Vehicle Power of Attorney in the UAE

What a vehicle power of attorney lets an agent do

The acts a vehicle power of attorney authorises depend entirely on its wording. Under Federal Decree-Law No. 25 of 2025, a document written only in general terms grants the agent acts of management; selling, transferring or mortgaging the car all go beyond that and need a special agency naming the exact act. In practice, a well-drafted vehicle power of attorney names:

• The principal (owner) and the agent, matching their Emirates ID or passport
• The vehicle: make, model, plate number, chassis number and the registration card (mulkiya) details
• The exact acts authorised: sell, buy, register, renew registration, transfer ownership, deal with the RTA or the equivalent authority in another emirate, pay or clear traffic fines if you want that included
• Any price floor or other condition you want the agent bound by

Special, limited and general power of attorney for a car

If you are leaving the UAE and want someone to sell your car after you have gone, name the sale specifically, along with authority to sign the transfer and, if relevant, to receive payment. A general power of attorney for ongoing management, such as paying fines or renewing the registration each year, is a separate, narrower document, and it is worth keeping the two apart so the agent is not handed more authority than the task needs.

Selling a car through a power of attorney

To sell, the document needs to authorise the sale of the named vehicle specifically, the signing of the transfer at the RTA or licensing authority, and, if you want your agent to collect the payment, that has to be stated as well. Buyers and the RTA both check that the wording covers a sale rather than general management.

Buying or registering a car through a power of attorney

The same applies in reverse for a purchase: the agent needs express authority to sign the purchase paperwork and complete registration in your name. For a straightforward registration renewal on a car you already own, a narrower power of attorney limited to renewal and RTA dealings is usually all that is needed.

Cars under finance: bank clearance first

If the car is financed, the bank holds an interest in it until the loan is cleared. A power of attorney to sell a financed car needs the bank’s clearance letter before the RTA will process a transfer, and the sale proceeds typically need to settle the outstanding finance first.

Steps: draft, notarise, then use at the RTA

1. Draft the power of attorney, naming the vehicle, the agent and the exact acts authorised.
2. Have it translated into Arabic by a legal translator registered with the UAE Ministry of Justice, if it was not drafted in Arabic.
3. Sign it before a notary public, who checks your identity and the vehicle’s registration card, then applies the seal.
4. Your agent presents the notarised power of attorney, their own ID, and the vehicle documents at the RTA or the relevant licensing authority to complete the sale, registration or transfer.

Signing from outside the UAE

You do not need to be in the UAE to grant a vehicle power of attorney, but a document signed abroad needs the legalisation chain before it can be used here:

1. Sign the power of attorney before a notary in the country where you are.
2. Have it attested by that country’s foreign ministry.
3. Have it attested by the UAE embassy or consulate there.
4. Have it attested in the UAE by MOFAIC, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.
5. Have it translated into Arabic by a legal translator registered with the UAE Ministry of Justice.

The UAE is not a party to the Hague Apostille Convention, so an apostille from your home country does not replace this chain; MOFAIC attestation is the step that matters for use in the UAE. Our guide to notarising a UAE power of attorney from abroad walks through this in full.

When a vehicle power of attorney ends

The document ends on the term written into it, on completion of the task it named, or under Federal Decree-Law No. 25 of 2025, on the death or loss of legal capacity of the principal or the agent. The principal can also revoke it at any time; see our guide to cancelling a power of attorney in Dubai for the process. There is no general statutory validity period for a UAE power of attorney; anything you read stating a fixed number of years should be treated as unconfirmed unless it is stated in the document itself or by the authority using it.

Common mistakes that get a vehicle power of attorney rejected

• Naming the wrong or incomplete vehicle details, such as an outdated plate number
• General wording used for what is a one-off sale
• No bank clearance on a financed car
• Signing abroad and missing a step in the legalisation chain
• No Arabic translation from a translator registered with the Ministry of Justice