Power of attorney from the UAE for use in Germany
This is the one corridor out of the UAE where the governments involved describe the whole journey themselves. The German missions in the UAE state that the German-Emirati relationship runs on legalisation rather than apostille, and that a UAE document already attested by UAE MOFA can be legalised by the German Consulate General in Dubai for EUR 29.88. They also state that a consular signature certification is enough for a Vollmacht, including in real-estate matters. What Germany warns about separately is subtler and more important: authenticity and formal sufficiency are different questions, and German law sometimes requires a form that only a German notary can produce.
When people need this
Property is the most common - selling or managing a flat in Germany while living in the Gulf, or handling a transaction for a relative. Company matters come next, and bank instructions after that.
The German missions in the UAE treat this as ordinary consular work, and both a signature certification and a full legalisation route are published.
Germany says legalisation, in terms
The German missions in the UAE put it in a single sentence: in the German-Emirati relationship this happens by way of a so-called legalisation. That is a rare thing to find written down, and it settles the apostille question from the German side as well as the UAE one.
They also set out what can be legalised: Emirati public documents, certified copies and electronically produced documents. The pre-attestation chain inside the UAE is named too - birth certificates through the Ministry of Health, marriage certificates and court judgments through the Ministry of Justice, and all of them finally through MOFA. In general, any document issued in the UAE and pre-attested by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs can be legalised by the Consulate General in Dubai.
The published fee is EUR 29.88, payable by card or in dirhams at the day's rate.
The other route: sign it in front of a German consular officer
The missions publish this and they name the instrument. A signature certification suffices in particular for powers of attorney and consent declarations, including in property transactions. You sign in the officer's presence, or acknowledge a signature already made, and bring photo identification.
They ask you to bring the draft - from your German notary, or one you have written yourself - together with the underlying contract or draft and evidence of the transaction's value, because the signature-certification fee is priced by transaction value. A certified photocopy is EUR 25.70. Payment at the Dubai post is cash in dirhams only.
Full notarial recording is a different service and is done only where the officer is empowered. The missions state plainly that, unlike a notary in Germany, a consular officer is not obliged to record a deed, so they ask you to email first rather than arrive expecting it.
Whose fee is whose
Germany is the one corridor of the five where most of the figures are actually published, which makes it worth being precise about what each covers.
- UAE government fee - UAE MOFA attestation, which precedes the legalisation route. Priced in a guide we have not read; we quote no figure.
- Mission fee, legalisation route - EUR 29.88 at the German Consulate General in Dubai, payable by card or in dirhams at the day's rate.
- Mission fee, signature-certification route - not a fixed amount. It is priced by the value of the underlying transaction, which is why the missions ask for evidence of that value. A certified photocopy is EUR 25.70.
- German-side costs - for the reverse direction, EUR 22.00 for the BfAA Endbeglaubigung since 1 July 2025, plus whatever a German notary charges for the transaction itself.
- Our own professional fee for preparing the document is separate again, and is never bundled into any of the above.
The warning worth reading twice
Germany draws a distinction that catches people out. Legalisation answers whether a document is authentic. It does not answer whether the document is in the form German law requires.
The missions say it directly: where German property law requires certain declarations to be notarially recorded, that normally means recording by a domestic officer - a German notary or a consular officer - and the equivalence of foreign notarial acts is recognised only under narrowly defined conditions. So a UAE-notarised document can be perfectly authentic and still be the wrong instrument for a German land transaction.
This is why the consular signature-certification route matters here more than in most corridors, and why it is worth asking the German notary handling the transaction which form they need before anything is signed in Dubai.
The reverse direction
For a German document coming into the UAE, Germany publishes the chain and names the UAE in a closed list. Notarial and judicial documents are pre-certified by the Landgericht president; the Federal Office for Foreign Affairs then issues an Endbeglaubigung, which since 1 January 2023 it handles centrally and prices at EUR 22.00 since 1 July 2025. The Federal Office's own list of documents needing that Landgericht step names Vollmachten explicitly.
The United Arab Emirates appears on Germany's list of states whose missions require that final certification, with commercial documents excepted. The German Consulate General in Dubai states that it cannot legalise German documents itself, and refers you to the UAE Embassy in Berlin or the Consulate General in Munich for binding information - which is worth knowing, because neither of those publishes its requirements.
Language
The German missions state that they cannot make or certify translations. Where a signature is being certified on a document the signer does not read, the officer must be satisfied the signer understands it, if necessary through a written translation into a language they know.
Germany also flags a subtlety about translations generally: a translation is treated as an expert service rather than a public document, so the certification and apostille procedures do not apply to it directly. What can be certified is the court president's note on the translator's signature, and that official note is then the public document.
Where this page stops
The UAE side of the reverse journey is unevidenced. Neither the UAE Embassy in Berlin nor the Consulate General in Munich publishes fees, forms, turnaround or a translation requirement, and the German foreign office itself directs you to them for binding information. We can tell you the step exists and not what it costs.
The exact fee for a consular signature certification on a power of attorney is also not a fixed figure - it depends on the value of the transaction, which is why the missions ask for evidence of it.
Questions
Does Germany accept an apostille on a UAE document?
Germany answers this itself for this corridor, which is why it is the clearest of the five: its missions in the UAE state that in the German-Emirati relationship the step is a legalisation. That is an authority speaking about its own procedure, and it sits alongside the UAE not being listed among the Convention's Contracting Parties. Take it as settled for this route, and note that it is settled because Germany says so, not because a general rule was applied to it.
What does legalisation cost at the German consulate?
EUR 29.88, per the missions' published fee, payable by card or in dirhams at the day's rate. A signature certification is priced by the value of the underlying transaction instead, which is why they ask for evidence of it.
Is a UAE-notarised Vollmacht enough for a German property sale?
Not necessarily, and this is the important point. Germany distinguishes authenticity from form: where German law requires notarial recording, that normally means a domestic officer, and foreign notarial acts are treated as equivalent only under narrowly defined conditions. Ask the German notary handling the transaction which form they need.
Can the German consulate record a full notarial deed for me?
Sometimes, but not on demand. The missions state that a consular officer, unlike a notary in Germany, is not obliged to record a deed, and ask you to email in advance. A signature certification is the routine service and is expressly sufficient for a Vollmacht.
Do I need UAE MOFA attestation first?
For the legalisation route, yes. The German missions state that documents issued in the UAE and pre-attested by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs can be legalised by the Consulate General in Dubai. If instead you are signing in front of a consular officer, that is a different service and MOFA does not come first.
Can the consulate translate my document?
No. The missions state that they cannot make or certify translations. Where a signature is certified on a document in a language you do not read, the officer must be satisfied you understand it, if necessary through a written translation.
What this page does not do
- What the UAE missions in Berlin and Munich require for a German document is not published. Germany itself directs you to them for binding information, and neither provides it.
- The consular signature-certification fee is not a fixed amount - it is priced by the value of the transaction. Only the legalisation fee of EUR 29.88 and the certified-copy fee of EUR 25.70 are stated figures.
- Whether a particular German transaction needs a notarial deed rather than a certified signature is a question of German law about your specific matter. We state the distinction Germany draws; we do not apply it to your case, and we are not a law firm.
- The Deedbox prepares documents. We do not carry out attestation or legalisation, do not act for you before any mission, and are not a law firm. The receiving authority in Germany decides whether to act on your document.