Dubai Courts guides
Dubai Courts notary public: how the process works, step by step
The short answer
The Dubai Courts notary public is the government notary for the Emirate of Dubai. It attests powers of attorney, authenticates signatures and records the other instruments that Dubai law gives it, working in person at its service centres or through virtual attendance. Private notaries registered on a Dubai Courts roll carry out some of the same functions from their own offices.
At a glance
This guide is written by NotaryPublicInDubai.com, a notary services company in Business Bay. It explains the process from the side of the person signing: which notary handles what, what the notary checks, what you upload or bring, what the fee is under which rule, and what usually holds a session up. For the court's own channels, see our guide to contacting Dubai Courts.
Dubai's notaries are governed by Dubai Law No. 4 of 2013, not by the federal notary law. The federal law expressly leaves out local judicial authorities that have their own notary legislation.
Under that Dubai law, a notary public can be the Government Notary Public, a Private Notary Public, or an employee of a government entity registered on the roll.
Dubai Courts' POA service verifies the parties' capacity and eligibility by virtual or personal attendance.
The instrument is in Arabic. A document in another language must come with an Arabic translation by a certified translator, and both versions are signed.
A document issued outside the UAE must first be attested by the foreign ministry of the issuing country, the UAE embassy there, and MOFAIC in the UAE.
8 pages in this hub
Every page in Dubai Courts guides
Guide
Contact Dubai Courts
How to reach Dubai Courts: the official contact number, toll free helpline, email, live chat and service centres, which to use and what to have ready.
Guide
Wafi Mall notary
Going to the public notary at Wafi Mall or another Dubai Courts centre? What each visit is for, what to bring, timings, and how to prepare your document.
Guide
E-notary
Getting a power of attorney through Dubai Courts online or the MOJ enotary system: which route fits, how the video session works, and what we prepare.
Guide
Verify a document
Dubai Courts document verification: how to check that a notarised POA or document is genuine and still in force, and what to do if the check fails.
Service
Legal translation
Notary public translation certification in Dubai: when the notary or court needs Arabic, who translates, how a bilingual POA is made, and the fees.
Service
Signature authentication
Signature approval in Dubai: when a document needs notary signature authentication, what the notary checks, fees, and how it differs from a POA.
Guide
Will registration
Dubai Courts will registration explained step by step: what to prepare, the Arabic text, attending the notary, and what we do before your appointment.
Guide
Abu Dhabi court notary
The Abu Dhabi court notary route under the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department, compared with Dubai Courts: which one to use, what to bring, language and fees.
01
Who the Dubai Courts notary public is
In Arabic the notary is called katib al adl (كاتب العدل), and that is the word you will see on Dubai Courts forms and counters. Dubai Law No. 4 of 2013 concerning Notaries Public in the Emirate of Dubai sets out three kinds of notary public:
- The Government Notary Public. This is the notary inside Dubai Courts, the one most people mean when they search for the Dubai court notary public.
- The Private Notary Public. A natural person registered on the roll kept by Dubai Courts, who exercises functions of the Government Notary Public that are assigned to them. In practice a private notary in Dubai is a lawyer licensed by Dubai Courts as a notary.
- A government entity employee registered on the roll, for notarial work inside that entity.
Technical supervision of notaries sits with the President of the Court or a judge he authorises.
The federal notary law, Federal Decree-Law No. 20 of 2022, governs notaries in the emirates that follow the federal system. Its Article 2 excludes "local judicial authorities whose notarial services are governed by local legislation". Dubai is one of them, so when a page quotes federal rules for a Dubai notary, read it with care. Fees are the clearest example, covered below.
Dubai Courts notary public services
Dubai Courts notary services cover several acts. The service most people use is the attestation of a power of attorney. Dubai Courts organises its POA service around the subject of the power, and asks for a matching supporting document for each: the trademark registration certificate for a trademark POA, the title deed for a property POA, the vehicle ownership certificate for a vehicle POA. Other subjects on its POA service include companies and institutions, inheritance, marriage, divorce and establishments.
Beyond POAs, the notary authenticates signatures on documents you have signed yourself, such as declarations and letters that another office needs to trust. Our signature approval guide covers that service in detail, and our page on registering a will at Dubai Courts covers wills.
Other Dubai court services, such as filing a case, paying court fees or checking a hearing, are handled by the courts themselves, outside the notary's work. For those, use the court's own channels listed on our Dubai Courts contact guide.
Your options
In person or by virtual attendance
Dubai Courts' own description of its POA service says it verifies the capacity and eligibility of the parties "by virtual or personal attendance". Its description of the process steps also includes a step where the court decides whether a transaction needs scrutiny with the parties present, virtually present, or not present at all.
