Signing outside the UAE
How to Notarise a UAE Power of Attorney From Abroad
The UAE is not a contracting party to the Hague Apostille Convention, so an apostille alone will not make your power of attorney usable here. What works is a chain of attestations, in a fixed order, ending at MOFAIC in the UAE.
- No apostille shortcut
- Three attestations in order
- Arabic before the notary
The short answer
Sign the power of attorney in front of a notary in the country you are in, then have it attested by that country’s foreign ministry, then by the UAE embassy or consulate there, then by MOFAIC once it reaches the UAE. There is no apostille route into the UAE, because the UAE is not a contracting party to the Hague Apostille Convention.
Apostille route
None, the UAE is not a party
Steps taken abroad
Notary, foreign ministry, UAE mission
MOFAIC attestation fee
AED 150 individual, AED 2,000 commercial
How to notarise a UAE power of attorney from abroad, in the right order
Each step certifies the one before it, so taking them out of order leaves a later body with nothing to look at. The chain runs in both directions, and our power of attorney attestation page sets out each leg in full.
1
Draft it before anyone signs
The wording decides what the agent can do. A special agency has to specify the type of act and the dispositions it entails, and a power of attorney expressed in general terms only grants acts of management. We draft it around the act you actually need and prepare the Arabic at the same time, and our legal translation page covers who is allowed to do that.
2
Sign before a notary where you are
This is the notarial act in your own country. Who takes it and how you book it is set by that country’s law, so we cannot describe the form for you. What matters on the UAE side is that a competent authority there has taken your signature, because every later step certifies the one before it.
3
Attestation by the foreign ministry of that country
MOFAIC states that original documents must be attested by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the issuing country. Dubai Courts says the same for powers of attorney issued outside the UAE. This is the step an apostille does not replace, because the UAE is not a party to the Apostille Convention.
4
Attestation by the UAE embassy or consulate there
The document can then be attested by the UAE embassy or consulate in the issuing country. This is the UAE’s own check on the seal the foreign ministry has just applied. Ask the mission covering you what it charges and what it wants to see, because that part sits with them. Our embassy attestation page covers this step on its own.
5
Attestation by MOFAIC once it reaches the UAE
The last leg happens here. MOFAIC attests the document through its official website, and it wants the original in Arabic or English, or with a legally certified translation, and not laminated. The fee splits by type: AED 150 for individual affairs documents, AED 2,000 for commercial documents. Our MOFAIC page goes through that step in detail.
An apostille from your own country will not do
An apostille is a single certificate that replaces consular legalisation between countries that have joined the 1961 Hague Convention. The UAE has not joined it. The HCCH status table, kept by the treaty body itself, does not list the United Arab Emirates among the contracting parties. So an apostille on your power of attorney does not, on its own, make the document usable in the UAE.
What the status table shows
The status table for the 1961 Convention lists every contracting party. The United Arab Emirates is not on it. There is no accession to point at and no effective date to quote, so any page telling you to get an apostille for the UAE is working from a premise that does not hold.
Two routes to a signature the UAE will accept
The law does not name only one person who may take a notarial act. Which route fits depends on where you are, and on what the body in the UAE that will act on the power of attorney is willing to accept.
Route one
A local notary, then the attestation chain
You sign before a notary in the country you are in. The document then goes through that country’s foreign ministry, the UAE mission there, and MOFAIC.
Route two
An accredited UAE consul abroad
Federal Decree-Law 20/2022 Article 3 lists accredited consuls of the State among the people who may perform notarial duties. Ask the mission what it handles.
What our notary services cover
The notarisation is carried out before a notary public. Our lawyers and legal consultants draft the power of attorney, prepare the Arabic, check the wording against what the body in the UAE will be asked to accept, and attend on the UAE side.
The step you take in your own country is run by that country’s rules, not ours. We can tell you the shape of it, which is a notarial act, then the foreign ministry, then the UAE mission. We cannot tell you the exact form, the booking method or the fee, because those change from one country to the next. Ask the UAE mission covering you.
Get the wording right before you sign
What the agent can do is fixed by what the document says, not by what you intended when you signed it. Check these six points before the appointment.
- Name the act. A special agency has to specify the type of act and the dispositions it entails.
- Do not lean on a general power of attorney for a sale, a mortgage, a settlement or pleading in court.
- A power of attorney expressed in general terms only grants acts of management, which is less than most people expect.
- Write the term in. The law looks at the term specified for the agency, so the document is what sets it.
