You can have a document notarised in Dubai without going anywhere. The official E-Notary service performs the act by secure video call, with your identity verified through UAE PASS, and the result is registered by Dubai Courts exactly like a document signed across a desk.
That last point is the one worth being clear about, because “online notary” means very different things in different countries. This is not a scanned signature or an emailed certificate. It is a notarial act.
What actually happens
The mechanics are straightforward once the preparation is done.
The document is drafted and translated first, in Arabic and English, and agreed with you before anything is booked. At the appointment you join a secure video call. Your identity is verified through UAE PASS, which is the UAE’s national digital identity. The notary reads the document with you, confirms you understand what you are signing, and the act is performed and registered.
Dubai Courts then issues the notarised document electronically with its verification barcode, and it reaches you by secure link. Anyone who receives it can check that barcode against the Dubai Courts system, which is the same check they would run on a document signed in person.
What you need
- A verified UAE PASS account. Not just the app installed, but a verified account. If yours is unverified, sort that out before booking, because it cannot be fixed during the call
- Your Emirates ID
- A device with a working camera and microphone
- A connection stable enough to hold a video call
- A quiet place where you can read a document and be seen clearly
None of that is unusual, but the UAE PASS verification catches people out. It is the single most common reason a remote appointment has to be rebooked.
Who it actually suits
People outside Dubai. Clients in Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and the northern emirates use it routinely rather than making the drive.
People who cannot take time off. An appointment that takes twenty minutes on a video call does not require a morning off work and a car park.
Matters where signatories are in different places. Depending on the instrument, this can be the difference between a document being possible and not.
People who would otherwise put it off. A surprising share of notarial problems are caused by delay rather than difficulty. Removing the trip removes the excuse.
Who it does not suit
This is where most published writing on the subject goes quiet, so it is worth saying plainly: not every act can be performed remotely.
Some instruments require attendance. Some require parties to be before the notary together. Some matters involve documents that have to be physically presented, and a certified true copy is the clearest example, because certifying a copy means the notary compared it against an original that was actually in the room. A scan cannot be certified, remotely or otherwise.
If someone tells you every document can be notarised online, they are either describing a different country’s system or they are not describing a notarial act.
The honest answer is that the route depends on the document. Send it, or describe it, and you should get a straight yes or no before you arrange anything around it.
What it costs
Remote notarisation does not have its own fee. The act is charged like any other notarial act, on the same prescribed schedule.
That means electronic registration at AED 100 per party, and whatever the act itself attracts: AED 100 per party for a general or special power of attorney, AED 300 for executing and notarising an affidavit, AED 50 per page for a translation included in the instrument. Documents that state a sum of money are charged as a percentage of that value instead.
What you save is the AED 1,000 attendance fee that applies when a notary travels to you, and the time. The full schedule with its sources is on the fees page.
Our own professional fee for drafting, translation and the appointment is quoted separately and in writing before work starts, as it is for any other route.
How it compares to the alternatives
| In the office | We attend | Remote | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Government attendance fee | None | AED 1,000 | None |
| Your travel | Yes | None | None |
| Identity verified by | In person | In person | UAE PASS |
| Suits every act | Yes | Yes | No |
| Same legal effect | Yes | Yes | Yes |
The choice is usually made by the document rather than by preference. Where more than one route is possible, the cheapest is generally remote and the most convenient for a group signing is generally attendance.
Preparing so the appointment takes twenty minutes
Verify UAE PASS before you book. Open the app, confirm the account is verified, and fix it now rather than at the appointment.
Read the draft in advance. You will be asked whether you understand the document. Reading it for the first time on the call is possible but it makes the call longer than it needs to be.
Check the Arabic matters to you. The Arabic text is part of the instrument. If you read Arabic, read it. If you do not, ask the notary to explain what it says rather than assuming it mirrors the English.
Have your Emirates ID in your hand. Not in a drawer in the next room.
Confirm the fee in writing first. Government fee and professional fee, separately. This applies to every route and remote is no exception.
A note on security
Identity verification through UAE PASS is the point of the system, and it is stricter than what most people expect from an online process, not looser. There is no route around it. Any service that offers to notarise a UAE document without verifying identity in person or through UAE PASS is not performing a notarial act, whatever it calls itself.
The same applies to documents you send in advance. Email is not a private channel. If a document is sensitive, ask about a secure route rather than attaching it and hoping.
Asking whether yours can be done this way
The question takes one message to answer and there is no charge for it. Describe the document, or send it, and say where you are. You will get a straight answer about whether the remote route works for your matter, and if it does not, what the alternative costs.
You can also read what we notarise, the full fee schedule, or the questions people ask most often.