What this means for you:
A
Personal attendance.
You go to a Dubai Courts service centre or a private notary office, show your ID and sign or confirm in front of the notary.
B
Virtual attendance.
The notary sees and hears you over a video session and confirms your identity and consent without you being in the room. Which documents qualify, and which app or link is used, is set by Dubai Courts at the time of your application.
The UAE Ministry of Justice also runs its own E-Notary System at enotary.moj.gov.ae for remote notarisation under the federal system. That is a separate system from Dubai Courts. Our online notarisation guide compares the two.
Where to attend in person
Dubai Courts' service page for POA attestation listed its service centres at Wafi Mall, the Traffic Department in Al Barsha, Al Barsha Mall, Hatta Centre and Al Yalayis, plus private notary offices as a separate channel. That list is from 2023, so check the current centres and their hours on the Dubai Courts website before you go.
When people ask for the Dubai Courts notary office, they usually mean one of these centres. Many of our readers go to the Wafi Mall centre. Our Wafi Mall notary public guide explains how to prepare for a visit there, or at any other centre.
Step by step
Step by step: a power of attorney at the Dubai Courts notary
This is the order for a POA, the most common case. A declaration or a signature authentication has fewer parts but the same shape.
Decide the subject and the powers.
A general POA written in general terms gives the agent acts of management only (Federal Decree-Law No. 25 of 2025, Article 871). Selling, settling, mortgaging, arbitrating and pleading before a court need a special POA that names the act (Article 870). Decide this first, because it shapes every later step.
Prepare the text in Arabic.
If your draft is in English, it needs an Arabic translation by a legal translator approved by the UAE Ministry of Justice. Dubai Courts' service conditions say uploaded documents must be translated this way.
Collect the supporting document.
The title deed, the vehicle ownership certificate, the trade licence or trademark certificate, depending on the subject.
Have the agent's details ready.
Dubai Courts asks for the attorneys' details by Emirates ID number, or an upload of their Emirates ID or passport.
Scan everything as PDF.
The service conditions ask for soft copies in PDF format.
Submit and pay.
The application goes in through Dubai Courts or a private notary, and the fee is paid per party.
Attend.
In person or virtually, the notary confirms identity, capacity and consent.
Receive the attested POA.
Keep the original safe and give the agent what they need to use it. Before anyone relies on it, it can be checked; see our guide to verifying a Dubai Courts document.
Checklist
What to bring or upload
What to bring or upload
- Principal's Emirates ID, or passport for a non-resident.
- Agent's Emirates ID number, or a copy of the Emirates ID or passport.
- The POA text in Arabic, or in English with the Arabic translation.
- The supporting document for the subject of the power, as a PDF.
- For a foreign document: attestation by the issuing country's foreign ministry, the UAE embassy there and MOFAIC.
MOFAIC attests only originals in Arabic or English, or originals with a legally certified translation, and will not attest a laminated document. If your foreign certificate is laminated, deal with that before anything else.
Dubai Courts notary public fees
Because Dubai has its own notary law, the fee depends on the route.
Dubai Courts POA attestation.
Dubai Courts pages give different figures for the POA fee, so we confirm the current amount when you book.
Dubai private notary.
A Dubai Courts decision sets AED 100 per party for registration plus AED 100 per signature, and AED 1,000 per trip when the notary works outside the office.
Federal schedule, for comparison.
Cabinet Resolution No. 19 of 2024 sets AED 100 per party for a general or special POA, AED 200 per party to authenticate signatures on an instrument of unspecified value, and AED 300 to execute and notarise an affidavit.
Our own service price for preparing a POA starts from AED 1,500, with the government fee paid on top at cost. All service prices are starting prices and are negotiable. Government fees are paid on top, at cost, exactly as the authority charges them. We confirm your final price before you pay. The full list is on our Dubai Courts notary fees page.
Watch for
What usually holds a session up
These all follow from the requirements above, and each one can cost you a second visit:
- The name on the POA does not match the passport or Emirates ID exactly, including the order of names.
- The English text is there but the Arabic is missing, or it was not done by a Ministry of Justice legal translator.
- The POA is general, but the agent needs to sell a property or settle a case, which needs a special POA naming that act.
- A foreign document was notarised abroad but never attested by the UAE embassy there, or not yet by MOFAIC.
- The supporting document for the subject is missing, such as the vehicle ownership certificate for a car POA.
