Selling or buying Dubai property through a power of attorney

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Kooky

Builder of Shaka, the payment router that pays every agent their commission on closing date.

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An owner who lives in Manchester, Mumbai or Melbourne and sells a flat in Dubai rarely wants to fly in for a registration that the Dubai Land Department times at 25 minutes. One answer is a power of attorney: a document in which the owner, the principal, authorises someone else, the agent, to sign in their place. The Department's sale registration page allows for it in six words, saying the service is open to the seller and the buyer "or their legally authorized representatives". It says nothing more about the document itself.

The detail sits elsewhere: in the Department's own frequently asked questions, in the fee and fine schedule for Dubai's notaries, in the attestation service of the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and in a Department circular of July 2025 whose text was not read and which is known here only through a law firm's note of 18 August 2025. The guide states as fact only what the official pages say and gives the rest as that firm's account. This guide puts those pieces in the order a file meets them. It covers the words a power of attorney has to contain, what a notary in Dubai charges and checks, the chain of stamps for a document signed in another country, how the price must be paid when the seller is not in the room, and the points the public pages do not settle.

Dubai Land Department frequently asked questions, read on 10 October 2026; Executive Council Resolution No. (72) of 2025; UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs attestation service page, read in October 2026.

Where a power of attorney meets the register

A sale of a completed property in Dubai is registered at one place. The Land Department's sale registration page, last updated on 7 October 2026, lists a single service channel: Real Estate Registration Trustee Centres, in person. The page describes five stages at the counter. The documents are checked and uploaded to a digital vault, an employee enters and audits the transaction, the fees are paid, the buyer's details are entered from an Emirates ID or a passport, and a request is created with a reference number.

For individuals the page asks for very little: the Emirates ID of the seller and of the buyer, used to verify identity only with no copies taken, or a valid passport for a non-resident foreigner, and in freehold areas an electronic no-objection certificate from the developer. A power of attorney is not on that list, because the list is written for parties who attend in person. When one of them does not, the power of attorney becomes the document on which the whole registration rests: it is the only evidence that the person at the counter may dispose of someone else's property.

That is why the trustee's check of the document matters so much in a sale by representative.

What the Department confirms, and the 2025 circular

The Land Department's frequently asked questions, re-read on 10 October 2026, state four rules in the Department's own words. A power of attorney for a sale, a mortgage or a grant is valid for two years, and one for a purchase for five years, counted from the date of notarisation at the notary public. A power of attorney issued abroad must be formally ratified before the Department accepts it, by the notary public, the foreign ministry of the country of origin, the UAE embassy in that country and the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs. A sale, donation or mortgage of a minor's property requires a court judgment or, for Dubai citizens, a decision of the Awqaf and Minors Affairs Foundation. And where a minor is the buyer, the legal guardian signs the contract. These four are the confirmed rules of this guide.

The frequently asked questions say nothing about the wording of the document, the way a registrar verifies it, translation, the presentation of the original or the form of payment. On those points the only account read is a note published on 18 August 2025 by the law firm BSA Law about Dubai Land Department Circular No. 29/R/2025, which the note dates to 16 July 2025. The circular was not among the pages that could be read for this guide and is not mentioned in the frequently asked questions. Each rule attributed to it below is that firm's account as of August 2025, not a verified rule, and it may have changed since.

According to the note, the circular applies to powers of attorney submitted to the Department or to any real estate registration centre in Dubai for six kinds of transaction: sale, purchase, gift, mortgage, usufruct and musataha.

The note describes three families of rules. The first concerns wording: what the document must say for each kind of transaction. The second concerns verification: how the registrar confirms that the document is real and still matches the person who gave it. The third concerns documents issued outside the UAE and the way the price is paid when an agent signs. The sections that follow take them in turn.

The words a registrar looks for

The central rule, as BSA Law reports it, is that the power of attorney must expressly authorise the specific transaction, using terms the circular approves. General language is not enough. The note gives "full authority to manage property" as an example of wording that is insufficient and may lead to the document being refused.

The approved terms differ by transaction.

Three points in that list deserve a second look. The sale terms include "sale to oneself or to others". An agent who intends to buy the property personally is therefore looking for that phrase, and a document that only says "sale" is on the note's account a different authority. The purchase terms are built around shared ownership: where the agent buys for themselves alongside the principal, the ownership share has to be spelled out. And for a mortgage given as security for someone else's borrowing, which the note calls an in-kind surety, the power of attorney must state whether the guarantee covers a third party's debt or the principal's own.

The note records one more limit. A power of attorney cannot be used to amend the title holder's data in the Department's records unless that power is expressly written into it. An agent sent to sell a flat is not, by that fact alone, authorised to correct the owner's name or passport details on the record first.

How the document is verified at the counter

BSA Law reports that a registrar must verify a power of attorney only on the official site of the authority that issued it. The note names three: Dubai Courts, for documents attested by Dubai's notaries; Abu Dhabi Courts; and the Ministry of Justice, whose electronic notary search covers the ministry and other UAE judicial authorities.

