3 Key Steps to Making a Vehicle Power of Attorney in UAE

A vehicle power of attorney is typically required by expat individuals who are leaving the UAE for good and are unable to sell their vehicles before their departure. It is used for grant of powers to enable the sale and transfer of vehicles such as cars, motor bikes, boats and jet skis to the buyer.

If you are someone who needs to grant a vehicle power of attorney to another person before you leave the UAE, here are three (3) key steps to help you with making a vehicle power of attorney in the UAE.

Step 1: Find Someone to Act as Attorney

The first step in making this power of attorney in UAE is for you to find as to who can reliably act on your behalf in your POA. You should consider one (1) of the following three (3) types of individuals for this important task:

Friend or Family Member

We have seen that, in practice, individuals who are not in a position to find a buyer for their vehicles usually appoint either a friend or a family member who agrees to take over the vehicle and sign all necessary transfer documents at the Traffic Department in the relevant Emirate once a buyer is found by the owner. The attorney in this case would carry out the transfer of ownership, handover the vehicle, collect and transfer the payment to you. The means for collection of payment are typically manager’s cheque or cash.

Law Firm

You can also appoint a law firm (such as Legal Inz) to act on your behalf and carry out the duties of transfer of ownership to the buyer, handover of vehicle, collection and transfer of payment to you. This means that the entire process is carried out professionally by a lawyer who would be responsible for the entire transaction of sale. This eliminates risks that may otherwise be associated with appointing a friend, family member or the buyer himself as the attorney.

Buyer

If you have managed to find a buyer for your vehicle who is willing to make payment of the purchase price to you upon the grant of the POA, you can grant the Vehicle POA to the buyer directly upon the receipt of the payment for the sale of your vehicle. This type of arrangement is carried out in good faith assuming that you will not cancel the POA after granting it and the buyer will, for all practical purposes, act as the owner of the POA until the ownership is transferred at the relevant Traffic Department.

A vehicle POA directly in favour of the buyer may be granted in situations where you are unable to carry out the transfer due to time constraints, practical difficulties before your departure or request by the buyer to allow the insurance to remain valid until its actual expiry date.

Related: 4 things you need to know about powers of attorney in the UAE

Step 2: Have your Vehicle POA Drafted and Translated into Arabic

Once you have found your attorney who is ready to act on your behalf in the POA, you need to prepare the draft of your POA through a professional law firm. Given that you need to ensure that this document protects the position of all parties involved and is actually accepted by the relevant Government Departments in the UAE, you should ensure that you hire a professional lawyer to prepare this document.

It is important to note that, should you be required to re-sign a POA that is rejected by the relevant Government Departments, the cost for having the POA notarized and legalized in your country is likely to be much higher than the cost of preparation and notarization that you would have otherwise paid in the UAE. Therefore, drafting a correctly worded document that is compliant with the UAE laws and reflects the requirements of the Government Departments is critical in your situation.

Unless you are an Arabic speaker, you should request for the draft to be prepared in English and Arabic languages (in bilingual format). The Arabic translation must be carried out and stamped by a legal translator duly licensed by the UAE Ministry of Justice.

Step 3: Sign and Notarize Your Vehicle POA

The last step in making a vehicle POA in the UAE is to sign and notarize it before a Notary Public in the relevant Emirate. The process is quite similar in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain, Fujairah and Ras Al Khaimah.

You should obtain three (3) printed originals of the POA for the notarization in the UAE and personally visit the Notary Public to complete the process. The process of signing and notarization at the Notary Public typically involves taking a token, waiting for your turn, signing, notarization and making payment of the applicable government fee. This process can usually be completed in about 15-30 minutes.

During Covid-19, the Notary Public in various Emirates have adopted a process of notarization of powers of attorney through video conferencing. Depending upon the Emirate, the process involves signing and sending one (1) signed original of the document to the Notary Public through online portal or email. The Notary Public will then make an appointment and carry out a video call with you to complete the notarization. The process differs slightly in the Emirates that provide this service.

Related: Process of signing a power of attorney in the UAE

If you are unable to sign and notarize the POA before leaving the UAE, you can still carry out the signing and notarization in any country. However, the process would also include additional steps involved in the legalization of the document up to the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The cost of this process is likely to be much higher and will depend upon the country where you will be signing and notarizing the POA. To avoid this, you should ensure that you sign and notarize the document before you leave the UAE.

Related: Process of signing power of attorney outside the UAE

Legal Inz can assist you not only by preparing your vehicle POA but also by acting as your attorney to complete the entire process of transfer of ownership to the buyer and transfer of purchase price to you.