Remote and online routes
Online Power of Attorney Notarisation in Dubai
UAE law lets a notary use IT tools in place of personal appearance, and the Ministry of Justice runs a system named the E-Notary System. What is offered depends on the authority handling your POA.
- Sourced, not guessed
- Arabic drafting and translation
- We attend with you
Can a POA be notarised online in Dubai?
In part, and the honest answer depends on which authority is handling your power of attorney. Federal law allows a notary to use IT tools instead of personal appearance, the Ministry of Justice runs a system named the E-Notary System, and Dubai Courts has described virtual attendance, so we confirm the current channel before anything is booked.
Federal legal basis
Federal Decree-Law 20/2022, Articles 18 and 19
Named federal system
The Ministry of Justice E-Notary System
Our role
Draft, translate, check the file, attend
The two official systems people mean by online notarisation
One is a named federal system. The other is a line in a Dubai Courts service description, and neither publishes a step by step account of how a remote session runs, which is why we ask before a date is requested.
Federal
The Ministry of Justice E-Notary System
The Ministry of Justice runs a system called the E-Notary System at enotary.moj.gov.ae. Its page links to submission and to verification, but it does not set out the steps.
Dubai
Dubai Courts and virtual attendance
An archived Dubai Courts page, last updated in February 2023, said capacity and eligibility are verified by virtual or personal attendance. We confirm the current channel first.
What UAE law actually allows
Federal law starts from personal appearance. Article 17 of Federal Decree-Law 20/2022 says the persons concerned, or their legal representatives, appear before the notary in person. Article 18 then allows the notary to use IT tools for transactions within their competence without that personal appearance, and Article 19 treats submission, identity checks, registration, appearance, fees and notification as met when they are carried out through those tools.
That is the permission, not the procedure. The federal decree-law does not apply to local judicial authorities that have their own notary legislation, and Dubai is one of them: notaries public here sit under Dubai Law 4/2013 and Dubai Courts. So whether your POA can be handled remotely depends on which authority handles it. We draft, translate, check the file and attend with you, and the ratification happens before a notary public.
What to have ready before a remote appointment
A remote appointment gives you no chance to fetch a missing page from the car. Everything below is put together and checked before a date is requested.
- Your Emirates ID, or your passport if you are not a UAE resident
- The agent’s full details, with their Emirates ID number or a PDF of their ID or passport
- The Arabic text of the POA, plus any translation done by an approved legal translator
- A clear decision on whether the agency is general or special, and which acts it covers
- The supporting document for the subject, such as a title deed or a vehicle ownership certificate
- Every file as a legible PDF, since soft copies in PDF are what the service asked for
How we handle a POA you do not want to travel for
The work done before the appointment is the part that decides whether a remote session is even offered. This is the order we do it in, and you hear from us at each stage.
1
Tell us what the agent must be able to do
Acts beyond management and preservation need a special agency naming the act. A power of attorney written in general terms only gives the agent acts of management.
2
We draft it, in Arabic
The instrument is in Arabic. If you want an English version as well, it needs translation by a legal translator approved by the Ministry of Justice, and both versions are signed.
3
We put the identity documents together
The notary verifies identity from an ID card, a passport or another official document issued by the State. Dubai Courts also asked for the agent’s Emirates ID number or a PDF copy.
4
We confirm the current remote channel
Before anything is booked, we check with the authority handling your POA whether a remote session is offered for your subject, and what it asks for on the day.
5
You ratify before a notary public
The notary reads out the content and its effects, checks capacity and consent, and takes the signatures. We attend with you, in person or on the remote session.
When attending in person is still the answer
Remote handling is a channel an authority offers, not a right you can insist on. The first list is when to expect a counter, and the second is what we do about it.
- The authority handling your POA does not offer a virtual session for that subject
- The notary asks for personal appearance, which federal law sets as the default
- Nobody can confirm that a remote channel you were told about is currently running
- We tell you which authority is handling it and what it asks for on the day
- We have the Arabic text, the translation and the identity documents ready in advance
- We attend the appointment with you, and the ratification happens before a notary public
Who this suits
Remote handling is not one situation. These four come up most often, and each one changes what the file has to contain before a date can be requested.
You are in Dubai but cannot get to a counter
If a virtual session is available for your subject, attendance can happen without a trip to a service centre. We confirm that before you plan around it.
