A power of attorney is the document by which a person, or a company, gives someone else the legal authority to act on their behalf in Dubai. It sets out who can act, for whom, and to do exactly what. Whether it works when needed, at a bank, a registry, a court or a counter, depends almost entirely on how those powers are worded and on it being properly notarised before a Dubai Courts notary.
We draft powers of attorney in Arabic and English, check them against what the receiving authority will accept, and arrange and attend the notary appointment. We are a document services provider, not a notary and not a law firm: the notarial act itself is performed by a Dubai Courts notary, not by us.
What a power of attorney lets someone do
A company cannot appear in person, and neither can an individual unable to attend to a matter themselves, most often because they are abroad. A power of attorney solves that by authorising a named individual, the attorney, to act for the person or company who grants it, the principal.
What the attorney can do depends entirely on what the instrument says. A power of attorney is commonly used to sign and submit documents to a specific authority, complete a transaction the principal cannot attend, represent the principal before a named body, collect documents, cheques or certificates on the principal’s behalf, operate a bank account within stated limits, or act on a single property or vehicle transaction. None of that happens automatically: the instrument has to name the acts precisely, and it has to be notarised before a receiving party will rely on it.
Who grants one, and who acts under it
The principal is the person or company granting the authority. The attorney is the person receiving it. Both have to be identified precisely enough that a bank clerk or a registry officer can match them to an identity document.
Where the principal is a company, the harder question is where the signatory’s authority to grant the power comes from. The memorandum of association may name a manager and state what that manager can do: the strongest basis, since it is constitutional and needs no supporting document beyond itself. A board or shareholder resolution may confer authority for a named purpose, but is time limited in a way the memorandum is not, and can be superseded, revoked or overtaken by a change in the board. An existing power of attorney may authorise the holder to grant a further authority, but only where it contains a substitution clause.
Whichever applies, bring the evidence. An instrument reciting an authority nobody can produce is worth very little.
Why the wording of the powers matters
The scope clause is the whole document. Everything else, the recitals, the parties, the formalities, is form around it.
A general power, one that authorises the holder to act almost without limit, sounds like better value because it covers more. In practice it is refused more often: accepting one means accepting responsibility for whatever the holder then does with it, and the safe answer for a bank, a registry or a counterparty’s lawyer is often no.
A special power of attorney removes that judgement call. It names the principal, the attorney, the acts, and where useful the limit. Four questions produce a scope clause that holds up: what precisely the attorney needs to do, what they must specifically not do, whether they need to delegate, which requires a substitution clause, and whether the authority should expire. A company power of attorney works the same way: narrow enough to be accepted, wide enough to be useful.
One exception: if the receiving party, often a bank, has told you what wording it wants, the right instrument is theirs, and the work is checking their form against your constitutional documents.
How it is notarised
Getting to a valid power of attorney runs through four stages. We handle three.
You send the draft, or describe what the attorney needs to do if you do not have one. We read it and quote, usually inside the working day: which instrument you need, whether it will be accepted as drafted, our fee and the Courts fee separately, and who has to attend. We draft in both languages together, rather than one translated after the other, and you approve the text before anything is booked. Then you sign, we book the appointment before a Dubai Courts notary, and attend it with you.
| What the notary does | What we do |
|---|---|
| Attests that the signatory is who they claim to be | Draft the instrument in Arabic and English |
| Attests that they signed in front of him, on that date | Check the file against what the receiving authority will accept |
| Performs the notarial act itself | Establish who must attend and with what |
| Book the appointment and attend it with you |
Most of what goes wrong goes wrong before the notary ever sees it: a scope drafted too broadly, an authority that has lapsed, or a company named inconsistently across the licence, the memorandum and the instrument. That is why the reading comes first, and why we do not charge for it.
What it costs
Our fee from AED 1,500. The Dubai Courts fee is separate and passed on at cost.
Our invoice carries two lines, and you are entitled to see which is which. Our fee covers drafting in Arabic and English, checking the file, establishing who has to attend, and attending the appointment. Where a draft already exists, it covers reviewing and repairing it. The Dubai Courts fee is set by the Courts, not by us, and depends on the instrument and, for some, on the value stated in it.
Sending the draft for a first reading does not cost anything, and carries no obligation. Full detail on how the fee is built is on the fees page.
Bring the right documents from the start
For a company, that means the trade licence currently valid, the memorandum with every amendment, and the original passport and Emirates ID of the signatory. If the authority comes from a resolution, bring that too. For an individual principal, original identity documents are usually enough, plus identity details for the attorney even if they are not present. The full sequence from draft to notarised document, and what happens afterwards for a document used abroad, is set out on our process page.
Send us the draft, or a line about what the attorney needs to do, and we will tell you whether it will be accepted before you commit to anything. Get in touch to start.
Questions people ask
Do I have to attend in person?
For the notarial act, the signatory attends. Whether a representative can act under a power of attorney instead depends on the instrument, and we establish that before anybody books anything.
General or special power of attorney?
Special, usually. A general power drafted too widely is the single most common reason a corporate document is refused. A special power names the acts, so nobody has to make a judgement call about it.
Can a power of attorney be in English only?
Many receiving authorities require Arabic, and which ones do is not something to guess at. We draft in both languages as standard, so the question does not arise later.
How long is a power of attorney valid for?
That depends on what the instrument says and what the receiving party requires. Some will not accept an open ended authority, so an expiry is sometimes added deliberately.
Can a power of attorney be revoked?
Yes, and revocation is its own instrument rather than something that happens by not using the original. If you need one revoked, say so, because the process is different.
Is the first reading really free?
Yes. Send a draft and you will get back which instrument you need, whether it will be accepted, what it will cost and who has to attend. No charge, no obligation.