Verification then moves from the document to the person. The registrar cross-checks the principal's name, Emirates ID and passport number against the Department's own system. Where the power of attorney quotes a passport or an identity card that has since expired, the note says a copy of that expired document is to be provided and the power of attorney verified through the same portals. A power of attorney issued outside Dubai stays acceptable, the note adds, as long as the principal's particulars are still accurate on the day it is submitted.

The practical meaning for an agent is that the paper in hand is only half of the test. The other half is whether the issuing authority's records still show the document, and whether the name and numbers in it are the ones the Department holds for the owner. A passport renewed between the day the power of attorney was signed and the day of the sale is the case the note describes.

Notarising a power of attorney in Dubai

A power of attorney signed in Dubai is attested by a notary public. The law in force defines that term broadly. Executive Council Resolution No. (4) of 2014, issued on 25 February 2014, defines a Notary Public as a government notary, a private notary or an employee of a government entity registered on the Roll kept by the Courts. A private notary is a natural person registered on that Roll to perform certain functions of a government notary, working within a firm that the Courts have authorised.

The price list was replaced in 2025. Executive Council Resolution No. (72) of 2025, issued and effective on 15 September 2025, substituted new schedules of fees, registration charges and violations. Item 4 of its Schedule 1 prices the attestation of a general or special power of attorney at AED 100 per signature. The 2014 schedule charged the same AED 100 per party to the power of attorney; the unit is now the signature.

Worked examples show the scale, with the assumptions stated. A power of attorney signed by one owner costs AED 100 on the attestation line. One signed by three co-owners costs three signatures at AED 100, so AED 300. If a translator's signature on a four-page original is attested as well, that line adds four pages at AED 25, which is AED 100. A certified paper copy of the same four pages is AED 20. These figures are computed from the schedule and are not a quotation; the schedule does not say whether the agent's signature is counted, or whether the data-entry line of AED 100 per party is charged on a power of attorney.

The schedule also prices a notary's visit. A government notary who attends somewhere other than the workplace charges AED 100 where the party is unable to move, is aged 60 or over, or is a woman in the waiting period the schedule calls Idda, and AED 1,000 for anyone else. On that scale, a single owner aged 45 who asks for a home visit pays AED 1,000 for attendance and AED 100 for the signature, AED 1,100 in all; an owner aged 65 pays AED 100 and AED 100, so AED 200.

Private notaries are priced separately. Article 2 of the 2025 resolution says a private notary collects fees for services under Law No. (4) of 2013, in amounts set by a resolution of the Director of the Dubai Courts in coordination with the Department of Finance. That resolution was not read for this guide, so the table above describes the government scale only. The same schedule fines a notary AED 20,000 for collecting fees above those the Courts have approved, and AED 10,000 for collecting the wrong amount or none.

What the notary checks, and where the role stops

The fine schedule doubles as a list of what a notary must do before attesting. Item 18 of Schedule 3 sets a fine of AED 10,000 for processing an application without verifying the parties' identity, legal capacity, consent, full understanding of the instrument's contents, or legal authority. For a power of attorney that means five separate questions: who the principal is, whether they are able in law to give the authority, whether they agree, whether they understand what they are signing, and, where someone signs for another person or for a company, whether that signatory has the authority to do so.

Two neighbouring items protect the independence and the confidentiality of the act. Item 17 fines a notary AED 10,000 for handling an application in which the notary, or a relative up to the fourth degree, has an interest or acts as translator, assistant, adviser or proxy. Items 20 and 22 fine a notary AED 10,000 for disclosing a party's information to a third party, and the same amount for giving someone who is not a party a copy of an instrument without the written approval of the Chief Justice. A buyer or a broker who wants to confirm a seller's power of attorney therefore does not obtain it from the notary; the route BSA Law's note describes is the issuing authority's verification service.

The schedule also marks the outer edge of the notary's part in a property deal. Item 14 fines a notary AED 10,000 for attesting an instrument that creates, transfers, changes or extinguishes a right in real property. A notary may attest the authority to sell. The sale itself belongs to the register.

A power of attorney issued abroad must be formally ratified before the Dubai Land Department accepts it, the Department's frequently asked questions say.

Fines are not the only consequence the law provides. Article 3 of the 2014 resolution, as shown on the Dubai Legislation Portal, doubles the fine when the same violation is repeated within one year, up to AED 50,000, and allows the Notary Public Affairs Committee to issue a warning, suspend a registration or authorisation for up to two years, or remove it. The 2025 resolution replaced the schedules only.

A power of attorney signed in another country

For an owner abroad, the document may be signed where they live. The Department's frequently asked questions confirm the chain of ratification: the notary public, the foreign ministry of the country of origin, the UAE embassy there and the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs. BSA Law's note of August 2025 reports the same chain in shorter form, without the foreign ministry of the country of origin, and adds two conditions the official page does not carry: a translation and the presentation of the original.

The time limit is the condition with the sharpest edge, and it is a confirmed one. The Department's frequently asked questions give a power of attorney for a sale, a mortgage or a grant a validity of two years, and one for a purchase five years, from the date of notarisation at the notary public; they do not limit that rule to documents issued abroad. BSA Law's note states the two-year window for a foreign power of attorney only. As a worked example on today's date, a power of attorney to sell notarised on 1 November 2024 and presented on 10 October 2026 is inside the two years, while one notarised on 1 September 2024 is outside them. How the Department counts the last day is not described on either page.

