After the document arrives
Using a foreign power of attorney in the UAE
A power of attorney signed abroad does not become a UAE instrument just because the attestations are finished. It still has to be in Arabic, and it still has to name the act.
- Arabic by registered translator
- Broad wording fails
- The receiving body decides
Is a foreign power of attorney valid in the UAE?
There is no blanket yes or no. A foreign power of attorney can be used in the UAE once the legalisation chain is complete and an Arabic translation by a legal translator on the Ministry of Justice register is in place, but the wording still has to name the act, and the body you hand it to decides whether it will act on it.
Language of the instrument
Arabic, with a certified translation
Broad wording
Only grants acts of management
Who decides acceptance
The body receiving the document
What changes once the document is here
Attestation proves whose signature and seal sit on the paper. It says nothing about what the paper says. Once the chain through the foreign ministry, the UAE mission and MOFAIC is finished, the document has arrived, and a different set of questions starts. Is it in Arabic? Does the wording name the act? Will the body you hand it to act on it? Those questions are settled here, not abroad, and they are the ones this page is about.
Two things go wrong more than anything else at that point. The first is language. A notarised instrument has to be in Arabic, and the Arabic has to come from a legal translator on the Ministry of Justice register. The second is scope. A document drafted outside the UAE often reads in broad terms, and under UAE law broad wording grants far less than the person holding it expects. Neither problem is visible from the stamps on the back.
Arabic, and who is allowed to produce it
Federal Decree-Law 20 of 2022 sets the language of a notarial instrument. Article 5 says the instrument drafted by the notary shall be in Arabic, and may be drafted in a foreign language only subject to conditions described in a resolution of the Minister. In Dubai, Law 4 of 2013 puts instruments in Arabic as well, and allows a foreign language document only with an Arabic translation by a certified translator, both versions signed by the parties.
What the language rule actually says
Arabic is the rule, not the preference. The statute allows a foreign language only on conditions a ministerial resolution sets, so nothing in it makes a bilingual document a legal requirement in its own right. What a foreign language document needs is an Arabic translation by a legal translator the Ministry of Justice has registered. Notarising a translation included in the instrument carries a federal fee of AED 50 for each page.
Where a document drafted abroad falls short
These are the gaps we find most often once a foreign power of attorney reaches us. Almost every one of them is about what the wording does or does not name.
- It arrives in English only, with no Arabic from a legal translator on the Ministry register.
- It is expressed in general terms, and Article 871 grants only acts of management when it is.
- It covers a sale, a mortgage, a settlement or pleading in court without naming that act, which Article 870 requires a special agency to do.
- It names a subject the agent may deal with, but not the dispositions the act entails.
- It spells a name differently from the passport or Emirates ID the person will present.
- It cites Article 955, which sat in the 1985 Civil Code that Federal Decree-Law 25 of 2025 repealed.
Two outcomes when we read a foreign document
Not every gap means starting again. Some are repaired on this side of the journey. Others mean the wording cannot carry the act, whatever is done to the paper afterwards.
Fixable here
Language, form and the missing Arabic
A document that names the act properly but arrives in English only can be translated by a legal translator on the Ministry register and taken forward from there.
Needs a fresh document
Wording that never named the act
No translation adds authority the original never granted. If broad wording is asked to carry a sale or a mortgage, a new special power of attorney has to be signed.
What we do when you bring one to us
Our lawyers and legal consultants read the document, prepare the Arabic and attend on the UAE side. Ratification happens before a notary public.
1
Read the wording against the act you need
We set what the document says beside what you actually want done. Article 870 requires a special agency specifying the type of act and the dispositions it entails for anything that is not an act of management and preservation, naming donations, sale, settlement, mortgage, acknowledgment, arbitration, oaths and pleading before the court. Most foreign documents are decided one way or the other at this step.
2
Check the file is actually complete
We check that the legalisation chain has been finished and not abandoned halfway, from the foreign ministry of the country the document was signed in, through the UAE mission there, to MOFAIC here. MOFAIC wants the original in Arabic or English, or accompanied by a legally certified translation, and the document must not be laminated.
3
Prepare the Arabic
A foreign language document is accepted with an Arabic translation by a certified translator, and in Dubai both versions are signed by the parties. The correct person for that work is a legal translator registered with the UAE Ministry of Justice. The federal fee for notarising a translation included in the instrument is AED 50 for each page.
