Powers of attorney in the UAE

Property

For a property transaction someone else will attend. Start with Property POA if the question is still how wide the authority should be - selling, buying, leasing, mortgaging and managing are separate powers and none implies another. Go straight to the Dubai Land Department page if your transaction is at DLD, because DLD publishes what it requires.

• Property Power of Attorney for UAE real estate · AED 1,290
• Dubai Land Department Power of Attorney · AED 1,290

Property POA or DLD POA - which one do you need? · What documents does a UAE power of attorney need?

General authority

For someone who needs to deal with ordinary matters on your behalf over a period rather than one transaction. Worth knowing before you choose it: general means wide in scope, not accepted everywhere - some authorities publish the wording they expect.

• General Power of Attorney in the UAE · AED 990
• DEWA Electricity & Water Power of Attorney · AED 990

General vs special power of attorney in the UAE

Business

For company matters handled by a representative. The professional fee is AED 1,490, separate from whatever the relevant authority charges.

• Business Power of Attorney — run your company by proxy · AED 1,490

Vehicles

For selling, transferring or registering a vehicle when you will not be there. If the transaction is at RTA in Dubai, read the RTA page first - RTA publishes the scope your representative’s document has to contain, and a broad authority that does not contain it can be refused.

• Vehicle Power of Attorney — for UAE vehicles · AED 790
• RTA Vehicle Power of Attorney · AED 790

Vehicle POA or RTA POA - which one do you need?

Courts and disputes

For representation in proceedings. The professional fee for a litigation power of attorney is AED 1,590. Note that the federal portal states only licensed UAE national lawyers may appear before the courts, and that a representative must prove appointment through a notarised power of attorney.

• Litigation Power of Attorney — for UAE court cases · AED 1,590
• Dubai Courts Litigation Power of Attorney · AED 1,590
• Rental Dispute Centre Power of Attorney · AED 1,590

Which emirate the document is for

People search for this as "power of attorney Dubai" and as "UAE power of attorney", and they are the same question with one answer: there is no single national procedure to describe, because the authority that receives your document is almost always an emirate-level one, and each publishes its own requirements. Dubai is where we can quote the most - Dubai Land Department names a power of attorney in three separate property services, and RTA names the exact scope a vehicle representative's document must contain. Abu Dhabi publishes something different in kind: the Judicial Department's notarisation manual lists twelve named powers of attorney, one general and eleven bound to a subject, caps validity at "3 calendar years after the date of notarisation" and charges "AED 100 for each year of the POA validity" - figures that are Abu Dhabi's, dated July 2023, and not a federal rule. At federal level the government portal describes the channel rather than the document: attestation happens "through Notary Public Departments in the courts or via digital judicial platforms", and a document issued outside the country must be attested by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. One gap we will not paper over: the Dubai Courts notary pages disallow automated retrieval, so we do not quote their fee or procedure anywhere.

• Power of attorney in Abu Dhabi · AED 990

General vs special power of attorney in the UAE · Arranging a UAE power of attorney from outside the country

If you are outside the UAE

Being abroad is the most common reason one of these documents exists. What the document then needs in order to travel depends on where you sign and which authority receives it, and our guide sets out what official sources state - and what they leave unanswered.

Arranging a UAE power of attorney from outside the country · What documents does a UAE power of attorney need?