You are outside the UAE
A POA issued abroad runs through the foreign ministry of that country, the UAE mission there, and MOFAIC in the UAE. There is no apostille route into the UAE.
The POA is about a property or a vehicle
Dubai Courts asked for the title deed with a property power of attorney and the vehicle ownership certificate with a vehicle one, as PDF files with the application.
The matter is a company or a court case
This is where people are pointed at the Ministry of Justice digital POA service, which covers domains including lawyer representation, legal cases and company management. That is the federal system, and Dubai is not on it. A power of attorney for use in Dubai goes through Dubai Courts, so we confirm the channel there first.
What the authorities ask for
Each item below is something an authority publishes, not a general checklist copied from a provider site. What your POA needs on top of this follows its subject.
Identity
For the principal and the agent
- Emirates ID, passport, or another official document issued by the State
- The agent’s Emirates ID number, entered with their details
- Or the agent’s Emirates ID card or passport uploaded as a PDF
- A valid passport where the person is not a UAE resident
The POA text
Arabic is the language of the instrument
- The Arabic text of the power of attorney itself
- Legal translation by a translator approved by the Ministry of Justice
- Both versions signed by the parties where a foreign language is used
- Wording that names the act, if the agency has to be a special one
Supporting documents
These follow the subject of the POA
- The property title deed for a power of attorney over property
- The vehicle ownership certificate for a vehicle power of attorney
- The trademark registration certificate for a trademark power of attorney
- Everything as a soft copy in PDF format, legible and complete
Frequently asked questions
The questions we are asked most often on this one.
Can a power of attorney be notarised online in Dubai?
In part. Article 18 of Federal Decree-Law 20/2022 lets a notary use IT tools instead of requiring personal appearance, and Article 19 treats identity checks, appearance, fees and notification as met when they are carried out that way. What is offered in practice depends on the authority handling your POA, so we confirm the channel before booking.
Which online notary system is the official one?
The Ministry of Justice operates a system named the E-Notary System, at enotary.moj.gov.ae, with one page for submission and one for checking a notarised document. Many private firms in Dubai also use the words e-notary in their brand and domain names. A private provider is not the Ministry system, and we do not claim to be.
Does Dubai Courts attest a POA with the parties attending virtually?
An archived Dubai Courts page, last updated in February 2023, describes the service as verifying capacity and eligibility by virtual or personal attendance. That is official wording, but it is more than three years old and we could not read the page live. Treat it as something to confirm for your case rather than as settled.
Do all the parties have to be present?
Federal law puts it this way: the persons concerned, or their legal representatives, appear before the notary, and IT tools may stand in for that appearance. It does not follow that every party can skip the session. Who has to be there for your power of attorney is one of the things we confirm with the authority first.
Is a POA notarised electronically as strong as one signed at a counter?
Article 23 of Federal Decree-Law 20/2022 says an e-signature and an e-document notarised under that law carry the same evidentiary value as an official signature or instrument under the Law of Evidence in Civil and Commercial Transactions. The condition is that the notarisation was done properly, which is where the drafting and the file matter.
Does the POA still have to be in Arabic if it is handled remotely?
Yes. The language rule does not change with the channel. In Dubai, instruments are in Arabic, and a foreign language document is accepted only with an Arabic translation by a certified translator, with both versions signed. Dubai Courts also asked for documents as PDF soft copies, translated by a legal translator approved by the Ministry of Justice.
What are the published fees?
The federal schedule sets AED 100 for executing or notarising a general or special power of attorney, charged per party, and AED 50 per page for notarising a translation included in the instrument. Dubai Courts publishes its own schedule. If the document then needs foreign ministry attestation, the published charge is AED 150 for individual affairs documents and AED 2,000 for commercial ones.
I am outside the UAE. Can I just do it online?
Not usually as a single online step. A power of attorney issued outside the UAE has to be certified by the foreign ministry of that country, then the UAE embassy or consulate there, then MOFAIC in the UAE. The UAE is not a party to the Apostille Convention, so an apostille does not replace that chain.
Start here
Ask us what is possible for your POA
Tell us what the agent needs to be able to do, where you are, and which authority the power of attorney is going to. We will tell you whether a remote appointment is currently offered for that subject, what the file needs to contain, and what happens on the day. If it has to be in person, we say so and we book it.
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.