4
Attend with you, or tell you it will not work
We attend on the UAE side. The notary verifies identity from an ID card, passport or other official document issued by the State, checks capacity and consent, and reads the content of the transaction out to the parties. If the wording will not carry the act, we say so before anything is booked.
What to send us with a foreign document
Send the power of attorney and these alongside it. What each body asks for on top of this varies, so confirm with the one that will be asked to act on the document.
The document itself
In the state it reached you
- The original, not a scan of a scan
- Every attestation page that came with it
- Any Arabic version already produced for it
- The document unlaminated, which MOFAIC also requires
Who the parties are
So the names can be matched
- Passport for anyone with no Emirates ID
- Emirates ID where the person holds one
- The agent’s Emirates ID number, or a copy of their ID
- The same spelling of each name on every page
What the power of attorney has to do
So the wording can be tested
- The act you need carried out, in plain words
- Who will be handed the document here
- Any deadline the transaction is working to
- Whether the matter is personal or commercial
What stops a foreign document at the counter here
The first list is what we see refused once the document is already in the UAE. The second is what we check before anyone is sent to an appointment.
- No Arabic, or Arabic produced by someone who is not a legal translator on the Ministry register
- Broad wording asked to carry a sale, a mortgage, a settlement or pleading before a court
- An apostille standing in for the consular chain, which it does not replace, because the UAE is not a party to that convention
- That the act and the dispositions it entails are named, the way a special agency has to name them
- That any term written into the document has not already run out, since the law looks at the term specified for the agency
- That the principal and the agent are both alive and hold legal capacity, because the agency ends otherwise
Frequently asked questions
The questions we are asked most often on this one.
My power of attorney is fully attested. Is that enough to use it here?
Attestation certifies signatures and seals, not content. Once the chain is complete the document has arrived, but it still has to be in Arabic and the wording still has to name the act. Article 870 requires a special agency specifying the type of act and the dispositions it entails for anything beyond management and preservation.
My document says the agent may act in all matters. What does that cover?
Less than it sounds. Article 871 says an agency expressed in general terms without specifying what is intended grants only the power to perform acts of management. So a phrase covering all matters does not carry a sale, a mortgage, a settlement, an acknowledgment, arbitration or pleading before a court. Each of those has to be named.
Can a translator fix wording that is too broad?
No. A translation reproduces the document, it does not extend it. If the original never named the act, the Arabic cannot name it either without ceasing to be a translation of anything. The answer in that case is a fresh special power of attorney, drafted around the act you need and signed properly.
Can I have the document translated by someone in my own office?
No. A foreign language document is accepted with an Arabic translation by a certified translator, and the correct description is a legal translator registered with the UAE Ministry of Justice. The Ministry keeps a register for exactly that purpose. An internal or informal translation is not the same thing, however accurate it reads.
Does the document have to go before a notary again in the UAE?
That cannot be answered in the abstract, and no page should pretend otherwise. Whether a further notarial step is needed on this side turns on the body that will act on the document, because acceptance sits with whoever receives it. What we can do first is read the wording, so nothing is booked that the document cannot support.
Which of the fees on a foreign document are government fees?
Only the ones an authority publishes. The federal schedule sets AED 100 per party for executing or notarising a general or special power of attorney, and AED 50 for each page of a translation notarised in the instrument. A private notary adds thirty percent to the statutory fee, so AED 130 per party. MOFAIC charges AED 150 for individual affairs documents and AED 2,000 for commercial documents.
There is no expiry date written into our document. Is that a problem?
UAE law sets no general statutory validity period, so a document with no term does not expire by a fixed rule. Article 897 lists what does end an agency: completion of the work entrusted to the agent, expiry of the term specified for the agency, and the death or loss of legal capacity of the principal or the agent. Authorities set acceptance rules of their own on top of that.
Our document lets the agent appoint someone else. What happens if it is revoked?
The sub-agency goes with it. Under Article 903 of Federal Decree-Law 25 of 2025, where the principal agency is revoked, all sub-agencies derived from it are deemed revoked by virtue of law. So a chain of appointments built on a foreign power of attorney falls the moment the document it hangs from is revoked.
Start here
Send us the document before you rely on it
If you are holding a power of attorney signed in another country, send it over with the attestation pages and tell us what it has to do here. Our lawyers and legal consultants read the wording against Articles 870 and 871, prepare the Arabic where it is needed, and tell you plainly whether the document will carry the act or whether a fresh one has to be signed. Ratification happens before a notary public.
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.