Golden Visa property in Dubai

How the UAE 10-year Golden Visa via property investment actually works

The federal Golden Visa is a 10-year, renewable UAE residency granted to individuals who hold real estate worth at least AED 2 million in any emirate. It is administered by the ICP (Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs and Ports) with the local land department verifying the underlying property value. There is no cap on the number of properties you can combine to reach the threshold, and joint ownership is allowed as long as each individual investor's pro-rata share is worth AED 2M or more.

Off-plan property counts. The threshold is measured on the purchase price stated in the SPA (Sales & Purchase Agreement) and confirmed by the Dubai Land Department's Oqood \u2014 the pre-title registration that names you as the buyer of the under-construction unit. That means you can apply for the Golden Visa the moment your Oqood is issued, not only after handover. Standard supporting documents are: passport, Emirates ID (if you already have one), title deed or Oqood, medical fitness certificate and biometrics. The visa itself is typically issued in 2\u20136 weeks once the property paperwork is in order.

Worked example: buying at the AED 2M line on a Dubai off-plan payment plan

Take the smallest qualifying unit \u2014 an off-plan apartment priced at the minimum AED 2,000,000 on a typical Dubai 20/40/40 payment plan:

• Down-payment (20%): AED 400,000 due at booking. This is usually paid to the developer's escrow account and is what triggers the Oqood registration.
• Construction-linked instalments (40%): AED 800,000 paid across the build phase (usually piling, structure, MEP and finishing milestones).
• Handover balance (40%): AED 800,000 due on completion. Where the project offers a post-handover payment plan (PHPP), some or all of this tail extends 1\u20135 years past handover \u2014 useful because you already hold the Golden Visa on the strength of the SPA and Oqood.
• Application costs: roughly AED 2,800\u20133,800 in government fees for the visa itself, plus medical fitness and Emirates ID (under AED 1,000 combined). No brokerage, no ongoing tax.

Key point: if you finance the purchase, only the equity you have committed counts toward the AED 2M line. Putting AED 2M cash down on a AED 3M unit and mortgaging the rest still qualifies you; putting AED 1M cash down on an AED 3M unit and mortgaging AED 2M does not.

Off-plan vs. ready property for Golden Visa eligibility

Both count. What differs is the paperwork trigger:

• Ready property \u2014 the title deed is issued in your name at purchase, and you can apply for the visa immediately with the deed as the qualifying document.
• Off-plan property \u2014 the Oqood is issued after the developer has recorded the SPA with the DLD (usually within 2\u20134 weeks of the initial down-payment). The Oqood is the qualifying document until the final title deed is issued at handover.
• Multiple properties \u2014 you can combine two or more units in any emirate to reach the AED 2M line, as long as all are held in the applicant's name (or the applicant's pro-rata share of each unit sums to AED 2M or more).
• Villas vs apartments \u2014 the rule is value, not asset type. An off-plan villa at AED 2.5M and an off-plan 2-BR apartment at AED 2.5M carry exactly the same visa entitlement.

Dubai vs. other emirates: does location affect the visa?

The AED 2M threshold is set by federal law and is identical across the UAE. Property in Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Ajman, Ras al Khaimah, Umm al Quwain and Fujairah qualifies on exactly the same terms as property in Dubai \u2014 the only requirement is that the project is registered with the emirate's local land department and that you hold the equivalent of a Dubai Oqood.

This page is Dubai-focused because Dubai has by far the deepest live off-plan inventory across the AED 2M+ price band \u2014 the 178 projects listed below span roughly a third of the live Dubai off-plan catalogue. Ajman, RAK, UAQ and Fujairah have smaller off-plan pipelines but the same federal rules apply; for a live catalogue in another emirate or a specific developer (for example Emaar, Sobha, Damac, Nakheel or Ellington), use the developer hubs above or the compare tool.

For a full glossary of the visa mechanic itself, see the Golden Visa glossary entry, or read how off-plan payment plans work if you want to understand how the AED 2M is actually paid out over the build.