Power of Attorney Attestation in Dubai

What attestation adds after notarisation

Notarisation confirms that you, the principal, signed the power of attorney in front of a notary public or private notary, who checked your identity and applied the official seal. Attestation is a separate, later step. MOFAIC confirms that the notary’s signature and seal on the document are themselves genuine, which matters once the document leaves the notary’s own jurisdiction, for example when it travels to another country or is presented to a foreign embassy.

Banks, land registries, courts and government departments outside the UAE, and some foreign authorities operating inside the UAE, commonly ask for this extra confirmation before they will rely on a POA they cannot otherwise verify.

A POA signed in the UAE, for use abroad

If you are giving power of attorney here and it needs to work in another country, the usual sequence is:

1. Draft and sign the POA before a notary public or private notary in the UAE, who confirms your identity and applies the seal.
2. MOFAIC attestation. We submit the notarised POA to MOFAIC, which confirms the notary’s signature and seal are genuine.
3. Destination embassy legalisation. Some countries require their own embassy or consulate in the UAE to add a further legalisation stamp before the POA is accepted at home.
4. Translation, if needed. If the POA needs to be understood in a language other than Arabic or English at its destination, a legal translator registered with the UAE Ministry of Justice can prepare a certified translation.

A POA signed abroad, for use in the UAE

If someone abroad is granting you power of attorney to act for them in the UAE, the document generally needs to follow the reverse chain before a UAE authority will accept it:

1. Local notarisation or equivalent in the country where the POA is signed.
2. That country’s foreign ministry attestation.
3. UAE embassy or consulate attestation, in the country where the POA was signed.
4. MOFAIC attestation once the document reaches the UAE.
5. Arabic translation by a legal translator registered with the UAE Ministry of Justice, since notarial instruments in the UAE are generally handled in Arabic.

The UAE is not a party to the Hague Apostille Convention, so an apostille from the signing country does not replace this chain. Even if the country where the POA was signed is itself a Hague member and would normally issue an apostille for other purposes, the UAE side still requires the full legalisation chain above. If you are starting this process from outside the UAE, our page on how to notarise a UAE power of attorney from abroad covers that route in more detail.

Who will accept an attested POA

Dubai Land Department, RTA, banks and courts each set their own rules on what form of POA and attestation they will accept for a given transaction, and these rules can change. We check the specific requirement for your transaction before you go to your appointment, so you are not turned away for missing a step.

Online and remote routes

The UAE Ministry of Justice runs its own MOJ E-Notary system for remote and electronic notarisation, including a digital power of attorney service, at enotary.moj.gov.ae. This is the government’s own system, separate from any private service. Where your situation allows it, we can guide you on how the E-Notary route works and what it requires; for POAs that need attestation for use abroad, the physical notarisation and MOFAIC steps above still generally apply.

Types of power of attorney we help you attest

Different POA types carry different requirements once they need attestation. Our special power of attorney page covers POAs limited to a single task, such as a property sale or a court matter, which is the type most often sent abroad for a specific transaction. If circumstances change after signing, our cancelling a power of attorney page covers revocation, including through Dubai Land Department’s free revocation service for property-related POAs.

If your POA is for use in India specifically, either granted from Dubai or received from India, see our Indian notary and document attestation page, which covers the Indian consulate route in more detail.