Family power of attorney
Child Travel Power of Attorney in the UAE
Your child may be flying with one parent, with a grandparent, or with a school group. We draft the authority, translate it, check every name against the passports and attend the notary appointment with you.
- Drafted in Arabic
- MOJ registered translation
- We attend with you
What a child travel power of attorney does
It is a written authority from a parent naming the adult who may take the child on a trip and act for the child while away. What an airline or a destination authority will ask to see varies, so check with the carrier and with the destination before you travel, and we draft the document to match what they tell you.
Notary fee
Set by the office that ratifies it, federal or Dubai Courts
Language of the deed
Arabic, with a certified translation attached
Where it is signed
Before a notary public
What this document is, and what we do
A child travel power of attorney is an agency document. A parent names an adult who may travel with the child and sets out what that adult may do on the trip. Under the Civil Transactions Law, an agency written in general terms gives only acts of management, and anything beyond that needs a special agency that spells out the acts. So the wording has to be specific.
Our lawyers and legal consultants take your instructions, draft the wording in Arabic, arrange the legal translation through a translator registered with the UAE Ministry of Justice, check the spellings against the passports and attend the appointment with you. The ratification happens before a notary public, who checks identity, capacity and consent and reads the content out to the parties.
When parents ask us for one
These are the trips that bring parents to us. The instrument is the same kind of document each time, but the wording changes with who is travelling and where.
One parent travels, one stays
The mother takes the children to see family for the summer while the father stays in the UAE for work. The consent comes from the parent who is not flying.
A grandparent or an aunt
Grandparents collect the children at the start of the holidays and fly home with them. The adult at the desk is not a parent, so the document names them and their relationship.
A school or club trip
The school takes a group abroad and asks each family for a signed consent. We name the trip, the organiser and the member of staff who holds the children’s passports.
One passport, a residence visa from here
The child holds the passport of one country and a UAE residence visa. Both are written into the document, so the child’s nationality and UAE residence are on the face of it if either is queried.
Parents in two countries
One parent lives outside the UAE and cannot come to the notary here. That parent signs where they are, and the document is attested before it is used in the UAE.
The return leg
The journey home is easy to forget. Write dates that run past the return flight, with room for a changed booking, so the document still covers the child on the way back.
Who signs, and who travels
The answer turns on which adult will be standing at the airport with the child. Work that out first, because it sets the wording and the names that go into the deed.
With one parent
The other parent gives the consent
The child flies with the mother or the father. The parent who stays behind signs the authority, naming the travelling parent, the destination and the dates of both legs.
With neither parent
The travelling adult is named in full
A grandparent, an aunt or a member of school staff takes the child. Both parents usually sign, and the adult is named with the passport number and the relationship to the child.
What the wording should name
General phrases cause the arguments. Every line below is a detail we ask for before drafting, because a missing number or a different spelling is what creates a question at the desk.
- The child’s full name exactly as written in the passport, in the same order and the same spelling.
- The child’s date of birth, nationality and passport number, with the Emirates ID number if the child holds one.
- The travelling adult’s full name, passport number and relationship to the child, written the same way in Arabic and in English.
- The outbound date, the return date and a margin either side, so a changed flight does not fall outside the term.
- The countries the child will visit, including any country where the group stops or changes planes.
- Each power granted, written out one by one, rather than a single sentence saying the adult may act for the child.
What we ask to see before drafting
We read the documents, copy the details across exactly and tell you if something does not match before you book the appointment.
From the parents
Originals and clear copies.
- Passport photo page for each parent who will sign
- Emirates ID for a parent resident in the UAE
- A contact number that works while the child is away
- Any court order that has been made about the child
For the child
Names have to match the passport.
- Passport photo page, showing the spelling we will copy
- Residence visa page if the child lives in the UAE
- Emirates ID if one has been issued to the child
- Birth certificate naming both parents
For the travelling adult
Whoever is at the airport with the child.
- Passport photo page and nationality
- Emirates ID or residence visa, if they live here
- Relationship to the child, in plain words
- School or club letter naming the member of staff
How the document is made
Four stages, and we stay with you through all of them. Only the signing itself has to happen in front of a notary public.