Other emirates and the DIFC
The Dubai Courts notary covers Dubai. In Abu Dhabi, notarial work sits with the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department; our Abu Dhabi court notary guide covers that route. The emirates that follow the federal system use Ministry of Justice notaries. Inside the DIFC, the DIFC Courts Notary Service handles oaths, affidavits, declarations and true copies for DIFC matters, and it is not the route for an onshore Dubai POA.
How we help
How we help
We prepare the document so the notary has nothing to send back. For a POA that means we write the list of powers for the act you need, check the names against your ID, have the Arabic done by a registered legal translator, collect the supporting PDFs and book the session at a Dubai Courts centre, with a private notary or remotely. You attend, confirm and sign. Afterwards we tell you how to check the attested document and, if it is going abroad, what attestation it needs. Our power of attorney services page explains the POA side in more depth.
Questions
Questions about the Dubai Courts notary
Is the Dubai Courts notary public the same as a private notary?
No. The Dubai Courts notary public is the government notary. A private notary is a person registered on the Dubai Courts roll who carries out functions of the government notary assigned to them. Both are supervised through Dubai Courts.
Does federal notary law apply in Dubai?
Not to Dubai's own notaries. Federal Decree-Law No. 20 of 2022 excludes local judicial authorities with their own notary legislation, and Dubai has Law No. 4 of 2013. Federal fee figures are useful for comparison, but the Dubai route has its own fees.
Can I do a Dubai Courts notary appointment without going in?
It may be possible. Dubai Courts provides for virtual attendance on its POA service, and the Ministry of Justice runs the E-Notary System. Whether your document qualifies is decided when you apply.
What language must my document be in?
Arabic. Dubai Law No. 4 of 2013 allows a document in another language only with an Arabic translation by a certified translator, and both versions are signed by the parties.
Can the Dubai Courts notary attest a document issued in another country?
Only after it has been attested in that country and by the UAE embassy there, and then by MOFAIC in the UAE. The UAE is not a party to the Apostille Convention, so an apostille alone does not replace this chain.
Who do I call about a court case rather than a notary matter?
Dubai Courts itself. Our Dubai Courts contact guide lists the official channels and which one fits which question.
Dubai Courts guides
Guides in this hub
Dubai Courts guides
Wafi Mall notary public
Going to the public notary at Wafi Mall or another Dubai Courts centre? What each visit is for, what to bring, timings, and how to prepare your document.
Dubai Courts guides
Dubai Court contact number
How to reach Dubai Courts: the official contact number, toll free helpline, email, live chat and service centres, which to use and what to have ready.
Dubai Courts guides
Dubai Courts will registration
Dubai Courts will registration explained step by step: what to prepare, the Arabic text, attending the notary, and what we do before your appointment.
Contact
Your next step with Dubai Courts
If you have a POA, declaration or signature to take to the Dubai Courts notary, call or WhatsApp +971 52 947 5935 or email support@notarypublicindubai.com and tell us what it is for. We reply with the route, the list of documents and your price. Our office is in Business Bay, Dubai. Office hours are Monday to Friday, 9:00 am to 6:00 pm (Dubai time). More short answers are on our FAQ page.
NotaryPublicInDubai.com
Business Bay, Dubai, UAE
support@notarypublicindubai.com
Sources for this page
- Dubai Law No. 4 of 2013 concerning Notaries Public in the Emirate of Dubai: https://dlp.dubai.gov.ae/Legislation%20Reference/2013/Law%20No.%20(4)%20of%202013%20Concerning%20Notaries%20Public%20in%20the%20Emirate%20of%20Dubai.html
- Federal Decree-Law No. 20 of 2022 on the regulation of the notary profession, Articles 2 and 3: https://uaelegislation.gov.ae/en/legislations/1563
- Dubai Courts, Power of Attorneys Ratification service page (archived 16 March 2023): https://web.archive.org/web/20230316055912/https://www.dc.gov.ae/PublicServices/GessServiceDetails.aspx?lang=en&ServiceCode=G4
- Federal Decree-Law No. 25 of 2025, Civil Transactions Law, Articles 870 and 871: https://uaelegislation.gov.ae/en/legislations/4011
- Cabinet Resolution No. 19 of 2024 on notary fees: https://uaelegislation.gov.ae/en/legislations/2491
- Dubai private notary fees, Dubai Courts decision: https://mediaoffice.ae/en/news/2025/december/29-12/dubai-courts-is-preparing-to-implement-the-decision-regulating-the-fees-of-the-private-notary-public
- Ministry of Justice E-Notary System: https://www.moj.gov.ae/en/services/esystems/e-notary.aspx
- MOFAIC attestation: https://www.mofa.gov.ae/en/services/attestation
- DIFC Courts Notary Service: https://www.difccourts.ae/difc-courts/services/notary-service