- Give both parties’ details exactly as the Emirates ID or passport they will present shows them.
- Remember that revoking a principal agency revokes every sub-agency under it by force of law.
What to have ready before you sign
Have these ready before the signing appointment. What each body asks for varies, so confirm with the one that will act on the power of attorney.
Who each person is
What the UAE side will need
- Passport for anyone who does not hold an Emirates ID
- Emirates ID where the person has one
- The agent’s Emirates ID number, or a copy of their ID or passport
- The same spelling of every name on every document
The document itself
What MOFAIC will accept
- The original document, not a copy
- In Arabic or English, or with a legally certified translation
- Not laminated
- Wording that names the act, where a special agency is needed
Proof of what the power of attorney covers
What Dubai Courts asks for
- Title deed where the power of attorney covers a property
- Vehicle ownership certificate for a vehicle
- Trademark registration certificate for a trademark
- Anything else the body acting on the power of attorney asks for
Why a foreign power of attorney gets turned away
The first list is what sends a document back before it ever gets here. The second is what we check before you sign. What the receiving body does with it once it arrives is on our page for a foreign power of attorney in the UAE.
- An apostille brought in place of the consular chain, which it does not replace
- Steps taken out of order, leaving a later body with no seal to certify
- No Arabic, or a translation not done by a legal translator registered with the UAE Ministry of Justice
- That the wording names the act, so a general power of attorney is not carrying something that needs a special one
- That names, numbers and spellings match the identity documents on every page
- That the original is in Arabic or English or carries a certified translation, and that nobody has laminated it
Frequently asked questions
The questions we are asked most often on this one.
Do I need an apostille on a power of attorney for the UAE?
No. The UAE is not a contracting party to the Hague Apostille Convention, and it does not appear on the HCCH status table of contracting parties. An apostille on its own will not make the document usable here. Use the consular chain instead: the foreign ministry where the document was signed, then the UAE mission there, then MOFAIC.
Can I sign at a UAE embassy or consulate instead?
Federal Decree-Law 20/2022 Article 3 names accredited consuls of the State among the people who may perform notarial duties, alongside public notaries and private notaries. Whether a particular mission offers that for your document, and whether the body in the UAE will act on it, are both worth confirming before you book anything.
Does the power of attorney have to be in Arabic?
Federal law sets Arabic as the rule for a notarised instrument, with a foreign language allowed only on conditions set by a ministerial resolution. In Dubai, instruments must be in Arabic, and a foreign language document needs a translation by a certified translator with both versions signed. Documents for the Dubai Courts service must be translated by a legal translator registered with the UAE Ministry of Justice.
What does it cost?
Only published official fees belong on this page. MOFAIC charges AED 150 for individual affairs documents and AED 2,000 for commercial documents, so whether the power of attorney is personal or commercial matters. 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 in the instrument.
I am an overseas Pakistani. Is the route different for me?
The chain follows where the document is signed, not the passport you hold. Wherever you are, the shape is the same: a notarial act, the foreign ministry of that country, the UAE mission there, then MOFAIC in the UAE. The detail of each local step is set by that country, so ask the UAE mission covering you.
Can I sign a special power of attorney for a minor travelling abroad while I am overseas?
A document signed outside the UAE goes through the same chain, whatever it covers. The wording is the part to get right. What a special power of attorney for a minor travelling abroad has to say is set by whoever will rely on it, so confirm the required wording with that body before the signing appointment rather than after it.
How long does a UAE power of attorney last?
There is no general statutory validity period. Under Federal Decree-Law 25/2025 an agency ends when the work entrusted to the agent is complete, when the term specified for the agency expires, or on the death or loss of legal capacity of the principal or the agent. So the term is whatever the document sets. Some authorities set their own acceptance rules on top of that.
Is Article 955 still the revocation provision?
No. Article 955 sat in Federal Law 5 of 1985, and that law has been repealed by Federal Decree-Law 25 of 2025. Agency now sits at Articles 866 to 903, and revocation is Article 898: the principal may revoke or restrict the agent’s authority at any time, unless a third party has a right in it or it was issued in the agent’s interest.
Start here
Start with the wording, not the stamps
Most of the trouble on this page starts before anyone signs. Tell us what the power of attorney has to do and who will act on it in the UAE, and we will draft it, prepare the Arabic and set out the order of steps for the country you are in. The ratification happens before a notary public, and we handle the UAE side of the file.
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.