Four shapes under UAE law
Types of Power of Attorney in the UAE, and What They Are Not
The types of power of attorney in the UAE come down to four shapes of agency, and nothing else. Every other label, from a vehicle power of attorney to a banking one, is one of those shapes written for a particular job.
- Four shapes in law
- Subjects are not types
- Drafted, translated, attended
The types of power of attorney the UAE actually recognises
Article 869 of the Civil Transactions Law allows an agency to be general, special, conditional, or deferred to a future time, and those four shapes are the whole of it. General and special are the two that come up in practice, and every other label you will see describes the subject of the work rather than a category in law.
Shapes in the statute
General, special, conditional, deferred
Not types in law
Vehicle, property, banking, family labels
Federal notary fee
AED 100 per party to the POA
Where the four shapes come from
Agency in the UAE now sits in Federal Decree-Law 25/2025, the Civil Transactions Law, at Articles 866 to 903. It repealed Federal Law 5 of 1985 and came into force on 1 June 2026, which is why the Article 955 citation still copied across provider pages points at a statute that no longer exists. Article 869 is the provision that sets out the shapes an agency can take, and it is one sentence long.
Article 869, Federal Decree-Law 25/2025
An agency may be general, special, conditional, or deferred to a future time.
What is not a type at all
A vehicle power of attorney, a property power of attorney, a banking power of attorney, a family power of attorney: none of these is a type recognised by UAE law. Each one is a general or a special agency, written for a particular job and then named after the job. The label describes the subject matter. It has no legal effect of its own, and no statute uses it.
This matters because the label tells you nothing about whether the document will work. The act decides that. If the agent is managing or preserving something you already hold, general wording carries it, and our page on the general power of attorney sets out the limit. If the act disposes of something, the law wants a special power of attorney that names it.
Three classifications, three different purposes
Three separate bodies sort powers of attorney in three separate ways, and each sorting answers a different question. Confusing them is the reason so much published guidance reads as though the law contains a dozen types.
The statute sorts by shape
Article 869 gives four shapes: general, special, conditional, and deferred to a future time. Article 870(1) then decides which one you need, because any act that is not an act of management and preservation requires a special agency specifying the type of act and the dispositions it entails. This is the only classification that changes what the document can legally do.
The Ministry of Justice sorts by domain
The Ministry of Justice digital power of attorney service is organised by domain rather than by legal shape. Lawyer representation is handled separately from domains such as legal cases, real estate, rental disputes, licensing, vehicles, stocks and company management. That is a service classification. It decides which route you take through the system, not what the finished document grants.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs sorts for attestation
For attestation, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation puts a power of attorney of personal nature among individual affairs documents, and a power of attorney of commercial nature or a general power of attorney among commercial documents. That split is what sets the fee: AED 150 on individual affairs documents against AED 2,000 on commercial ones.
By what the agent has to do
This is the question worth asking, and the six pages below answer it. Find the act you need in one of these, then take the page that sits closest to it.
Running what you already have
Collections, renewals, tenancy and licence work sit inside acts of management. The page on the general power of attorney in Dubai sets out how far that authority actually reaches.
Closing one named transaction
A sale, a mortgage, a settlement or a court appearance has to be named in the wording. The special power of attorney page covers what UAE law asks for.
Selling or transferring a vehicle
One car, tied to its ownership certificate so the authority cannot be read across to a second one. The vehicle power of attorney page takes that further.
Dealing with one property
Sale, transfer or mortgage of a single named property, tied to its title deed. The property power of attorney page goes through how that is worded.
Acting for a company
Signing, filing and licence work carried out for an entity rather than a person. The company power of attorney page explains what that wording has to carry.
Personal rather than commercial
A document for one individual’s own affairs, which the Ministry of Foreign Affairs attests as an individual affairs document. The personal power of attorney page covers these.
How we decide which one you need
We work from the act backwards. The label on the enquiry is usually the last thing we look at, because it is the thing least likely to decide anything.
