Do You Get Residency if You Buy Property in Dubai? The 2 Visa Types Explained

Do You Get Residency if You Buy Property in Dubai?

You do, as long as the home is finished and registered in your own name, and you apply for the visa yourself. Here is what buying gives you and what it does not, the two visa types, and how to get the one that fits you.

People ask this question in many ways, so here are the short answers before the detail:

• Is it automatic? No. Nothing is issued when you buy. You apply in person after the home is yours, and you pay a fee.
• Can you live in Dubai once you have it? Yes. A residence visa lets you live in the UAE for as long as it is valid, without a job or a sponsor.
• Does any home count? It has to be completed, with a title deed in your name. A home that is still being built does not count yet for the 2-year visa.
• Is it citizenship, or permanent? No. The last section of this guide explains what you do not get.

The 2 Residence Visas You Can Get by Buying Property in Dubai

Two offices are behind both visas, so it helps to meet them first. The Dubai Land Department, which everyone calls the DLD, keeps the record of who owns each home in Dubai, and it is where you apply. GDRFA Dubai is the city's immigration office, and it issues the visa itself.

Going by the DLD's own service pages, owning property can give you one of two visa types. The second type, the Golden Visa, comes in two versions:

Both types can be renewed, and on both you can sponsor your family.

Here is how far apart the property values are:

So which one is yours? Start from the top of this list and stop at the first line that fits:

1. Your property in Dubai is worth AED 2 million or more. Look at the 10-year Golden Visa.
2. You are 55 or over, and your property is worth AED 1 million. You can choose the 5-year Golden Visa.
3. You own a completed home of any value. The 2-year investor visa is yours, and it is the one most owners get.
4. Your home is still being built. Wait for the title deed, and then come back to this list.

Here is the same choice as three questions:

The names you will hear

The 2-year visa has many names. The DLD calls it the Investor Residence Application. Agents and websites call it the 2-year investor visa, the property investor visa, the property visa or the real estate visa. These are all the same visa.

You may also read about a 3-year visa for a home of AED 750,000, and a 5-year visa for AED 2 million. Older guides describe them, and so does the DLD's own question-and-answer page. As far as the DLD's service pages show, neither is offered any longer.

The 2-Year Investor Visa

This is the visa most owners get, so it has the fullest section. To qualify, you must own a completed home in Dubai, in your own name, with a title deed. The title deed is the DLD's official paper that proves a home is yours. You don't have to live in the UAE already.

The whole rule fits in two sentences on the DLD's service page:

“"Individual Ownership: The property owner is allowed to apply for the issuance of a license and residency visa, regardless of the property value. Joint Ownership: A co-owner of the property is allowed to apply for the issuance of a license and residency visa, provided that their share value is not less than AED 400,000."”

Dubai Land Department, Investor Residence Application (Taskeen)

So the value of your home matters only if you share it with someone. In practice, owners fall into five situations, and each one needs something a little different.

1. Sole owner

This is the simple case. If yours is the only name on the title deed, a home of any value qualifies. A studio that cost AED 450,000 is enough.

There are two conditions to check. The home has to be in the emirate of Dubai, because the DLD's service centre does not accept title deeds from other emirates, or from the DIFC, the city's financial district. And the name on the title deed has to match your passport exactly, letter for letter.

That second condition catches more people than you would expect. So open Dubai REST, the DLD's app, and look at your title deed. If the spelling differs from your passport in any way, ask a DLD service centre to correct the title deed before you apply.

2. Joint owners

When two or more people own a home together, the DLD looks at each person's share, and not at the whole home. Each share has to be worth at least AED 400,000 for that person to get a visa.

This gives results that surprise people. Two people who own a flat of AED 800,000, half each, both qualify. If the flat cost AED 700,000, each share is AED 350,000, and neither of them qualifies. Yet one person owning that same flat alone would qualify at once.

Each owner applies separately, in person, with their own documents and fee. Ask one thing first, because service centres do not all value a share in the same way. Some take the price on the title deed, and others want a DLD valuation certificate, which costs AED 4,020 for a flat. So write to your centre: "Do you take the value of my share from the price on the title deed, or do I need a DLD valuation certificate?"

