The MOFAIC attestation step
MOFA Attestation in the UAE for a Power of Attorney
MOFA attestation certifies the signature and seal of the office that signed before it. It does not read your power of attorney, and it will not repair wording the receiving body refuses.
- Category checked first
- Arabic legal translation
- We attend with you
MOFA attestation in the UAE, the short answer
MOFA attestation is the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation confirming the signature and seal of the office that signed your power of attorney before it. Its published charge is AED 150 for individual affairs documents and AED 2,000 for commercial documents.
What MOFAIC certifies
The signature and seal before it
Personal power of attorney
AED 150, individual affairs documents
Commercial or general
AED 2,000, commercial documents
What the Ministry of Foreign Affairs actually attests
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation runs a service it calls attestation of official documents and certificates. Its own description is that attestation certifies the authenticity of the signatures and seals on documents issued within or outside the United Arab Emirates. MOFAIC is the UAE end of that work, and this single step is what the page in front of you is about.
So the ministry is looking at the office that signed before it. If that office is a notary public here, MOFAIC is confirming the notary’s signature and seal. If it is a UAE mission abroad, it is confirming that mission’s mark instead. In both cases the subject of the check is a signature and a seal. The sentences underneath them are somebody else’s business.
What MOFA attestation does not do
Nobody at this stage is deciding whether your power of attorney gives the agent the authority the receiving body needs. The ministry is not reading the document for meaning, it is authenticating the mark of the office before it. That is why an attested power of attorney and a usable power of attorney are two different things, and why so many files clear attestation and then stop dead at the bank or the registry.
A stamp is not an opinion on your wording
Attestation certifies whose signature and seal are on the page. It says nothing about whether the document says the right thing, and a fully attested power of attorney can still be refused by the body it is handed to.
How the MOFA attestation process in the UAE runs
These four points sit inside the ministry step itself. The bodies before and after it belong to the full chain, which has its own page, linked further down.
1
Confirm the document is in a form the ministry takes
MOFAIC asks for the original document in Arabic or English, or accompanied by a legally certified translation, and it states that the document must not be laminated. Those two lines turn away more files than anything else. A photocopy, a plastic sealed certificate, or a language the ministry does not take, are all dealt with before the file goes in rather than afterwards.
2
Decide which of the two categories it falls into
MOFAIC separates individual affairs documents from commercial documents, and a power of attorney can sit in either. Its own lists put a power of attorney of a personal nature with individual affairs, and a power of attorney of a commercial nature, along with a general power of attorney, with commercial documents. The gap is AED 150 against AED 2,000, so settle this first.
3
Check the signature and seal that came before
This is the thing MOFAIC is certifying, so it has to be complete. A seal that has printed faintly, a signature block left blank, or a certificate attached without the issuing office signing it, will stop the ministry step, because there is nothing there to authenticate. We look at the previous office’s mark before anything else in the file.
4
Confirm the wording with the body that receives it
Attestation is not the finish line. The bank, court, registry or company that has to act on the power of attorney applies its own rules to what the document says, and it can refuse an attested one on those grounds. We ask the receiving body what it needs in the wording, and where the act is a sale, mortgage or settlement, the document has to name it.
Individual affairs or commercial, and why it decides your fee
This is the split people budget against the wrong side of. The words MOFAIC uses in its own lists decide it, so match your document to that wording rather than to how you would describe it in conversation.
Individual affairs
A power of attorney of a personal nature
MOFAIC lists a power of attorney of a personal nature among individual affairs documents, alongside court issued certificates, where the published attestation charge is AED 150.
Commercial
A commercial or general power of attorney
MOFAIC’s commercial documents list carries both a power of attorney of a commercial nature and a general power of attorney, where the published attestation charge is AED 2,000.
MOFA attestation charges in the UAE
These are the Ministry’s own published attestation charges, not ours. They cover the ministry’s attestation and nothing else, and we publish no figure of our own on this page.
| Item | Fee | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Power of attorney of a personal nature | AED 150 | MOFAIC lists this document under individual affairs documents. |
| Power of attorney of a commercial nature | AED 2,000 | MOFAIC lists this document under commercial documents. |
| General power of attorney | AED 2,000 | MOFAIC names it on the commercial documents list, not the individual affairs one. |
What has to be right before you go
Six things to settle before the document goes anywhere near the ministry. Every one of them is cheaper to fix now than after a refusal.
