Complete Guide to Notary Services
Complete Guide to Notary Services
Notarisation is the procedural act that gives a Dubai power of attorney legal force. Without notarisation, an instrument cannot be presented at the Dubai Land Department, banks, the RTA, or other Dubai authorities. The act itself is short — the substance lies in the drafting that precedes it and, where the POA is to be used outside the UAE, the consular legalisation that follows.
notarization.ae is the dedicated Dubai reference on POA notarisation, maintained by Cendale Documents Clearing Services FZCO. We cover what notarisation establishes, why bilingual drafting must precede it, and the post-notarisation MOFAIC legalisation route for instruments used outside the UAE. For drafting and end-to-end POA execution, see poas.ae.
Last Reviewed: Wednesday, 6th May 2026
Notarisation is the formal attestation by a Dubai Notary Public — an officer authorised under UAE law to certify the authenticity of legal acts — that the principal personally appeared, was identified, understood the instrument, and signed it freely. The notary’s seal and signature on the instrument convert it from a private document into one with legal force under UAE law.
What notarisation does not establish: the substantive correctness of the instrument’s content. The notary does not draft the POA, does not advise on its scope, and does not assess whether the powers granted are appropriate to the matter at hand. The notary verifies identity, capacity, and free signature — nothing more.
This is why drafting precedes notarisation. A defective POA — generic powers, ambiguous scope, mis-identified property — will be notarised without comment because the notary’s role does not extend to substantive review. Defects surface later, at the desk where the POA is to be used (DLD, bank, RTA), where the receiving authority rejects the instrument.
A Dubai POA must be drafted in compliant Arabic-English bilingual format. The Arabic is the operative version under UAE law; the English is the working version for non-Arabic-reading principals. The two must be aligned in substance — discrepancies are resolved against the Arabic.
The instrument must identify: the principal (full name as on Emirates ID and passport, with both numbers); the attorney (the person to whom power is delegated, with the same identification); the matter (the property by community, building, unit number, and title deed reference, or the bank account by IBAN, or the company by trade licence); the powers granted (specifically itemised, not generic); and the validity period (where applicable).
Generic drafting — “power over real estate matters” without naming the property, “banking authority” without specifying the account, “general representation” without identifying the matter — is rejected at the receiving desk. The notary will notarise it; DLD or the bank will not accept it.
For property POAs in particular, DLD Circular No. 29/R/2025 imposes additional requirements: instruments must be verifiable through official electronic platforms, and QR code verification alone is not sufficient. Drafting must accommodate these verification requirements from the start.
For drafting against the standard transaction types (property purchase, sale, gift, mortgage, ownership management, banking, RTA, company representation), see poas.ae.
The principal attends a Notary Public office in Dubai with: the drafted bilingual instrument; original Emirates ID and passport; the same documentation for the attorney (or a copy if the attorney is not present); and any supporting documentation referenced in the POA (e.g., title deed for a property POA, where the notary may want to verify the property reference).
The notary verifies identity against the original documents, reads the instrument with the principal (in Arabic, with translation as needed), confirms the principal’s understanding and willingness, witnesses the signature, applies the notary seal, and registers the notarisation in the official record.
The act itself is short — typically 15–30 minutes once the principal is at the desk. The waiting time at the notary office is the variable; major notary offices in Dubai operate by appointment and walk-in, with appointment slots strongly recommended.
The notary’s fee is set by regulation and varies with the instrument type and the value of the matter. Property POAs attract higher fees than banking POAs; high-value instruments attract higher fees than low-value ones. The fee is paid at the notary office at the time of notarisation.
Where the principal cannot attend a Dubai Notary Public office in person — the principal is overseas, hospitalised, or otherwise unable to appear — the POA must be executed and attested in the principal’s location, then legalised for use in the UAE through full consular legalisation.