3. Married couples

A married couple does not need two visas, and this is the easy way around the share rule. The DLD offers a family visa for a wife and the same one for a husband. So only one of you has to qualify as the owner, and that person sponsors the other for AED 7,382.25.

The real decision comes earlier, when you buy. If the home will cost less than AED 800,000 and you put it in two equal names, neither of you will qualify. Changing the names afterwards is a new transfer of ownership, and you pay the DLD fees again. So decide whose name goes on the title deed before you sign.

4. A home with a mortgage

A home that you are still paying off can qualify too. Until you repay the loan, the bank has a legal claim on the home. So the service centre wants the bank to say in writing that it accepts a visa being issued on it. Our mortgage in Dubai guide explains the loan itself.

The paper is called a no-objection certificate, or NOC. Service centres say it has to contain three things:

• a statement that the bank has no objection to a residence visa being issued on the property
• the total amount you have paid so far
• the amount you still owe

A letter that leaves out any one of the three can be rejected, so ask for it in exact words. You can send your bank's mortgage team this:

"Please issue a no-objection letter for my two-year property investor residence visa application at the Dubai Land Department. The letter must state that the bank has no objection to a residence visa being issued on this property. It must also state the total amount I have paid to date and the outstanding balance."

Some banks issue it in two or three working days and others take longer, and each bank sets its own charge.

One part is not settled. The DLD's page gives no minimum for how much of the home you must have paid. But some service centres still ask for half the price, or AED 375,000 if that is higher. If you have paid less, write to your centre before you apply, and keep the reply: "My home has a mortgage. What is the minimum amount I must have paid?"

5. An off-plan home

Many homes in Dubai are sold before they are built, which is called buying off-plan. If that is how you bought, you cannot get the 2-year visa yet. GDRFA Dubai says it plainly: "The property must be fully constructed."

The reason is the paperwork you hold. While a home is being built, the DLD records your purchase in a register called Oqood. That shows you have bought the home, but it is not a title deed, and the visa needs a title deed.

So the date that matters is the day the title deed is issued, which can be later than the day you get the keys. Ask your developer in writing:

"On what date do you expect the title deed to be issued in my name?"

One more situation is missing from the DLD's rules altogether, and that is a home registered to a company. If you hold yours that way, ask a service centre in writing before you count on the visa.

What changed in 2026

If you looked into this visa a year or two ago and gave up, look again. Until late April 2026, your home had to be worth at least AED 750,000. Since then, a sole owner needs no minimum value, and a joint owner needs a share worth AED 400,000. We covered it at the time in our news story on the property visa with no minimum value.

No new law announced the change. The new wording simply appeared in the DLD's service terms, and those can be edited again without notice. The DLD and GDRFA Dubai also agreed, on 11 April 2026, to move this visa into GDRFA's own system, with no start date yet. So do two things:

• On the day you apply, save the DLD's service page as a PDF, so you have a dated copy of the rules.
• Bring six months of bank statements. The DLD's page does not ask for them, but GDRFA's own page for property owners asks for an income of AED 10,000 a month, or other proof that you can support yourself.

What it costs

The DLD's fee is AED 10,212.50 for the owner, and you pay it at the service centre on the day your documents are accepted. Each person you sponsor has a separate fee, and some of those visas last only one year:

To work out your own total, add your fee, one file fee, and the fee for each person you are bringing. An owner with a spouse and two children under 18, for example, pays AED 30,878 for two years.

Four more costs have no single official price:

• The service centre's own charge. The DLD's own centre, known as the Cube, lists AED 10,545 for the same visa, and one other centre quotes from AED 10,650.
• Health insurance. You need a UAE policy for yourself and each person you sponsor. A basic plan that meets the Dubai Health Authority's minimum is enough.
• The good conduct certificate. Dubai Police sets the fee.
• The bank letter, if you have a mortgage.

So ask the centre for its full total before you pay.

How to apply

Nobody can apply for you. The DLD says "Applicant must attend in person", and it does not allow companions or representatives. So an agent cannot do it, and a power of attorney will not work.