1
Tell us the trip
Who is flying, which adult is with the child, which countries, which dates, and which parent will sign. A short call is usually enough to start the draft.
2
We draft and translate
The deed is drawn in Arabic, with the legal translation prepared by a translator registered with the UAE Ministry of Justice. You read both versions and confirm every name and number.
3
Signing before the notary public
Dubai Courts attests signatures with the parties attending in person or virtually. The notary checks identity from the passport or ID card, checks capacity and consent and reads the content out.
4
Attestation, if it is needed abroad
If the authority at the destination asks for attestation, we handle it through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The published fee for an individual affairs document is AED 150.
Using it outside the UAE, and signing from outside
There is no apostille route into or out of the UAE. The country is not a contracting party to the Apostille Convention, so a document is legalised through the consular chain instead. For a deed made here, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation attests it, and the UAE mission in the destination country can attest it after that. Ask the destination authority what it wants before you pay for anything.
If one parent is outside the UAE
The parent abroad signs there. The document is then attested by the foreign ministry of that country, by the UAE embassy or consulate there, and by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation here. An apostille on its own does not replace that chain.
What causes a problem, and what prevents it
On the left, the details that cause a question later. On the right, the same details handled at the drafting stage, where they cost nothing to fix.
- A name spelled one way in the passport and another way in the deed.
- A term that ends on the date of the return flight, with no margin for a delay.
- General wording that does not name the adult, the countries or the powers.
- Passport spellings copied character by character, middle names included.
- A term that covers the outbound leg, the stay and the journey home.
- Each power written out, in Arabic, with the approved translation attached.
Frequently asked questions
The questions we are asked most often on this one.
Does a child travel power of attorney have to be in Arabic?
In Dubai, notarial instruments are drawn in Arabic. A document in another language is accepted when a certified translation is attached and both versions are signed by the parties. Dubai Courts asks for legal translation by a translator approved by the UAE Ministry of Justice, which is why we provide the translation as part of the drafting.
Do both parents have to sign?
There is no single answer we can give for every airline and every border. Requirements vary by airline and by destination, so ask the carrier and the destination authority what they want to see. In practice, when the child travels with neither parent, families usually have both parents sign, and we draft it that way unless you tell us otherwise.
How long does it last?
There is no fixed period set by statute. The Civil Transactions Law refers to the term specified in the agency, so the term is whatever the document says. It also ends when the work is complete, or on the death or loss of capacity of either party. For a trip, we write dates that cover both legs with a margin.
What are the notary fees?
The federal schedule sets AED 100 per party for executing or notarising a general or special power of attorney, and AED 50 per page for notarising a translation included in the instrument. A private notary charges the same fee plus thirty percent. Dubai Courts sits outside that schedule and publishes its own fees, so check the current figure.
Can a parent outside the UAE sign one?
Yes. The parent signs in the country where they are, and the document is then attested by that country’s foreign ministry, by the UAE embassy or consulate there, and by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation in the UAE. The UAE is not a party to the Apostille Convention, so an apostille does not replace that chain.
The child’s surname is different from mine. Does that matter?
It is worth planning for. Copy the names into the deed exactly as the passports print them, including middle names and the order they appear in, and state the relationship in plain words. Bring the birth certificate that names both parents. Where the names do not link on their face, the connecting document is what answers the question.
Can I cancel it if the trip is called off?
Yes. Under the Civil Transactions Law the principal may revoke or restrict the agent’s authority at any time, subject to limited exceptions where a third party’s right is involved or the agency was issued in the agent’s interest. Tell the named adult, collect the copies back, and keep a record of when you told them.
Is this the same as a custody document?
No. A travel authority says who may take the child on a named trip and what that adult may do. It is not a decision about custody or guardianship. If a court has already made an order about the child, show it to us before we draft, so the wording stays inside what the order allows.
Start here
Tell us about the trip
Send us the travel dates, the name of the adult who will be with the child and a photograph of the passport pages. We will tell you what the wording needs to say, what the notary will ask for on the day and how to check with the destination authority whether attestation is needed. Nothing is signed until you have read both versions.
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.