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MyNotary Features: CountryFocus
UAE and Qatar
Doing Business in the UAE or Qatar?
The most common document the notary deals with, particularly in relation to business in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Qatar, is a Power of Attorney (PoA). A PoA is needed in order to get a legal document signed abroad in your name, but in your absence. For this to take effect you will need to appoint someone to act on your behalf; that person is called an “attorney”. This does not mean that the person you appoint must be a lawyer- it could be a trusted friend or a relative. The process of validating a power of attorney differs from one country to the next – MyNotary notaries deal with all countries – however documents for the UAE are amongst the most complex.
Notarising Documents for United Arab Emirates and Qatar. For a Power of attorney to be legally acceptable within the U.A.E you will need to sign the document in front of a Notary Public. The notary has the PoA “legalised” at HM Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) – that is to say the FCO will further stamp the document with an endorsement called an “Apostille”; this verifies that the notary’s signature is genuine. The Power of Attorney will then need to be stamped at the U.A.E. Embassy before it can be sent to off your agents.
Fees vary according to what needs to be done; FCO fees are charged per document: as (at May 2010 the standard fee is £28.80 per notarial signature). As for U.A.E embassy fees, they vary from £30.00 to £410.00 depending upon the urgency and whether your documents are personal or for a Company.
The notary may be able to offer an express service you will need to enquire. Upon request your local MyNotary will provide a full break down of costs and will tell you how long it will all take.
As the MyNotary Network’s head office is close by the London desk of the FCO and very near the UAE Embassy, some notaries choose to ‘DX’ the documents to the MyNotary London office to be legalised and verified at the UAE consulate.
Going to work the UAE or Gulf region?
A big attraction of going to work in the Gulf is that there is no income tax and, until 2009, it was seen as an exciting and invigorating place for upwardly-mobile Brits with professional skills. When you are offered a job, the company that employs you probably will process the formalities required for getting you the work permit and this involves initially getting you a residence permit. Before a visa can be granted, you will need all your academic certificates certified by a notary. Note that to make certified copies of birth certificates (any type of certificates with a crown) the notary will need to see the originals.
The UAE authorities are extremely particular about the documents necessary and, in the absence of even one; this can have this can result in your application being refused. Hence, you should be extremely careful that you have all the documents describe below with you:
1. Passport, which should have at least six months validity.
2. If you are accompanied by your spouse and children each one of them should have a separate passport.
3. There should not be any Israel visa entry on the passport.
4. Marriage certificate if your spouse is accompanying you.
5. If you are a female employee and will have your children staying with you, you will need a letter of consent from the father of the children which is certified, notarised and attested.
6. Notarised copies of your academic certificates.
Please contact your local MyNotary if you need any further information on any Gulf country.
To read what MyNotary’s Qatar-based correspondent, Maria Brown, has to say about the job market in the Gulf area download MyNotaryNEWS Industry Watch: Recruitment. Maria is a professional-services recruitment expert with Reed Specialist Recruitment.
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