Why you need a UAE power of attorney and legalisation
Most of our clients run their UAE matters remotely from Moscow, Almaty, Tashkent or elsewhere in Europe. For a lawyer to file a claim, collect documents from authorities, register a company or complete a property deal on your behalf, they need a power of attorney (POA) that the Emirates will accept.
UAE authorities, courts and banks accept a foreign document only once it has been legalised and translated into Arabic. A poorly worded scope of authority or a missed legalisation step is one of the most common reasons a document is rejected and a case loses weeks.
Apostille or consular legalisation?
The UAE is not a party to the 1961 Hague Apostille Convention (per the Convention's status table as of 2026). An apostille on its own is therefore not enough — documents need consular legalisation. For Russian documents the chain usually runs:
- notarisation of the POA or a notarised copy of the document;
- certification by the Russian Ministry of Justice;
- legalisation by the Consular Department of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs;
- legalisation by the UAE Embassy in Moscow;
- attestation by the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs — parts of which can now be done digitally via UAE Pass.
For Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and EU countries the logic is similar, but the steps and timings differ — we confirm the current route for your country before starting, as authorities do update their requirements.
Arabic translation
Documents for the courts and most UAE authorities must be filed with an Arabic translation by a licensed legal translator in the UAE. We arrange the translation and proofread it: in POAs and corporate resolutions, names, passport numbers and the wording of powers must be exact.
Documents we prepare and legalise
- POAs for litigation, debt recovery and representation before RERA and the Dubai Land Department;
- POAs for company registration and management, bank accounts and property transactions;
- corporate documents — charters, registry extracts, shareholder resolutions — for setting up a UAE company or vetting a counterparty;
- personal documents — marriage and birth certificates, diplomas — for visas, family and inheritance matters;
- court judgments for enforcement in the UAE.
A POA issued in the UAE itself is executed before a UAE notary; a foreign national usually needs to attend in person or use a remote notarisation service where one is available for that type of document.
How we work
- Purpose and wording. We establish what the document is for and draft the POA in Russian and English/Arabic with exactly the powers required.
- Your local notary. You sign before a notary in your city; we guide you by message.
- Legalisation. We take the document through the chain or coordinate the courier and authorities.
- Translation and use. We translate it in the UAE and file it where it is needed.
Timing depends on the issuing country, authority workloads and filing route — we give a realistic estimate at the diagnosis stage.
Fees
Drafting a POA and managing legalisation is a fixed-price project from AED 5,000, or part of a larger matter. Consular fees, notary costs and translation are paid separately and itemised in the estimate. A one-off consultation is from AED 750 for 60 minutes. See pricing.
FAQ
The UAE is not a party to the Apostille Convention, so documents from Russia and the CIS normally need consular legalisation ending with UAE MOFA attestation. An apostille does not replace it.
Yes. You sign the POA before a notary in your country; the document is then legalised, and we handle translation and filing in the UAE.
The term is stated in the POA itself. Some UAE authorities and banks may ask for a recently issued document, so we check the requirements of the specific body.
For the courts and most authorities, yes — by a licensed legal translator in the UAE.