How the property route to the Golden Visa works
The UAE's investor Golden Visa grants a 10-year, renewable residence permit to anyone who owns property in Dubai with a purchase value of at least AED 2,000,000 — roughly USD 545,000 — at the time of purchase. The threshold can be met with a single property or several combined under your name, it requires no local sponsor, and it lets you sponsor your spouse, children and parents. It is issued directly through the Dubai Land Department's Golden Visa Investor service, working alongside the Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs & Port Security (ICP).
The rules were meaningfully eased in February 2026: previously, applicants also had to show they had already paid at least 50% of the property's value, or a minimum of AED 1,000,000, before applying. That requirement has been removed for standard freehold purchases. For a mortgaged property specifically, the Dubai Land Department's own service page still asks for a bank letter confirming AED 2,000,000 has been paid — so if you're financing the purchase, this is worth confirming against your specific loan structure before you apply.
What qualifies
- Ready and off-plan property both qualify, provided the developer is approved and the purchase value meets the AED 2M threshold.
- Mortgaged property qualifies, with a No Objection Certificate from the lending bank confirming the amount paid and the outstanding balance.
- Multiple properties can be combined to reach AED 2,000,000 in total value, as long as all are registered solely in your name.
- The property must be in a designated freehold zone — see the full list below.
Designated freehold zones
Foreign nationals can only buy property — and only qualify for the Golden Visa through property — in areas Dubai has designated freehold under Law No. 7 of 2006. That list has grown from roughly 23 zones at launch to more than 60 communities today, covering most of the city's major residential and off-plan markets. It includes, among others:
- Downtown Dubai, Business Bay, DIFC, City Walk and La Mer
- Dubai Marina, JBR, JLT and Bluewaters Island
- Palm Jumeirah and the newer Palm Jebel Ali
- Dubai Creek Harbour and the wider Mohammed Bin Rashid City masterplan (District One, Sobha Hartland, Meydan)
- Dubai Hills Estate, Arabian Ranches, Tilal Al Ghaf and Emirates Living (Springs, Meadows, Lakes, Emirates Hills)
- Jumeirah Village Circle, Jumeirah Village Triangle, Al Furjan, Town Square, Dubai South and Dubai Islands
A handful of older, central neighbourhoods — parts of Bur Dubai, Deira, Al Wasl and Karama among them — remain outside the freehold list, so for any specific building it's worth confirming freehold status directly with the Dubai Land Department before you commit.
The application process, step by step
The Dubai Land Department describes the investor route as four broad stages, and in practice these break down into the steps below. Timelines are approximate and can move faster if your paperwork is ready in advance.
- Confirm eligibility and gather documents — passport (6+ months' validity), title deed or Oqood, a DLD valuation certificate if your property's value needs verifying, and UAE-compliant health insurance. 1–7 days.
- Arrange UAE health insurance if you don't already hold a qualifying policy — minimum annual cover of roughly AED 50,000. 1–3 days.
- Submit your application through the Dubai Land Department, either at a Golden Visa service centre (Al Manara Centre, the Golden Cube, or an approved real-estate registration trustee) or via the DLD portal, uploading your title deed, insurance, passport and photos. 1 day to submit; DLD verification takes roughly 3–7 business days.
- DLD forwards your approved file to ICP for residency processing, and you'll be notified to complete a medical fitness test (blood work, chest X-ray, vision and blood-pressure checks) inside the UAE. Results in 2–5 days.
- Attend biometrics — fingerprints, iris scan and photo — at an ICP-approved typing centre, where your Emirates ID application is also submitted. Same-day appointment.
- Receive your Emirates ID, valid for the full 10 years alongside your visa. 5–10 business days after biometrics.
- Receive your Golden Visa stamp. If you're outside the UAE when it's issued, you must enter the country to activate it within 6 months of issuance.
Most applicants who prepare documents in advance complete the full process — from first submission to visa in hand — in roughly 4 to 8 weeks. Only the applicant needs to attend in person; escorts and applications by a representative are not permitted at the DLD service counter.
Government fees
The Dubai Land Department publishes a fixed fee schedule for the 10-year investor residency. As of the current published schedule, the total for the main applicant is AED 9,884.75:
| Fee item | Amount (AED) |
|---|---|
| Medical examination | 700 |
| Emirates ID (10 years) | 1,153 |
| Confirmation of residency permit (10 years) | 2,856.75 |
| Dubai Land Department fees | 4,020 |
| Administrative fees | 1,155 |
| Total — main applicant | 9,884.75 |
Sponsoring family adds further government fees on top: a family residence permit runs AED 5,774.50 plus an AED 318.75 file-opening charge and AED 100 per additional sponsored person; parents' sponsorship is AED 5,774.50 plus AED 100 per person. Separately, a DLD property valuation certificate (if you need one) typically costs AED 2,500–4,000, and UAE health insurance meeting the minimum AED 50,000 cover typically runs AED 1,500–5,000 a year depending on age and provider. These figures are published by the Dubai Land Department; always confirm current amounts before paying, as government fee schedules can be revised.
Documents you'll need
- Valid passport (minimum 6 months' validity)
- Title deed, Oqood (for off-plan), or a Dubai Land Department valuation certificate showing the property's certified value
- Bank No Objection Certificate, if the property is mortgaged
- Passport-sized photograph meeting ICP specifications
- UAE-compliant health insurance with at least AED 50,000 annual cover
- Current UAE Emirates ID and residence permit, if applicable
Family sponsorship
Investors can sponsor a spouse, children and, with the appropriate dependency documentation, parents. A family application needs a notarised marriage certificate and birth certificates for children (translated into Arabic where required); a no-objection letter from the father, notarised, is needed if the mother is the sponsor; and unmarried status must be confirmed for sons or daughters over 18. Parents' sponsorship additionally needs a certified dependency certificate from your consulate. Each dependent is a separate application, typically adding 2–4 weeks per person on top of the main applicant's timeline.
Renewal
The Golden Visa is renewable for further 10-year terms provided you still hold qualifying property. In practice, renewal opens automatically in the ICP portal up to 90 days before expiry, does not require restarting the process from scratch, and is generally reported to cost in the region of AED 3,000–5,000 in government fees with a 2–4 week turnaround; a fresh medical test is not always required and is assessed case by case. The Dubai Land Department's own service page confirms the visa is renewable but does not itself publish the renewal fee schedule, so we'd recommend confirming the current figure with DLD or ICP directly closer to your renewal date.
If you sell the property
Neither the Dubai Land Department nor ICP publicly specifies what happens to an existing Golden Visa if the qualifying property is sold before the visa expires — whether the visa is cancelled immediately, remains valid until its stated expiry, or can be transferred to a new qualifying property. If a sale is on the table before your visa term is up, we'd strongly recommend checking your specific situation with DLD or ICP first, or speaking with us — we can point you toward the right service channel.
This page reflects publicly available Dubai Land Department and Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs & Port Security guidance as of September 2026, cross-checked against the DLD's own Golden Visa Investor service page. Golden Visa rules are set by UAE federal and Dubai authorities and can change — we recommend confirming your specific eligibility, fees and renewal terms with the Dubai Land Department or ICP directly, or asking us to walk you through it against a specific property.