The DLD lists four centres, and you can use any of them:

• Al Manara Center, on Sheikh Zayed Road. This is the DLD's own centre, also called the Cube or Taskeen. It asks you to start online: fill in the "Apply Online" form on its two-year residency page, and don't walk in first. The DLD lists its hours as Monday to Thursday, 8:00 am to 2:30 pm, and Friday, 8:00 am to 11:30 am.
• EGSH, in the Art of Living Mall, Al Barsha 2. You can walk in during working hours, or book a time on its website.
• Alyalayis, in Dubai Investment Park 2. The DLD lists it as open every day, 8:00 am to 4:00 pm.
• Gulf Vision. The DLD lists it as open Monday to Friday, 8:00 am to 8:00 pm.

Here is the whole application, in the order you do it:

1. Check your title deed. Open the Dubai REST app and check the spelling of your name, your share, and whether a bank is shown as holding a mortgage. Then download the electronic copy of the title deed, because that is what you hand in.
2. Clear your service charges. These are the yearly fees every owner pays for the upkeep of the building. The DLD's system records unpaid ones, and a centre can reject your file because of them. Ask your building's management for a statement showing that nothing is owed.
3. Ask your bank for its letter, if you have a mortgage. Send the request from the mortgage case above. Allow at least a week, because some banks need an internal approval first.
4. Get a good conduct certificate from Dubai Police. It says you have no criminal record in Dubai, and it should be addressed to the Dubai Land Department. If you live in the UAE, apply in the Dubai Police app. If you live abroad, the Cube says you must go in person to the Dubai Police station in Port Rashid.
5. Buy UAE health insurance. The policy has to come from an insurer in the UAE, and it has to be valid on the day you apply.
6. Hand in your file at the centre. Staff check every document before any money changes hands. When the file is complete, they give you a payment voucher, you pay the fee, and you leave with a receipt. GDRFA Dubai then handles the immigration side. If you came in as a visitor, your status is changed to resident while you are here.
7. Take the medical test and give your fingerprints. Everyone aged 18 or over has a blood test and a chest X-ray at an approved medical centre, which the service centre arranges. Your fingerprints are taken for the Emirates ID, the identity card every resident carries.
8. Receive your visa by email. It comes as an electronic document, so save it and print a copy. Your Emirates ID card is delivered afterwards.

The DLD says the visa takes 7 to 10 business days from a complete file, and the Cube says 10 to 15 working days. If you are flying in, about three weeks in Dubai is a safe plan, which is our own estimate. Stay in the country during that time, because you have to be available for the medical test.

Besides the papers from steps 1 to 5, bring these:

• your passport, with at least six months left before it expires
• a photograph that meets the rules of the ICP, the federal office that issues the Emirates ID
• your Emirates ID and a copy of your current UAE visa or entry permit, if you have them
• your national ID card, if you are a citizen of Iran, Pakistan, Iraq, Libya or Afghanistan

Your family comes after you, because their visas hang on yours. Go back to the centre with your new visa and Emirates ID, open a family file, and apply for each person. Everyone needs a passport, a photograph and UAE health insurance, and then a paper of their own:

• Your wife or husband: your marriage certificate, attested. That means it has been officially stamped as genuine, first in the country that issued it and then for use in the UAE.
• Each child: an attested birth certificate. If the mother is the sponsor, the father also signs a letter of no objection in front of a notary.
• A daughter over 18: a certificate from Dubai Courts showing that she is not married.
• A parent: an attested certificate from your consulate showing that the parent depends on you, the parent's birth certificate, and your last three months of bank statements.

The DLD also asks for your IBAN, which is your bank account number in its international form, on every family file.

If you already hold a UAE residence visa, for example through your job, ask the centre what happens to it before you pay. The DLD asks for a copy, but its page does not explain.

Renewing, and what happens if you sell

You can renew every two years for as long as you own the home. Start about 60 days before the visa ends: ask your bank for a new letter if you have a mortgage, and get a new good conduct certificate. About 30 days before, go to a service centre in person, where you take the medical test again.

The DLD's page gives no renewal fee. The Cube lists AED 8,215, and another centre says the full AED 10,212.50 applies again, so ask your centre which it charges. If you stay in the UAE after the visa ends, the fine is AED 50 a day.

