The Dubai Golden Visa for property buyers is a 10-year renewable residence permit. You get it by owning real estate in Dubai with a purchase value of at least AED 2 million, about USD 545,000 at the dirham's fixed peg of 3.6725 to the dollar set by the Central Bank of the UAE. You don't need an employer or a local sponsor, your spouse, children and parents can be added to it, and it stays valid however long you spend abroad. The Dubai Land Department (DLD) handles the property check. Its service page, checked in September 2026, puts the government fees for the main applicant at AED 9,884.75 and processing at 7 to 10 business days.
Who is eligible for a Dubai Golden Visa through property
Property is one of several ways in. The UAE government portal also lists skilled professionals earning at least AED 30,000 a month, entrepreneurs, people with exceptional talents and outstanding students (u.ae, checked September 2026). The property route is the one open to a buyer whatever their job or income, and it's the one this page covers.
Any foreign national who owns qualifying Dubai property can apply. The rules don't depend on your passport, so a British, Indian, Russian or German buyer faces the same AED 2 million test. Nationality matters in one practical way. DLD requires the applicant to be inside the UAE when the application is filed, and nobody can apply on your behalf. UK citizens are on GDRFA's visa-on-arrival list (checked September 2026), so they can simply fly in. Under GDRFA's rules, Indian passport holders get a visa on arrival only in specific cases, such as holding a US visa or a UK or EU residence permit; otherwise they need an entry visa arranged in advance. For that case the federal immigration authority (ICP) issues an entry permit for real estate investors, and its service card lists AED 300 in fees (checked September 2026).
The property has to be in your name. DLD's wording is that it must be "wholly owned by the investor", in one or several properties, with a total purchase value of AED 2 million or more.
Dubai Golden Visa requirements for the property
The threshold is measured by the purchase value at the time you bought, as recorded with DLD, not by today's market price. A flat bought for AED 2.1 million in 2023 still qualifies if the market has since dipped. A flat bought for AED 1.8 million that is now worth 2.3 million does not, and a deal agreed at AED 1.98 million leaves you short with no way to fix it afterwards.
Several properties can be combined
Two apartments at AED 1.2 million and AED 800,000 count the same as one villa at AED 2 million. Both deeds must be in the applicant's name. You don't have to live in any of them. Letting them out is fine, and the visa doesn't care where you actually sleep.
Off-plan units
Federal rules allow one or more off-plan units with a total value of at least AED 2 million, provided you buy from a developer approved by the local authority (UAE Ministry of Economy and Tourism, Golden Visa conditions for real estate investors, checked September 2026). In Dubai the purchase is registered in Oqood, the DLD register for off-plan sales. DLD's investor service page doesn't spell out how much of the price must already be paid on an off-plan unit, and brokers give different answers. Ask DLD or the developer for the current position before you sign, not after.
Mortgaged property
A mortgage is allowed, but under the federal conditions published by the Ministry of Economy and Tourism the loan has to come from a local bank recognised by the local authority. DLD's service page, as checked in September 2026, asks for two letters from the bank: a no-objection letter saying the bank doesn't object to a residence permit on the property, and a letter showing that AED 2 million has been paid. In plain terms, your paid-in amount has to reach AED 2 million. A AED 3.5 million villa with AED 1.4 million down doesn't qualify yet.
Since early 2026 several Dubai agencies have been writing that a mortgaged property now qualifies on its full value, whatever you have paid. We could not find that change on DLD's or ICP's own pages. Until it appears there, treat the paid-amount letter as the rule and confirm with DLD before you plan a purchase around a smaller deposit.
Joint ownership
DLD's condition is that the qualifying property is wholly owned by the applicant. DLD's page doesn't address co-ownership at all. Read literally, "wholly owned" means a shared deed may not qualify unless your own share reaches AED 2 million, and nothing on the page allows spouses to pool one jointly held unit. So the safer route for a couple is for one partner to hold the qualifying property and sponsor the other. Decide this before the sale agreement is drafted: changing the names on the deed later is a new registration, with fees.
How much the Dubai Golden Visa costs
There are two separate bills: buying the property, and the visa itself.
On the purchase, DLD charges a registration fee of 4% of the price, which the sale agreement splits between buyer and seller, plus smaller charges such as AED 250 for the title deed certificate (DLD, Property Sale Registration, checked September 2026). On a AED 2 million flat the 4% comes to AED 80,000. Agent commission and, for a mortgage, bank and registration fees come on top.
For the visa, DLD lists these fees for the main applicant's 10-year permit:
| Item | AED |
|---|---|
| Medical fitness test | 700 |
| Emirates ID | 1,153 |
| Residency confirmation | 2,856.75 |
| DLD fees | 4,020 |
| Administrative fees | 1,155 |
| Total | 9,884.75 |
Source: DLD, Golden Visa application for investors, checked September 2026. Each sponsored family member is priced separately. DLD lists AED 5,774.50 per spouse, child or parent, a one-off file-opening charge of AED 318.75 for the family, and every dependent needs UAE health insurance. A couple with two children should budget roughly AED 28,000 to 30,000 in government fees, before insurance. If you need an entry permit to get into the country first, add ICP's AED 300.