- We ask what the agent has to do, in plain words, before anyone reaches for a label.
- If that work is managing or preserving something you already hold, the general shape carries it, and we still name the acts.
- If the act disposes of something, Article 870(1) requires the special shape, and the asset has to be identified in the document.
- We check where the document will be used, because Dubai Courts sits under Dubai Law 4/2013 and outside the federal fee schedule.
- We check whether it is coming in from abroad, since there is no apostille route into the UAE and the consular chain still applies.
- We write an ending into it, because Article 897 extinguishes an agency on expiry of the term specified for it.
Where the type question goes wrong
Most of the damage on this topic comes from three habits. Each one has a straightforward replacement, set out beside it.
- Choosing the document by its label, on the belief that a vehicle or banking power of attorney is a category in law.
- Citing Article 955 of the 1985 Civil Code, a statute that Federal Decree-Law 25/2025 repealed outright.
- Treating a general power of attorney as authority to sell, when general wording reaches acts of management only.
- Naming the act and what it entails first, then letting that decide whether the shape is general or special.
- Citing the current text, Articles 866 to 903 of Federal Decree-Law 25/2025, for anything said about agency.
- Checking early which authority will receive the document, because that is what the attestation classification turns on.
Frequently asked questions
The questions we are asked most often on this one.
How many types of power of attorney are there in the UAE?
Four shapes, under Article 869 of Federal Decree-Law 25/2025: general, special, conditional, and deferred to a future time. General and special are the two that come up in ordinary work. A conditional agency hangs on a condition, and a deferred one is tied to a future time, so both describe when the authority starts rather than what it covers.
Is a vehicle power of attorney a separate legal type?
No. It is a subject label. In law it is either a general agency or, where it authorises a sale or a transfer, a special agency worded for one vehicle. Dubai Courts and the Ministry of Justice do organise their services around subjects such as vehicles and property, which is where the impression comes from, but the statute has only the four shapes.
Why do provider sites list ten or twelve types then?
Because they are listing subjects and presenting them as categories. A banking, family, corporate or court power of attorney is a description of the work, not a legal classification. The underlying transactions are real, and government bodies do sort their services that way, but no statute names any of those labels as a type of agency.
Which classification decides what I pay?
The attestation one. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs charges AED 150 on individual affairs documents and AED 2,000 on commercial documents, and a general power of attorney sits on the commercial list. The notary fee is separate: the federal schedule sets AED 100 per party, or AED 130 through a private notary. Dubai Courts runs its own schedule under Dubai Law 4/2013.
Does the type change how long a power of attorney lasts?
No. There is no statutory validity period in UAE law for any shape of agency. Article 897 ends an agency on completion of the work, on expiry of the term specified in it, or on death or loss of legal capacity. Legal commentary on Dubai Land Department Circular 29/R/2025 reports a two year limit for property deals, which is one authority’s acceptance rule, not general law.
Can one document cover more than one act?
Yes, as long as each act is named and what it entails is written out. Article 870(1) asks for the type of act and the dispositions it entails, so a document can carry several acts where each one is set out that way. What it cannot do is rely on broad wording to reach any of them.
Can the authority be set to start later?
Yes. Article 869 allows an agency to be conditional or deferred to a future time, alongside general and special. That is one reason the four shapes are worth knowing: two of them are about timing. So if the authority should begin only on a date or on an event, that belongs in the drafting.
Do you decide the type, or does the notary?
We work it out with you from the act, then draft to it. The notary public verifies identity from an ID card or passport, checks capacity and consent, reads the content of the transaction out to the parties, and ratifies the instrument. We draft, translate, check the papers and attend. The notarisation is carried out before a notary public.
Start here
Send us the job, not the label
Tell us what the agent has to do and we will tell you which shape the law requires. Our lawyers and legal consultants draft the wording, arrange the Arabic legal translation, check the identity documents against the names in the text, and attend the appointment with you. The ratification is carried out by a notary public. The ratification is carried out 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.