Notary Public in Dubai: Costs, Locations and What to Bring

Most people who search for a notary in Dubai need one of three things: a power of attorney witnessed before someone can sell a car or a flat on their behalf, a memorandum of association stamped so a new company can open a bank account, or a declaration that needs an official signature to satisfy a bank, school or embassy. Knowing which door to walk through saves an entire afternoon.

Dubai Courts notary versus a private notary office

Until 2019, the only notary in Dubai was the Notary Public section inside Dubai Courts, mainly at the Bur Dubai complex near Al Karama, with a second counter at Dubai Courts' Investment Park branch. That government counter still exists and remains the cheapest option, but queues run long, especially on Sunday and Monday mornings and in the weeks before the summer school break when families notarise custody and travel documents before flying out.

Since the Ministry of Justice opened notarisation to licensed private firms, dozens of private notary offices have appeared in Business Bay, Al Barsha, Deira and near DIFC. These are staffed by lawyers authorised by the Ministry, and they can usually see you the same day, sometimes within the hour, for a service fee on top of the standard government charge. If you need a POA notarised before catching a flight tomorrow, a private notary is almost always worth the extra AED 150–300. If you have a free morning and want the lowest cost, the Dubai Courts counter does exactly the same legal job.

What a standard power of attorney actually costs

A general or special power of attorney between individuals — the kind used to let a relative sell your car, collect a document, or manage a property while you're abroad — typically costs AED 100 to 300 in government fees, plus a knowledge and innovation fee of around AED 20. Add a certified Arabic translation if your POA is drafted only in English, since Dubai Courts notaries work from Arabic and will reject a purely English document. Translation offices clustered around the Karama courts complex charge roughly AED 50 to 100 per page and can usually turn a standard POA around within an hour.

Private notary offices charge the same government fee but layer their own service charge on top, commonly AED 200 to 500 depending on urgency and whether they draft the wording for you rather than just witnessing a document you've already prepared. If a PRO or typing centre offers to "handle everything" for AED 600–900 all-in, that's the government fee, translation and their handling fee bundled together — reasonable for the convenience, worth querying if it's much higher.

Company documents cost more, and the reason is the capital, not the paperwork

Notarising a memorandum of association for a new mainland LLC, or amendments to an existing one, isn't priced like a personal POA. Fees are calculated as a percentage of the company's declared share capital, so a company formed with AED 300,000 in capital will pay a different notary fee than one formed with AED 3 million, even though the document itself might be four pages either way. In practice, expect anywhere from AED 500 for a modest-capital SME up to several thousand dirhams for larger structures. This is one of the reasons company setup agents ask for your intended share capital figure early — it directly changes what you'll pay at the notary stage, not just what you declare to the Department of Economy and Tourism.

Free zone companies are a different animal entirely. DMCC, DIFC, JAFZA and similar free zones handle their own incorporation documentation internally and rarely require a Dubai Courts notary visit at all — the free zone authority notarises or attests what it needs in-house. If you're setting up in a free zone and someone quotes you a Dubai Courts notary fee for your MOA, ask why; it may not be necessary.

The documents that get people turned away

The single most common reason people leave the notary counter empty-handed is a mismatch between the Emirates ID and the document. Both parties to a POA generally need to be physically present with original Emirates IDs and passports, or the absent party needs their own POA authorising someone to sign on their behalf — which obviously has to have been arranged in advance. If a company is involved, bring the original trade licence, a recent MOA, and, if someone other than the listed manager is signing, a board resolution naming them.

A second common trip-up is expired documents. An Emirates ID that lapsed last month, or a trade licence pending renewal, will stop a notarisation dead regardless of how straightforward the underlying transaction is. Check expiry dates the night before, not in the queue.

Notarisation is not the same as attestation

This confuses more people than anything else. A notary in Dubai confirms that a signature was made willingly, in person, by an identified individual, and that the document's content is legally sound under UAE procedure. It does not make that document automatically valid for use in another country. If you need a Dubai-notarised POA or company document recognised abroad, it typically needs further attestation by the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and sometimes by the destination country's embassy in the UAE on top of that. Skipping this step is why POAs sent abroad get rejected by foreign land registries and banks even though they were perfectly correctly notarised here.

Remote and video notarisation

Dubai Courts now offers video-call notarisation through its smart services for certain straightforward matters, useful if one party genuinely cannot attend in person due to illness, travel restrictions, or being based in another emirate. It requires both parties to have UAE Emirates IDs and registered mobile numbers, and it's booked the same way as an in-person slot, through the Dubai Courts app or website. It doesn't cover every document type, so confirm eligibility before assuming you can skip the trip.

Wills sit in a completely separate system

If your search for "notary public dubai" was really about writing a will, note that the standard notary process doesn't register wills in a way that's enforceable for non-Muslim expatriates under UAE inheritance rules. That's handled by the DIFC Wills Service Centre, a distinct registry aimed specifically at non-Muslims with assets or minor children in the UAE. Registration there costs considerably more than a standard notarisation — figure on several thousand dirhams depending on the complexity of the will — but it buys certainty that Dubai courts will apply your stated wishes rather than default Sharia-based distribution rules.

Timing your visit

Demand at Dubai Courts spikes in January and September, when new company formations peak, and again in June and July, when families notarise travel consents and POAs before the summer exodus. If your matter isn't urgent, aim for a Tuesday or Wednesday in April, August or November — appointment slots free up considerably and private notaries, who charge the same regardless of season, become unnecessary.