The UAE is not a member of the Hague Apostille Convention. This is critical: an apostille issued by a Convention member country, on its own, is not legally valid in the UAE and will be rejected at every receiving desk. Documents from any country — including Convention members — must undergo the full legalisation chain to be accepted in the UAE.
Foreign-executed POAs follow this chain: drafted in compliant format; notarised by a notary in the originating jurisdiction; attested by the originating jurisdiction’s foreign ministry; legalised by the UAE embassy or consulate in the originating jurisdiction; on receipt in the UAE, attested by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MOFAIC); finally, translated into Arabic by a UAE-sworn translator.
The chain must be intact. Missing the originating-country foreign ministry attestation is the most common defect. The UAE embassy will only legalise documents that have been pre-attested at the originating end; without that step, the chain is broken and the document will not be accepted at the Dubai receiving desk.
The chain typically takes 2–6 weeks depending on the originating jurisdiction’s processing speeds and consular load. MOFAIC charges AED 150 per personal document and AED 2,000 per commercial document. Plan accordingly when transactions are time-sensitive.
Where a POA notarised in Dubai is to be used outside the UAE, the reverse legalisation chain applies: notarisation by Dubai Notary Public; attestation by the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MOFAIC); legalisation by the destination country’s embassy or consulate in the UAE; on receipt in the destination country, translation into the destination language by a sworn translator if required.
Common destinations for outbound Dubai POAs include the UK, India, Pakistan, Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, the United States, Canada, and major European jurisdictions. Each destination’s embassy in the UAE has its own legalisation process, fees, and turnaround. The MOFAIC step is uniform.
Because the UAE is not a Hague Apostille Convention member, the apostille mechanism is not available for documents originating in the UAE — full consular legalisation through the destination embassy is always required, regardless of whether the destination country is a Convention party.
Recurring rejection causes at the receiving desk (DLD, bank, RTA, courts):
Generic powers. The instrument grants “authority over real estate” without naming a specific property; “banking powers” without naming a specific account; “general representation” without identifying the matter. Specific drafting is mandatory.
Mis-identified subject. Property identified by an old address rather than the current title deed reference; a bank account identified by the wrong IBAN; a company identified by an old trade name. The receiving desk will not match the POA to its records.
Missing or expired identity documents. The principal’s Emirates ID has been replaced (number changed) without the new ID being presented; the principal’s passport has expired; the attorney’s identity documents are missing.
Defective attestation chain (foreign-executed POAs). Missing originating-country foreign ministry attestation; missing UAE embassy legalisation; missing MOFAIC attestation; missing Arabic translation; translation by an uncertified translator. Apostille alone is never sufficient — the UAE is not an Apostille Convention member.
Non-compliance with DLD Circular No. 29/R/2025. For property POAs, instruments must be verifiable through official electronic platforms; QR code verification alone is not accepted.
Validity expired. POAs issued with a stated validity period that has passed; or POAs revoked by the principal between issue and presentation. The receiving desk verifies validity at the point of use.
Notarisation by an unauthorised official. Dubai POAs require attestation by a Dubai Notary Public — not by a private notary, lawyer, or court-affiliated official without notary authority.
Property POAs (purchase, sale, gift, mortgage, ownership management): notarised in Dubai with the property identified by community, building, unit, and title deed reference. Where the property is off-plan, the Oqood reference replaces the title deed reference. Used at DLD and Trustee Offices. Must comply with DLD Circular No. 29/R/2025.
Banking POAs (account management, transaction authority, fund transfers): notarised in Dubai with the account identified by IBAN. Used at the issuing bank’s branch. Some banks require their own POA template in addition to the Dubai-notarised instrument.
Company POAs (signature authority, contract execution, regulatory filings): notarised in Dubai with the company identified by trade licence number. Where the company is foreign-registered, additional corporate documentation is required (memorandum, board resolution, certificate of good standing, all attested through the foreign jurisdiction’s consular legalisation chain).