Because the visa rests on the home, three changes to the home reach the visa too:

• You move your mortgage to another bank. The old bank's letter no longer describes your loan, so ask the new bank for the visa letter on the day you sign.
• You add an owner. You become a joint owner, and the AED 400,000 rule applies to your share. Half of a AED 700,000 flat is AED 350,000, so you would no longer qualify.
• You sell. The visa cannot be renewed, and it does not move to your next home. Service centres also say it must be cancelled before the home is transferred, which the DLD's page does not confirm.

So before you sign a sale contract, ask your centre in writing: "Must my visa be cancelled before the transfer? How many days does cancellation take?" Your family's visas are cancelled first and yours last, and the Cube lists a fee of AED 1,239 for the owner.

The Golden Visa

The Golden Visa is the second type, and the DLD offers it to property owners in two versions. One lasts ten years and needs property worth AED 2 million. The other lasts five years and is for owners aged 55 or over, with property worth AED 1 million.

The 10-year Golden Visa

If your property in Dubai is worth AED 2 million or more, in one home or in several added together, you can apply for the 10-year Golden Visa. The DLD's fee is AED 9,884.75, and you can sponsor your wife or husband, your children and your parents.

A property with a mortgage can count, with a letter from your bank. The visa has no rule about how long you stay abroad. In return, you cannot sell the property while you hold it.

Choose it if you qualify. Over ten years you pay once, where a 2-year visa holder pays five times:

Read the full guide: Golden Visa through property in Dubai

The 5-year Golden Visa for owners aged 55 or over

This version is easy to miss. The DLD files it under the Golden Visa name, as Golden Visa Application - Retiree, and some websites call it the retirement visa. It is the same thing: five years of residence for an owner who is 55 or over.

The rule is about how much you have paid, and not only what the property is worth. You qualify in one of two ways:

• Your property is worth at least AED 1 million, it is paid in full, and it has no mortgage. It can be one property or several, in your name.
• Your property has a mortgage, and you have paid AED 1 million of it. The bank confirms the amount in a letter addressed to GDRFA Dubai.

A husband and wife can share one property, with a certified copy of their marriage contract. You don't have to live in the UAE already, because the DLD accepts a retired owner who is only visiting.

The fee is AED 6,984.75 for five years, and the DLD's page shows how it is made up: AED 700 for the medical test, AED 653 for the Emirates ID, AED 2,456.75 for the residence permit, AED 2,020 in DLD fees and AED 1,155 in administrative fees. A family member's permit costs AED 4,968.50 for five years, plus AED 318.75 to open the family file. You can sponsor your wife or husband, your children and your parents.

You apply in person, as for the 2-year visa, and nobody can go in your place. The DLD lists the same four centres, plus its Golden Visa offices, one of which is at the Dubai World Trade Centre. You take these with you:

• your passport
• your title deed
• a photograph
• your Emirates ID and a copy of your current residence visa, if you have them
• the bank letter, if the property has a mortgage

You hand in the papers and pay, you take the medical test at the centre, and the visa arrives by email. The DLD says that takes 7 to 10 business days.

The page leaves some things out, and you should ask the centre about them before you pay. It does not say whether a home that is still being built can count. It does not say how long you may stay outside the UAE. And it gives no renewal fee.

What Residency Through Property Does Not Give You

A residence visa lets you live in Dubai. It is easy to expect more from it than that, so here is where it stops:

• It is not citizenship. Buying property does not make you a UAE citizen, and there is no application for citizenship. The UAE government says nationality is granted only by nomination, through the rulers' courts and the Cabinet.
• It is not permanent residency. Each visa has a fixed length of two, five or ten years, and you have to renew it. If you no longer own the property, you can no longer renew.
• It is not a work permit. The visa gives you the right to live here. To work for an employer, you also need a work permit from the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation, and the employer applies for it.
• It can lapse if you stay away. Under the UAE's general rules, a residence visa "will be nullified automatically" after more than 180 days outside the UAE in a row. Holders of the 10-year Golden Visa are exempt. For the 2-year visa the wording is not clear, and service centres say the rule applies.

So if you hold the 2-year visa, play safe and enter the UAE at least once every six months. If you have already stayed away longer, contact GDRFA Dubai before you book a flight.

If you have not bought yet, start with our guides to buying property in Dubai and whether foreigners can buy property in Dubai.