How to apply
Property Golden Visas in Dubai go through DLD, which confirms the ownership and value, and then through Dubai's residency authority (GDRFA), which issues the permit. DLD lists Al Manara Center, the Dubai World Trade Centre and its Golden Cube as service points, plus three registered typing agents.
- Check the file: title deed or Oqood registration in your name, total purchase value of AED 2 million or more, bank letters if the property is mortgaged.
- Go to a service point in person, submit the documents and pay the fees.
- Do the medical test, which can be done at the centre.
- Give fingerprints for the Emirates ID if required.
- Receive the residence permit by email and the Emirates ID card afterwards.
Documents for the main applicant are short: passport, title deed or e-title certificate, a personal photo, and your Emirates ID and current residence permit if you already have them. ICP's checklist adds a passport valid for at least six months and health insurance valid in the UAE. DLD asks family members for a marriage certificate, birth certificates, health insurance and, for adult children, an undertaking that sons and daughters over 18 are unmarried. Certificates issued abroad usually have to be attested for use in the UAE, and that step often takes longer than the visa itself.
DLD quotes 7 to 10 business days from submission. Real timelines stretch when the mortgage letter or attested certificates are late, so start those first.
Dubai Golden Visa benefits, and the limits
What you get is residence. For 10 years you can live in the UAE, open bank accounts, get a driving licence, rent, enrol children in school and sign the everyday contracts that need an Emirates ID. The visa is self-sponsored, so it doesn't end if you change jobs or never work in the UAE at all.
Ordinary UAE residence visas lapse if you stay abroad for more than six months at a stretch. The Golden Visa doesn't have that limit, which the UAE government portal lists among its benefits (u.ae, updated July 2026). Plenty of owners hold it as a second base and spend most of the year elsewhere.
Family members get their own permits under your sponsorship. According to ICP guidance reported by Gulf News in July 2025, they can stay until their permits expire if the main holder dies, rather than having to leave at once.
What you don't get is citizenship. The Golden Visa is a residence permit, and holding it for 10 or 20 years gives you no claim to a UAE passport. It also changes nothing about your tax position at home. Where you are tax resident depends on your home country's rules and any tax treaty, so ask a tax adviser in that country.
What happens after 10 years, or if you sell
GDRFA's service card states that you must keep the property for the whole validity of the permit, and that the permit can be renewed if the conditions are still met (checked September 2026). Renewal at year ten is therefore the same test again: do you still own qualifying Dubai property? Keep it and you apply for another 10 years.
Selling is different. Once the property is gone, the visa has lost its basis and can be cancelled. If you want to switch assets, buy the replacement before or together with the sale, so that you never go a day without qualifying ownership. The same logic applies to off-plan: if a project is cancelled, DLD's escrow rules protect the money you paid, but a refund isn't a property, and the visa's basis goes with it. For off-plan buyers, the developer's delivery record matters as much as the floor plan.
If AED 2 million is too much: the 2-year property visa
Dubai also issues a 2-year renewable residence visa to property owners, and its rules changed in April 2026. Until then a sole owner needed property worth at least AED 750,000. DLD removed that minimum for sole owners. Joint owners now need a share worth at least AED 400,000 each (KPMG flash alert of May 2026 and Gulf News, April 2026). The Golden Visa threshold stayed at AED 2 million.
It has to be renewed every two years, and DLD sets its own conditions for mortgaged and off-plan units, so check them for your specific property. For buyers who want residence rather than a decade-long status, it can be enough.
Where to start
Settle the budget first: property price, 4% DLD fee, commission, and about AED 10,000 in visa fees for you plus around AED 6,000 per family member. Then ask DLD or a registered agent to confirm how your particular deal will be assessed, especially if it involves a mortgage, an off-plan unit or a shared deed. For shortlisting, HomeNSearch lists 1,856 properties in the UAE (September 2026), ready and off-plan. Setting the filter at AED 2.2 million or above leaves a margin over the threshold and plenty of choice. For rules that might have changed since this page was checked, DLD's own service page is the reference.
FAQ
How much money is required for a Dubai Golden Visa?
Property with a total purchase value of at least AED 2 million, about USD 545,000. On top of that come the 4% DLD registration fee on the purchase and around AED 9,900 in visa fees for the main applicant (DLD, September 2026).
Who is eligible for a Dubai Golden Visa?
Under DLD's conditions (September 2026), any foreigner who wholly owns Dubai property with a combined purchase value of AED 2 million or more, is inside the UAE when applying, and has UAE health insurance. Nationality doesn't change the rules.
Can UK citizens get the Dubai Golden Visa?
Yes, on the same terms as everyone else. UK passport holders are on GDRFA's visa-on-arrival list (September 2026), so they can enter and apply in person without arranging a visa first.
What happens after 10 years of Golden Visa in Dubai?
You renew for another 10 years, provided you still own the qualifying property, which GDRFA requires you to keep for the whole term. If you sold it without replacing it, there's nothing to renew against. The Golden Visa never turns into citizenship.
