Dubai Golden Visa Through Property

The Golden Visa is a long-term UAE residence visa, granted for ten years and renewable. It is a federal visa — the rules are set nationally and it is issued by the Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs and Port Security (ICP) and, in Dubai, by the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs (GDRFA) — but you apply for it in the emirate where you qualify. Buying property in Dubai is one of the routes to it.

Unlike an ordinary residence visa, it is self-sponsored: you do not need an employer or a national sponsor, and it does not lapse if you spend long periods outside the country. You can sponsor your family on it.

The property route to the Golden Visa is open to anyone who owns UAE property worth at least AED 2 million. The value is the one the Dubai Land Department (DLD) certifies, not the price on the listing.

A few points that follow from the rule:

• One or more properties. You can combine the value of more than one property to reach AED 2 million — two apartments valued at AED 1 million each, for example.
• Ready or off-plan. Off-plan property bought from a DLD-approved developer can count, with proof of your payments; a completed property counts on its title deed.
• Any use. The property can be residential, commercial or land — what matters is the certified value, not what you do with it.

A mortgaged property can still qualify, and the rules here were eased during 2025–2026 — the older requirement to have paid a fixed amount up front has been relaxed. Exactly how the outstanding loan is treated for a heavily mortgaged unit is the part we could not pin to a single official page, and advisory sources describe it differently.

So treat the specifics as case by case and confirm them before you rely on them: for a mortgaged property GDRFA typically wants a letter from your bank showing the amount paid and the balance outstanding, and for off-plan a payment statement from the developer. Check the current requirement with GDRFA Dubai or the DLD before you apply.

The property Golden Visa is a ten-year residence that you renew as long as you keep the qualifying property. On it you can:

• Sponsor your spouse and children, and — under the current rules — your parents and household staff.
• Stay outside the UAE for long stretches without the visa being cancelled, which an ordinary residence visa does not allow.
• Hold an Emirates ID for the same term, and live, and in most cases work or run a business, in the country without a separate sponsor.

In Dubai the property Golden Visa is handled by GDRFA, and the DLD runs a dedicated channel for property investors (you may see it offered through the Dubai REST app and GDRFA's own channels). The broad steps are: confirm the property's value meets the threshold, gather the documents, submit the application, then complete the medical test and Emirates ID.

The documents usually asked for are your passport, a photo, the title deed (or the developer's Oqood and payment proof for off-plan), a bank letter if the property is mortgaged, and your current visa or entry details. GDRFA publishes the current list and any changes.

The property itself — at least AED 2 million of value — is the substance of the requirement. On top of that there are government fees for the visa, the medical test and the Emirates ID, and DLD fees on the purchase itself (the 4% transfer fee and the registration costs covered in our buying guides).

We are not quoting the visa and Emirates ID fees here because they change and we could not confirm the current amounts against an official page. GDRFA publishes the fee schedule; check it there before you budget.