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Eligible property

Which Dubai property qualifies for the Golden Visa

The threshold is the easy half. The Dubai Land Department's condition is a property value of AED 2 million, wholly owned by the investor, in one or more properties, under the name of the applicant. Every clause after the number is doing work, and the ones that disqualify people are the ownership and the name rather than the price.

One property or several

Units may be added together. The condition says one or more properties, so a buyer reaching the threshold across two apartments is in the same position as a buyer reaching it with one. What is not allowed is reaching it with someone else: the holding must be wholly owned by the investor, and it must be in the applicant's name. A share of a jointly owned property is not the thing described, and neither is a holding through a company.

The figure is the purchase value at the time of purchase, not a current valuation. That cuts both ways and mostly one way: a property bought at AED 1.6 million and now worth two and a half is not the case the rule sets out, however persuasive the valuation.

A mortgage does not disqualify you

It adds a document. A mortgaged property may be used where a no-objection letter from the bank is submitted, saying that the bank does not object to a residence permit being issued on the property, and stating the paid amount and the balance. Where the property is mortgaged, that letter must indicate AED 2 million paid. So the mortgage itself is not the obstacle; the amount actually paid down is.

The documents, and the one that cannot be substituted

The title document is the whole of the property test, and everything else on the list is identity. Anything that has not yet produced a title deed has not yet produced the document this application is built around, which is a question to put to the Land Department before committing rather than a gap to hope through.

Where it is filed

The Land Department lists Golden Visa services at Al Manara Centre and at the Dubai World Trade Centre, and through registration trustees and registration agents. Supporting documents — birth and marriage certificates, bank letters — can be uploaded to the Land Department's own document vault in advance, which is worth doing, because the appointment is in person and the applicant must be inside the UAE.

The duration this property buys is itself disputed between two official sources — ten years according to the Land Department, five according to the federal category table. Before a purchase made for the visa rather than for the flat, get the number confirmed in writing by the authority that will process it. The Golden Visa page sets out both.

If the property is in a development still being built

Off-plan is where this rule bites hardest, because the test is not the contract and not the payment schedule — it is the registered title. A unit in a development that has not yet produced a title deed has not produced the one document the whole application is built around, however much of the purchase price has been paid.

What a specific unit has produced by way of registered title is a question for the Land Department about that unit, and not one any guide can answer in general. Ask it before the purchase rather than after, and ask it about the unit rather than about the development.

Can I add two Dubai properties together to reach AED 2 million?

Yes. The Land Department's condition is a property value of AED 2 million wholly owned by the investor — one or more properties — under the name of the applicant. The arithmetic is allowed; the sole ownership and the name are not negotiable.

Does a mortgage disqualify the property?

No. A mortgaged property may be used, with a no-objection letter from the bank stating that it does not object to a residence permit being issued on the property, and showing the amount paid and the balance. Where the property is mortgaged, the bank letter must indicate AED 2 million paid.

Is the AED 2 million the purchase price or today's value?

The purchase value at the time of purchase. A property bought below the threshold that has since appreciated past it is not the case the published condition describes.

What proves ownership?

An e-Certificate of Title or a title deed, alongside a passport, a personal photo, an Emirates ID if you have one and a copy of any current residence permit. The title document is the one that cannot be substituted.

Where is the application actually made?

At a service centre. The Land Department lists Golden Visa services at Al Manara Centre and at the Dubai World Trade Centre, alongside registration trustees and agents. Documents such as birth or marriage certificates and bank letters can be uploaded to the Land Department's own document vault beforehand.

Ownership condition, the one-or-more-properties rule, the purchase-value basis, the mortgage letter, required documents, the document vault and the service centres: Dubai Land Department, Golden Visa application — Investor, read 15 September 2026. Nothing here is immigration or investment advice.