On the original, the only account is the law firm's. The note says the physical original must be presented and that uncertified electronic or scanned copies are not accepted. On translation, it says the full legal translation is to be "legalised as applicable", without naming the authority that legalises it.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs step in detail

The Ministry's own service page explains what its stamp means. Attestation, it says, certifies the authenticity of the signatures and seals on a document issued in or outside the UAE. It is a statement about the stamps already on the paper, not about the content of the power of attorney, which is why the Land Department's wording test remains a separate matter.

For a document issued outside the UAE, the page sets out the route in order:

1. The applicant signs in and selects attestation through UAE missions abroad.
2. The applicant completes the required information and pays.
3. The applicant keeps the confirmation reference number.
4. The applicant checks the website of the UAE mission in the country of residence and, if the service is not offered online there, visits the mission in person.

Where there is no UAE mission in the country, the page says to contact the Ministry.

Documents issued in the UAE follow a different path, which matters for a power of attorney made in Dubai for use in another country. The applicant signs in with UAE PASS and the system assigns one of two routes. Digital attestation needs an original digital document carrying a verification feature such as a QR code, a reference number or a barcode. The courier route needs the original in Arabic or English, or with a legally certified translation, certified by the competent authorities where that applies, and not laminated.

The page gives service times rather than prices. Digital attestation is completed within two hours during official working hours. Attestation by courier takes one to three business days inside the UAE and up to seven business days outside it. Incomplete applications are rejected automatically, and the applicant is responsible for the accuracy of what is submitted. The page prints no fee in dirhams: it says the cost depends on the number of documents, the completion option and whether the document is personal or commercial, and refers to a separate attestation guide whose text could not be read for this guide.

How the price is paid when an agent signs

The rules on payment are known only from BSA Law's account of the circular, and on that account they are where a sale by power of attorney differs most from a sale in person. When the seller attends, the cheque is made out in the seller's name for the full amount, and payment may be shown by a personal cheque, a manager's cheque, or a notarised receipt or matching bank statement.

When an agent signs for the seller, the note lists three acceptable forms:

• a manager's cheque in the seller's name for the full amount;
• a cheque in the agent's name, together with a receipt stating explicitly that the amount was received on the seller's behalf;
• a notarised acknowledgement of receipt from the owner.

A worked example places these beside the Department's fees. Assume a completed apartment sold by an agent for AED 2,000,000. The first form is a manager's cheque for AED 2,000,000 in the absent owner's name. The registration fee lines on the Department's page are 2% for the seller and 2% for the buyer, AED 40,000 each, and the trustee's fee is AED 4,000 plus VAT because the value is AED 500,000 or more. Against those sums, the AED 100 a government notary charged for the owner's signature is the smallest line on the file and the one on which the rest depends.

On the note's account, a cheque written to the agent is not, by itself, one of the three forms. It needs the explicit receipt.

Minors and owners under guardianship

A power of attorney cannot supply an authority the principal does not have. The Department's frequently asked questions say a sale, donation or mortgage of a minor's property requires a court judgment or, for Dubai citizens, a decision of the Awqaf and Minors Affairs Foundation. BSA Law's note of August 2025 gives a finer split, as its account of the circular: for an Emirati in Dubai, the written approval of the Foundation; for an Emirati from another emirate, a court order authorising the guardian or trustee; for non-nationals, a local judicial order.

Two refinements follow. The note says payment in a sale involving a minor must follow the relevant court order, not the three forms above. And where a minor is the buyer, the Department's page says the legal guardian signs the contract on the minor's behalf.

What the public pages leave open

Several questions an owner is likely to ask could not be answered from the pages read for this guide, and they are listed so that no reader takes silence for a rule.

Revocation. The 2025 notary schedule has 16 fee lines and none of them is for cancelling a power of attorney or dismissing an agent. How a revocation is recorded, what it costs and how quickly a trustee's check would show it were not established. The note does not address revocation.

Remote notarisation. The Dubai Courts pages that describe notary services, in person or by video, were closed to the tool used for this research. The Executive Council schedule contains no separate line for a remote session.

Companies. The Department's sale page says only that a company must first be registered through a company registration request. It lists no board resolution, memorandum or signatory document, and BSA Law's note does not cover powers of attorney given by companies beyond guardianship cases.

Fees outside the schedule. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs fee, the fees of private notaries and the charges of embassies abroad were not found in dirhams on any page read.

The circular itself. Every rule attributed to Circular No. 29/R/2025 in this guide, on wording, verification, translation, the original and payment, comes from one law firm's summary dated 18 August 2025. Only the validity periods, the ratification chain for a foreign document and the rules on minors were confirmed on a Land Department page. The Department's own text, and any later amendment to it, would prevail over that account.

Kooky, from Shaka

Kooky edits Agents Estate and builds Shaka, the payment router he made for real estate professionals. One payment comes in, and every agent, agency and party in the deal receives their signed share on closing date.

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