Dubai Land Department Power of Attorney

The six DLD services that name a power of attorney

Dubai Land Department publishes the documents each of its services requires, which means this is checkable rather than a matter of anyone's experience. Six of those lists name a power of attorney, and they span buying, changing, gifting, financing, letting and managing - which is most of what an owner ever does:

• Title transfer - requires the UAE ID of the owner "or an official power of attorney from the owner in case it is not present in person". Non-resident owners are separately listed as needing "Copies of valid passports for owners (non-residents)". Delivered at the Land Department main headquarters; stated completion time 25 minutes.
• Title deed modification - requires a "Copy of the Emirates ID of the owner, or a legal Power of Attorney if the owner is not attending in person", plus valid passport copies for non-resident owners and, where the area is being modified, an official letter or a new map from the municipality. Main branch or a Real Estate Services Trustees centre; 25 minutes.
• Property gift registration - states plainly that "A Legal Power of Attorney is required if someone is acting on behalf of the parties". Delivered at Real Estate Registration Trustees centres; 25 minutes.
• Mortgage transfer - lists "A legal power of attorney in case a representative for them", alongside a no-objection letter from the previous bank, a letter from the new bank, three certified mortgage contracts and a developer E.NOC. Online mortgage system or a trustees centre; 15-20 minutes.
• Tenancy contract registration (Ejari) - at a trustees centre, requires "Presentation of the official Power of Attorney if the applicant is a rep".
• Property management contract registration - the applicant must "be the owner of the property or their representative as per an official power of attorney or a signed management contract". Free service; 10 minutes.

Source: Dubai Land Department, e-services: title transfer, title deed modification, property gift registration

What DLD charges, separately from us

These are the authority's own published fees. They are paid to the authority, or to the trustee centre delivering the service, and they are not part of our professional fee.

• Title transfer - AED 250 per title deed; AED 250 apartment map; AED 250 villa map; AED 225 unified map with Dubai Municipality; AED 100 land plot map outside Dubai Municipality jurisdiction; AED 10 knowledge fee and AED 10 innovation fee per drawing.
• Title deed modification - AED 250 title deed certificate issuance, AED 10 knowledge fee, AED 10 innovation fee.
• Property gift registration - "0.125% of the property valuation with a minimum fee of AED 2,000", AED 10 to AED 250 for certificates and maps, and service partner fees of AED 4,000 + VAT for properties valued at AED 2 million or above, or AED 2,000 + VAT below that.
• Cancelling a power of attorney - published by DLD as a "Free service", stated at 20 minutes, at the main headquarters, needing an electronic copy of the UAE ID of the client and the attorney, or a valid passport for non-resident foreigners.
• Mortgage transfer - 0.25% of the mortgage value for an ordinary mortgage, AED 250 title deed issuance, AED 10 knowledge and AED 10 innovation per drawing, plus service partner fees of AED 4,000 + VAT (or AED 5,000 + VAT for provisional service partners).
• Tenancy contract registration (Ejari) - AED 177.75 in total through the Dubai REST app or website (AED 100 registration, AED 10 knowledge, AED 10 innovation, AED 55 + VAT service partner), or AED 220 at a Real Estate Services Trustee centre (AED 95 + VAT service partners' fees).

Source: Dubai Land Department, published service fees

What a gift transfer additionally needs

Worth knowing before you assume a gift is the simpler route, because it is the one DLD asks the most of. Alongside the power of attorney where a representative is acting, gift registration requires proof of the relationship between the parties - a marriage certificate or a birth certificate - "translated and attested by UAE embassy and Ministry of Foreign Affairs". UAE citizens are listed as providing a marriage contract or the Family Book, and unregistered corporate parties a company registration.

Two of those requirements have long lead times: an embassy attestation and a certified translation are not same-day errands in most countries. If a gift transfer is your transaction, start with those rather than with the power of attorney.

Source: Dubai Land Department, property gift registration

Where your power of attorney was notarised can matter

Most of this site's advice is that a power of attorney is judged by what it says. Ejari is the exception we have found, and it is worth knowing about: for a tenancy contract registration, DLD distinguishes between a power of attorney issued in Dubai and one issued in another emirate. A Dubai-issued document can be entered by its number without the document itself being attached; one issued in another emirate has to be attached.

It is a small procedural difference rather than a question of validity, and DLD publishes it rather than leaving it to the counter. It is also the clearest published reason not to assume UAE powers of attorney are simply interchangeable between emirates.

Source: Dubai Land Department, Register / Renew Tenancy Contract (Ejari)

What this page is not about

This page is about one authority's published requirements. Deciding which powers your representative should hold - whether they may sell as well as manage, whether a mortgage power belongs in there at all - is a different question, and the Property Power of Attorney page is written for it.

The distinction matters because the two pages fail in different directions. A document that satisfies DLD's document list can still be far wider than you intended; a carefully scoped document can still arrive at a counter that wanted something else named in it.