For your own affairs
Personal POA in Dubai for Your Own Affairs, Not a Company’s
A personal power of attorney lets one person you choose act for you on your own private matters in Dubai. This page helps you work out which document you need, then points you to the page that covers it in full.
- Arabic and English drafting
- Checked before you sign
- We attend the appointment
What is a personal POA in Dubai?
A personal POA in Dubai is written authority for one named person to act for you on your own affairs, such as a bank account, a car, a flat or a family file. You sign it and a notary public ratifies it, which is a separate step from the drafting and translation we do.
Who signs it
You, in front of a notary public
Language of the deed
Arabic, translated if foreign
What we handle
Drafting, translation, checking and attendance
Personal or commercial: where the line falls
The split matters more than it looks. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation treats a power of attorney of a personal nature as an individual affairs document, and a commercial or general power of attorney as a commercial one. The published attestation charge is AED 150 for individual affairs papers and AED 2,000 for commercial papers. Getting the label wrong is an expensive mistake to make at the counter.
UAE law itself recognises only four shapes of agency: general, special, conditional, or deferred to a future time. That is Article 869 of Federal Decree-Law 25/2025, the Civil Transactions Law now in force. Article 871 adds the part most people miss. A POA written in general terms alone gives your agent acts of management and nothing more, so a sale, a mortgage or a court plea needs a special authority naming the act. That rule is Article 870.
Personal matters people cover with one
These are the everyday reasons a private person signs one. Each has its own page on this site, because the wording and the papers differ in every case.
Property you own or are buying
Selling, renting out or registering a flat in your name while you are elsewhere. The Land Department tightened what it accepts from a property POA in 2025, so the wording needs care.
A vehicle sale or transfer
Selling a car, transferring ownership or dealing with the registration when you cannot attend. Dubai Courts asks for the vehicle ownership certificate with this kind of authority.
Banking and account admin
Closing an account, collecting a cheque book or dealing with a loan after you leave. Confirm with your bank what it needs in the text before the deed is drafted.
A court case or a legal file
Appointing someone to plead or act for you in proceedings. Article 870 lists pleading before the court among the acts that need a special authority, not a general one.
Inheritance and an estate
Acting on a share of an estate, or handling the paperwork of a relative who has died. Dubai Courts lists inheritance as one of the subjects its POA service covers.
Family matters and a child’s travel
Marriage, divorce and letting a child travel with one parent or a relative. These sit in their own pages because the consent wording and the papers are different in each.
Who asks us for one
Four situations come up again and again. In every one the problem is the same, that the person who has to sign cannot be in the right room on the right day.
A resident leaving the UAE
You have a flat to sell, an account to close and a car to transfer, and your flight is booked. One deed signed before you go can carry all three, as long as each act is named in it rather than left to be assumed.
Someone who cannot take a day off
The counter is open when you are at work, and the matter is small. You can appoint a relative or a colleague to stand in the queue for you, with the authority limited in the text to that one errand and nothing else.
An elderly parent
A parent who finds the travelling and the waiting hard can still sign. The notary has to verify capacity and consent, and to read the content out to the person signing, so plan the appointment for a good hour of their day.
A spouse abroad
Your husband or wife is in another country and the file needs both of you. A POA signed there has to pass the foreign ministry, the UAE mission and MOFAIC before Dubai will look at it, so start it earlier than you think.
How a personal POA is put together
Four stages, in this order. The third is the only one that happens in front of a notary public.
1
Tell us what the agent must do
We work through the act itself, not the subject. Selling a named plot is a different authority from managing it, and that difference decides whether the deed needs a special clause under Article 870.
2
We draft and translate it
The instrument is in Arabic. Dubai law allows a foreign language document only with a translation by a certified translator, both versions signed, and Dubai Courts asks for legal translation approved by the Ministry of Justice.
3
You sign before a notary public
The notary checks identity from an Emirates ID or passport, confirms capacity and consent, reads the content out, then ratifies. Federal law allows IT tools in place of personal appearance, and Dubai Courts verifies capacity by virtual or personal attendance.
4
Attestation, if the deed travels
A deed made here for use abroad, or made abroad for use here, runs through the attestation chain. Inbound that means the issuing country’s foreign ministry, the UAE embassy there, then MOFAIC. There is no apostille route, because the UAE is not a party to that convention.
What to have ready
Requirements change, so treat this as the starting point and confirm the current list with the office that will ratify the deed. The identity requirement is the one that never moves.
