How do I give a power of attorney for property in Lebanon from abroad?

Also asked as: “Power of attorney for Lebanon from abroad” · “Lebanese consulate power of attorney” · “Does Lebanon accept an apostille?” · “Wakala for property in Lebanon”

How a POA is used in a Lebanese sale#

A purchase runs from a recent Land Registry extract to a deed signed before a notary (kateb adel), then inscription at the Land Registry. Ownership passes only on inscription^[10]. The POA does not transfer the property by itself: Kallas Law Firm explains that the act that counts is the authentic deed signed before the notary for inscription.

The type of POA you sign matters. Missions issue special and general POAs at different fees^[1,2,6]. If the POA is meant to sell, Kallas says a general POA is not enough and an express special mandate to sell^[9] is required. For a purchase, the sources we read do not say which type is needed. Before you sign, ask the notary in Lebanon who will draft the deed to confirm the wording. More on general and special powers of attorney.

Kallas also says that when an agent applies to register a right at the Land Registry, the POA must be no more than 5 years old^[8,9]. It cites the Court of Cassation as letting the registrar raise this on his own for an ordinary POA.

One step is not settled. Kallas says documents executed abroad, a POA included, generally pass through the Lebanese mission and then the Ministry of Foreign Affairs before they can be used in Lebanon. The US, UAE and Belgian mission pages stop at consular legalisation and mention no further step in Beirut^[11,12]. Ask the notary or the Land Registry office that will use your POA whether it needs the ministry's stamp. See whether the foreign ministry in Beirut must also authenticate it.

Signing at a Lebanese embassy or consulate#

If you can reach a mission, you sign there in person^[1,2,3,4]. Booking works differently at each one. In Washington you email the type of POA you want and your documents, and once the embassy has everything it prepares the POA and gives you an appointment, first come, first served^[1]. The embassy in The Hague works by appointment^[3], and Sydney wants you there in person with every document on paper^[13].

Bring identity papers. In Sydney that means a Lebanese ID with photo or an individual civil-registry extract (ikhraj qayd), or a family extract with a valid Australian passport or driver's licence whose names and date of birth match it. You also bring a printed front-and-back copy of the Lebanese ID of the person you are appointing^[13].

Older applicants need a medical certificate, and each mission sets its own age: from 70 (Washington, Dubai) or 80 (Netherlands)^[1,3,7]. Detroit's page gives 70, 73 or 65 depending on the section^[6], so if you are 65 or over, ask the consulate which age applies to you. Sydney asks anyone over 70 for an original doctor's letter, signed and sealed, confirming sound mind and no more than 7 days old on the day of the visit^[13].

Not every mission serves everyone. The consulate in Dubai issues POAs for Lebanese nationals and Palestinians with Lebanese travel documents, and other nationals go through a UAE notary instead^[7].

The mission pages we read in October 2026 are undated. They list USD 50 special, USD 100 general^[1,2,6] per signature at US missions, EUR 44 special, EUR 88 general^[3] in the Netherlands and AED 184 special, AED 368 general^[7] in Dubai. US missions accept only a money order or a cashier's cheque. Sydney lists $145 general, $72.50 special (cash)^[13] but does not name the currency, so confirm the amount and currency with the consulate.

Signing before a local notary#

You sign before a notary where you live, have the signature authenticated by the local authorities, then have it legalised by the Lebanese embassy or consulate^[1,2,3,4]. The chain depends on the country:

• In the United States: notary, county clerk where required, Secretary of State, then the Lebanese mission^[1,2], with the State Department added for a POA mailed to the Washington embassy.
• In the United Arab Emirates, for foreign nationals: a UAE notary, the UAE foreign ministry, then the Lebanese consulate^[7].
• In France: our sources do not give the French steps; what is known is in a power of attorney from France.
• In Belgium and Luxembourg: local notary, then Belgian/Luxembourg MFA, then embassy by registered mail^[4]. The embassy in Brussels gives 10 working days for mail transactions. You pay postage both ways, and the embassy is not responsible for lost mail.

In the US, New York and Detroit require two witnesses who are not relatives^[2,6] for a property POA signed before a local notary. New York legalises these without an appointment, Monday to Friday from 9:00 to 15:00. It asks for a passport, a Lebanese ID card or a civil-registry extract issued within the last 10 years, with a copy^[2]. Washington also asks applicants over 70 who mail a notarised POA for a certificate of good mental health from their physician^[1].

For the United Kingdom, we found only GOV.UK's general guidance for countries outside the Apostille Convention, which does not name Lebanon^[14]. Under that guidance, the UK Legalisation Office checks the signature, stamp or seal and attaches an apostille, and the country's embassy in London then stamps the document^[14,15]. A certified copy for legalisation must be made by a UK-based notary^[15], and the guidance adds that the country's own foreign ministry then approves the document. We did not read the Lebanese embassy in London's own page, so confirm its steps with the embassy before you start.

An apostille does not finish the chain, because Lebanon is not a member of the Apostille Convention^[5]. The UK, Australia, Canada, Brazil and Mexico issue apostilles for their own documents, but for Lebanon the document still has to go to the Lebanese mission (see giving a power of attorney from Mexico or Latin America).

Naming the property and checking its extract#

Lebanese papers identify a property by its governorate, district, real estate zone, property number, section and block^[16,17], the last two where they apply. You give the same details to request an extract. Copy them from the deed or extract into the POA exactly as written there.

The official extract (ifadeh aqariyeh) comes from the land registry office for the property's area^[17,18]. Legalmondo says it is issued only in person^{[16,17,19,20]}, so from abroad you need a lawyer or someone else in Lebanon to collect it. OMT outlets in Lebanon, working with the General Directorate of Land Registry and Cadastre, can show the title register and give an unofficial copy, also sent by SMS or, on request, by email^[16,19]. That copy is fine for checking, but any real estate transaction needs the official extract from the registry. OMT's pages show no fee, so ask at the outlet. More on how to get a Land Registry extract.