Authorisation letter template
An authorisation letter lets the office or a client empower a named person to do one task with a given body, such as collecting a document, filing a request or following up a transaction, for a set period. Unlike a notarised power of attorney, it covers that task only, and acceptance depends on the body’s requirements.
In a law office the authorisation letter comes up in two forms: a letter the office issues on its letterhead to authorise its representative or one of its staff to submit an application, collect a document or follow up a transaction with a body that asks for proof of their capacity; and a letter the client signs to authorise a member of the office’s staff to collect papers concerning the client from another body. It is usually drafted by the secretary or the responsible lawyer and signed by a partner or whoever has signing authority for the office, then stamped and entered in the outgoing mail register under its number. Its strength lies in its precision: a clear task, a person identified by their ID card, limits on what it does not cover, and a date on which it ends.
When do you need this template?
- When the office’s representative collects a document or an official copy from a body that asks for proof that they represent the office.
- When a member of staff submits an application or follows up an administrative transaction for a client with a body that accepts written authorisation.
- When the office needs papers concerning the client that another body holds, and the client authorises a member of the office’s staff to collect them.
- When the employee who usually handles an ongoing transaction is away and a colleague takes it over for a set period.
What must it include?
- The letter’s number and date, on the letterhead of the office or of the authorising company.
- The name of the body the letter is addressed to.
- The authorising party’s details: name and capacity, and the commercial registration number if it is a company.
- The authorised person’s details: name, nationality, ID card number and job.
- The task, precisely: the action, the document or transaction and the body, and the case or transaction number if there is one.
- The limits of the authorisation: what it does not cover, such as receiving money or signing a waiver or an acknowledgement.
- How long it is valid and the date it ends.
- The authorising party’s signature and stamp, a specimen signature of the authorised person, and the enclosures.
Letter of Authorisation
To: [Name of the body addressed]
Dear Sir or Madam,
We, [Firm name], of Building [Building number], Street [Street number], Zone [Zone number], Doha – State of Qatar, hereby authorise Mr/Ms [Name of the authorised person], [Nationality], holder of QID No. [QID number], employed by us as [Job title], to do the following on our behalf:
- Submit [Application or documents] concerning [Client name, or transaction or case number].
- Follow up the application until a decision is issued on it, and collect the [Document or official copy] issued in respect of it.
- Pay the fees relating to the application and collect the receipt evidencing payment.
This authorisation is limited to the above. It does not extend to receiving any sums of money, or to signing on our behalf any acknowledgement, waiver or settlement, and it is valid from its date until [Expiry date of the authorisation] or the completion of the task, whichever is earlier.
Enclosed: a copy of the authorised person’s QID, and a copy of power of attorney No. [POA number] granted by the client [Client name].
Yours faithfully,
Alternative wording: Authorisation issued by the client to a member of the Firm’s staff
I, the undersigned [Client name], [Nationality], holder of QID No. [QID number], authorise Mr/Ms [Name of the authorised person] of [Firm name], holder of QID No. [QID number of the authorised person], to collect [Document required] from [Name of the body] on my behalf and deliver it to [Firm name], and to take no other action.
This authorisation is valid from its date until [Expiry date of the authorisation].
Delete any tasks and enclosures that do not apply. If the authorising party is a company, the letter is issued on its letterhead, signed by whoever has signing authority for it and stamped with its seal.
How to fill in the template
Write the task in one sentence
State the action, the object and the body: collecting an official copy of a specific document from a specific body. If the transaction needs more than one step, list the steps in order as separate items, without open-ended phrases such as “and whatever else is necessary”.
Identify the authorised person from their ID card
Copy the name, nationality and ID card number from the card itself, and state their job at the office: the body’s official will match the letter against the card before handing anything over.
State the capacity in which you authorise
If the transaction is for a client, give the client’s name and the number of the power of attorney under which the office acts, and enclose a copy. If it concerns the office’s own affairs, the letter is issued on the office’s letterhead and signed by whoever has signing authority for it.
Set the limits and the period
Write explicitly what the authorisation does not cover, above all receiving money and signing acknowledgements or waivers, and set an early expiry date that suits the transaction instead of an open-ended authorisation.
Sign, stamp and register
A partner or whoever has signing authority for the office signs and stamps the letter, the authorised person signs in the specimen signature box, and the letter is entered in the outgoing mail register under its number, with a copy kept in the client’s or the transaction’s file.
Check the body’s requirements before sending
Some bodies accept a signed and stamped letter; others ask for their own form or a notarised power of attorney. Ask the body or check its published requirements before the representative goes, so they do not come back empty-handed.
Common mistakes
- A general authorisation “for all transactions with all bodies”, which goes beyond its purpose and is hard for any body to accept.
- A letter with no expiry date, which stays valid in the hands of an employee who may have left the office.
- Using an authorisation letter where the body requires a notarised power of attorney, so the representative’s day is wasted.
- The letter signed by someone without signing authority for the office or for the client company.
- Not telling the body the authorisation has been revoked when the authorised person leaves the office or the transaction ends early.
Issue this document from your office’s data
The authorisation letter is not one of Murafe’s printouts, so it is written with this template on the office’s letterhead, but the data it is built on is in the system: the client’s file holds their ID card number, its expiry date and their nationality, or the commercial registration and the person in charge for a company, and the “Powers of attorney” page holds the POA’s number, type, expiry date and attorneys. When the representative submits a request to a body, it is recorded under “Requests” with its subject, the body it was submitted to, its number, its submission date and the person following it up, and later updated with its decision, even if it is not linked to a case. Delegating a colleague to attend a hearing has its own delegation letter in Murafe, filled in from the case file and printed on the office’s form. When an employee leaves, the system administrator suspends their account while keeping their records and work, which is the right moment to revoke any authorisation issued in their name.