From you, the principal
The person giving the authority
- Emirates ID
- Passport, if you hold no Emirates ID
- Your name spelled as the receiving body holds it
- A number we can reach you on for the appointment
From the person you appoint
Dubai Courts works from these
- Emirates ID number
- Or a copy of the Emirates ID
- Or a passport copy
- The full name as printed on that document
About the matter itself
Whatever the authority touches
- Title deed, for a property authority
- Vehicle ownership certificate, for a car
- The account or file reference the agent will quote
- Arabic legal translation of any foreign paper
Wording that decides whether it works
Most of the trouble we see is in the text, not in the process. Six points settle it before anyone queues.
- Name the act, not just the subject. Article 870 requires a special agency for anything past management and preservation.
- A deed in general terms alone gives acts of management only, which is Article 871.
- Spell every name exactly as the receiving body already holds it.
- Say in the text whether the agent may appoint a sub-agent.
- Put a term in the deed if you want the authority to end on a date. Article 897 ends an agency on the term specified in it.
- Identify the thing itself: the plot, the plate, the account, the file number.
What sends a personal POA back
These are the reasons a deed gets refused at the counter. Beside them is what we look at first to stop it happening.
- The Arabic is not a legal translation approved by the Ministry of Justice.
- Your name reads one way on the passport and another on the title deed or the account.
- The text is general where the act needed a special authority.
- Every name, against the document the receiving body already holds.
- That the act is written out, not left to be implied by the subject.
- That a foreign deed carries the full chain: foreign ministry, UAE mission, MOFAIC.
Frequently asked questions
The questions we are asked most often on this one.
Is a personal POA in Dubai different from a company one?
Yes, and the difference costs money. MOFAIC lists a power of attorney of a personal nature among individual affairs documents, and a commercial or general power of attorney among commercial documents. The published attestation charge is AED 150 for the first and AED 2,000 for the second. The wording differs as well, because the acts a business needs are not the acts a private person needs.
Do you notarise the power of attorney yourselves?
No. We are a drafting and translation practice providing notary services, and ratification is carried out before a notary public. Under federal law, notarial duties belong to public notaries, private notaries and accredited UAE consuls, and in Dubai notaries public sit under Dubai Courts by Law 4 of 2013. We prepare the deed, check it against your papers, and attend the ratification with you.
How long does a personal POA last?
There is no general validity period in UAE law. Article 897 of Federal Decree-Law 25/2025 ends an agency when the work is done, when the term written into it expires, or on the death or loss of capacity of either side. So the term is whatever the deed says. Property is the exception to plan for, because the Land Department tightened acceptance in 2025.
Does the document have to be in Arabic?
Yes. The instrument the notary draws up is in Arabic, and Dubai law allows a foreign language document only when a certified translator’s Arabic version goes with it and both are signed. Dubai Courts asks for legal translation approved by the Ministry of Justice. The federal schedule sets AED 50 a page for notarising a translation inside the instrument.
Can I sign without going to a counter in person?
The law allows it. Federal Decree-Law 20 of 2022 makes personal appearance the default at Article 17, then Article 18 lets a notary use IT tools without the parties appearing. Dubai Courts verifies capacity and eligibility by virtual or personal attendance, and the Ministry of Justice runs the E-Notary System. Ask the office handling your file which channel is open to you.
I am outside the UAE. Can I make one for use in Dubai?
Yes, through the legalisation chain. The document is attested by the foreign ministry of the country that issued it, then by the UAE embassy or consulate there, then by MOFAIC once it reaches the UAE. The UAE is not a party to the Hague Apostille Convention, so an apostille on its own will not carry a deed into Dubai.
Can I cancel a personal POA once it is signed?
Article 898 of Federal Decree-Law 25/2025 lets the principal revoke or restrict the agent at any time, unless a third party’s right is involved or the agency was issued in the agent’s own interest. Article 899 can make you compensate the agent for a revocation at a bad time. Revoking a principal agency also revokes the sub-agencies under it.
What does a personal POA cost?
The government side has published figures. The federal schedule sets AED 100 per party for executing or notarising a general or special power of attorney, and AED 50 a page for a translation inside the instrument. Dubai Courts runs its own schedule, so confirm the current figure with them. Drafting and translation are separate, and we quote those once we see the matter.
Start here
Send us the matter, not a form
Tell us what the person you appoint has to do, and where the document has to be accepted. We draft it in Arabic and English, put the translation in order, check the names against your own papers, and attend the ratification with you. The notary public ratifies it, and the deed comes back to you in the form the receiving body expects.
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.