Court POAs (litigation representation, settlement authority): notarised in Dubai with the matter identified by court reference where available. The Dubai Courts have specific POA requirements that go beyond the standard notarisation.
RTA POAs (vehicle registration, transfer, traffic file management): notarised in Dubai with the vehicle or traffic file identified.
A notarised POA can be cancelled by the principal at any time. The cancellation is itself a notarised act — the principal attends a Notary Public office, executes a cancellation instrument identifying the original POA, and the cancellation is registered.
Where the cancelled POA has been used to register a position (e.g., the POA-holder has signed a Form F that has been registered with DLD), the cancellation does not unwind the registered act — it only stops the POA from being used for further acts. Restoring the underlying position requires a separate corrective process.
Replacement of a defective POA — where the original is rejected at the receiving desk for substantive defects — runs as fresh execution and notarisation of a corrected instrument. The defective POA is retired (and may be formally cancelled if it has been registered anywhere).
Cendale Documents Clearing Services FZCO supports principals through the notarisation procedure: bilingual instrument drafting against the specific transaction type and receiving-desk requirements (including DLD Circular No. 29/R/2025 compliance for property POAs), Notary Public booking and attendance coordination, post-notarisation MOFAIC attestation and onward consular legalisation where the instrument is to be used outside the UAE, and inbound legalisation review for foreign-executed POAs to be used at Dubai receiving desks.
Power of attorney drafting and end-to-end execution are delivered through poas.ae.
No. The notary’s role is to verify identity, capacity, and signature — not to draft. Drafting is a separate, prior step, done in compliant Arabic-English bilingual format aligned to the receiving desk’s requirements.
No. Original Emirates ID is required for principal verification at the notary office. Where the ID has expired, the renewal must be processed first.
No. Only the principal is required at notarisation. The attorney’s identification is included in the instrument but the attorney does not need to attend.
The notarisation act itself is 15–30 minutes once at the desk. Waiting times at notary offices vary; appointments are recommended.
The POA can be executed and notarised in your location, then legalised for use in the UAE through the full consular legalisation chain: originating-country notarisation, foreign ministry attestation, UAE embassy legalisation in the issuing country, MOFAIC attestation in the UAE, and Arabic translation. The chain takes 2–6 weeks. Apostille alone is not sufficient because the UAE is not a Hague Apostille Convention member.
It can, with reverse legalisation: MOFAIC attestation in the UAE, destination embassy legalisation in the UAE, destination-language translation if required. Apostille is not used because the UAE is not a Convention party.
No. The UAE has not acceded to the Hague Apostille Convention. All foreign documents intended for use in the UAE require full consular legalisation, and all Dubai-notarised documents intended for use abroad require destination embassy legalisation in the UAE.
The fee is regulated and varies with instrument type and matter value. Property POAs cost more than banking POAs; high-value instruments cost more than low-value ones.
The operative version under UAE law is Arabic. POAs are typically drafted bilingually in Arabic and English, with the Arabic prevailing where there is a discrepancy.
Rejection is typically substantive (generic powers, mis-identified subject, attestation defect, non-compliance with DLD Circular No. 29/R/2025) rather than notarisation defect. The remedy is fresh drafting and re-notarisation of a corrected instrument.
Cendale Documents Clearing Services FZCO operates notarization.ae — Dubai’s dedicated resource on notarisation of powers of attorney by the Dubai Notary Public. This site covers what notarisation establishes under UAE law, why bilingual drafting precedes notarisation, and the post-notarisation MOFAIC consular legalisation route for instruments used outside the UAE. Power of attorney drafting, notarisation, and end-to-end execution are delivered through poas.ae.
Head office: 2604 Aspect Tower, Business Bay.
Trade Licence 78065.
Email support@cendale.ae or
Call +971 4 548 3201.
Mon–Fri, 10:00–18:00 GST.
VAT Registration Number: 105334659700003
View company details
© 2026 Cendale Documents Clearing Services FZCO. All rights reserved.