Arabic
Used for a property deal
Dubai Land Department sets extra conditions
- The sale or mortgage named in the text
- The title deed the document refers to
- Emirates ID or passport for both sides
- The date the power of attorney was issued
Frequently asked questions
The questions we are asked most often on this one.
Can I verify a Dubai power of attorney online?
We cannot point you to a public lookup that will confirm a Dubai Courts power of attorney. The Ministry of Justice operates a system it calls the E-Notary System, but that is the federal route, and Dubai runs its own notaries under Dubai Law 4 of 2013. Take the document to the office named on it.
The document looks genuine. Is that enough?
No. A power of attorney can be correctly ratified and still be dead. Article 897 of Federal Decree-Law 25/2025 extinguishes an agency on completion of the work, on expiry of the term specified in it, and on the death or loss of legal capacity of either the principal or the agent. None of that marks the paper in your hand.
Can the principal cancel it without telling me?
Article 898 of Federal Decree-Law 25/2025 lets the principal revoke or restrict the agent’s authority at any time. The exceptions are where the agency involves a right of a third party, or was issued in the agent’s interest, in which case the principal needs the consent of the person it was issued for. So in most cases, yes.
What if the principal has died?
Article 897 lists the death of the principal, and the loss of legal capacity, among the events that extinguish an agency. Nothing is stamped or reissued when that happens, so the document in front of you will look exactly the same. If you have any reason to think the principal has died, do not act on it until someone who can confirm the position does so.
Does a general power of attorney allow a property sale?
Not on its own. Article 871 says an agency expressed in general terms grants only the power to perform acts of management. Article 870 requires a special agency naming the type of act for sale, mortgage, settlement, acknowledgement, arbitration and pleading before a court. Read the document for the act you actually need, not for its title.
Is an apostille enough for a foreign power of attorney?
No. The UAE is not a contracting party to the Apostille Convention, so there is no apostille route into the country. A power of attorney issued abroad needs attestation by the foreign ministry of the issuing country, then by the UAE embassy or consulate there, then by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs inside the UAE.
Some sources cite Article 955 for revocation. Should I?
No. Article 955 comes from Federal Law 5 of 1985, which Federal Decree-Law 25/2025 repealed. Agency now sits at Articles 866 to 903, and revocation at Article 898. If a document, a letter or a website you are relying on still cites the 1985 Civil Code, treat that as a sign the content has not been kept current.
Does a DIFC Courts notarisation cover a power of attorney?
The DIFC Courts Notary Service covers oaths, affidavits, affirmations, declarations and certified true copies. Power of attorney is not on that published list. The service also states that acceptance, recognition and validity elsewhere remain subject to the laws and discretion of the receiving authority. Treat it as a separate route, not as a substitute for onshore ratification.
Start here
Send us the document before you act on it
Ratification happens before a notary public. What we do is read the Arabic text against the act you are being asked to accept, tell you plainly what the document does and does not authorise, arrange a legal translation where one is needed, and attend with you at the office that ratified it. If the wording does not cover the act, you will hear that from us.
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.