- The act the agent may carry out is named in the document, not implied
- Names are spelled the same way on the document, the passport and the Emirates ID
- The original is in Arabic or English, or a legally certified translation travels with it
- Nothing is laminated, including any earlier certificate attached to the file
- The signature and seal of the office before this one are complete and legible
- The body that will receive the document has confirmed the wording it accepts
What goes in the file for MOFA attestation
Three small stacks. The original, the people the document names, and the Arabic.
The original document
What the ministry takes
- The original itself, not a photocopy
- Arabic or English on the face of it
- Or a legally certified translation alongside it
- No lamination anywhere on it
The people it names
Needed at the notary step, not by the ministry
- Emirates ID for a UAE resident
- Passport for a non resident
- The agent’s Emirates ID number, or a copy of it
- One consistent spelling of every name
The Arabic side
What Dubai asks for
- Legal translation approved by the Ministry of Justice
- Both versions signed by the parties
- The same names carried into the Arabic
- Wording in the Arabic that matches the act named
Attested and still refused, the two ways it happens
Two very different failures get called the same thing. The first group never gets attested at all. The second gets attested, gets handed over, and gets handed back.
- Lamination anywhere on the original or on a certificate attached to it
- A document in neither Arabic nor English, with no legally certified translation
- A seal or signature from the previous office that is missing, blank or unreadable
- Wording in general terms, which under the Civil Transactions Law grants only acts of management
- A sale, mortgage or settlement the document never names in its own words
- Copy taken from a template still built on the repealed 1985 Civil Code
Frequently asked questions
The questions we are asked most often on this one.
What does MOFA attestation actually confirm?
MOFAIC describes the service as attestation of official documents and certificates, and says it certifies the authenticity of the signatures and seals on documents issued within or outside the United Arab Emirates. So the subject of the check is the office that signed before it. The contents of your power of attorney are not being assessed.
Which MOFA attestation fee applies to my power of attorney?
It depends which of MOFAIC’s two lists your document belongs to. The Ministry publishes AED 150 for individual affairs documents and AED 2,000 for commercial documents. A power of attorney of a personal nature sits in the first list. A power of attorney of a commercial nature sits in the second. Settle the category before you budget.
Is a general power of attorney charged as a commercial document?
On MOFAIC’s own lists, yes. The commercial documents list names a power of attorney of a commercial nature and a general power of attorney together, while the individual affairs list names a power of attorney of a personal nature. Calling a document general, when it never needed to be, can therefore cost a good deal more.
Will attestation make a badly worded power of attorney work?
No. Attestation certifies signatures and seals, so a document can carry every stamp and still be handed back by the bank, court or registry it was written for. Under the current Civil Transactions Law a power of attorney expressed in general terms grants only acts of management, and acts such as sale or mortgage need a special agency naming them.
Will the ministry accept a laminated or photocopied document?
MOFAIC states plainly that the document must not be laminated, and it asks for the original in Arabic or English, or accompanied by a legally certified translation. Lamination is the one that catches people out, because it is often done as a courtesy by whoever issued the certificate. Say so to the issuing office before they do it.
Is there a MOFA attestation office in Dubai I should go to?
We do not publish counter locations or opening hours, because they change and you are better served by the Ministry’s own current information than by ours. What MOFAIC does publish, for a document issued abroad, is that it must be attested in the UAE through the Ministry’s official website. Check the channel with the Ministry first.
Does UAE MOFA attestation replace the steps taken in India or elsewhere?
No. MOFAIC’s guidance for a document issued abroad is that the issuing country’s foreign ministry attests it, then the UAE embassy or consulate there, and then it is attested in the UAE. The UAE step is the last of those rather than a substitute for them. Our page on a power of attorney signed abroad sets out the order.
Do you carry out the attestation yourselves?
No. Attestation is the Ministry’s act, and ratification of a power of attorney happens before a notary public. We are neither of those. Our work is the part that decides whether an attested document is accepted: drafting the wording, preparing the Arabic legal translation, checking the category and the previous seal, and attending with you.
Start here
MOFA attestation services in Dubai
Send us the power of attorney and tell us who has to accept it. We draft the wording, prepare the Arabic legal translation, check the category before any fee is paid, and attend with you. We provide notary services, and we are not the Ministry. Attestation is the Ministry’s act, and ratification happens before a notary public. What we can do is make sure the document says the right thing before it is stamped.
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.