Key takeaways
- The application itself is AED 2,800 – 4,800 depending on category and whether you apply from inside or outside the UAE.
- That is the small part. The qualifying threshold — property, capital or salary — is what actually decides affordability.
- Add medical, Emirates ID and insurance, and budget realistically AED 4,500 – 7,500 all-in for one applicant.
- Every dependant is a separate cost, and insurance for an older parent can exceed the visa itself.
“How much does a Golden Visa cost?” gets two very different answers depending on what is being asked. The processing fee is modest and published. The qualifying requirement behind it is not a fee at all — it is capital you must hold or income you must earn, and that is the number that determines whether this route is open to you.
What the application actually costs
The ranges below are indicative market totals, not a published government schedule. The UAE authorities publish individual transaction fees — ICP charges AED 100 for the application, AED 100 per year of the residence permit and AED 100 for the smart service, with AED 500 for a status adjustment where one is needed — but there is no single published “Golden Visa price”. What varies is the category, the route, the medical option chosen and the service charge.
Ask any provider to itemise government fees separately from their own charge. See the UAE government fees list for the published figures.
| Component | Typical range | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Application, inside the UAE | AED 2,800 – 3,800 | Category dependent |
| Application, outside the UAE | AED 3,800 – 4,800 | Includes entry permit |
| ICP residence fees | AED 100 + AED 100/yr + AED 100 | Application, per year of permit, smart service — published by ICP |
| Medical fitness | AED 300 – 700 | Standard to urgent |
| Emirates ID, 10 years | AED 1,000 – 1,200 | Longer validity, higher fee |
| Medical insurance | AED 650 – 2,500+ | Mandatory, age dependent |
| Typing and submission | AED 100 – 300 | |
| Realistic all-in, one applicant | AED 4,500 – 7,500 |
A standard Emirates ID is roughly AED 100 per year of validity. A Golden Visa carries a 10-year ID, so that line jumps to around AED 1,000 – 1,200 in one payment.
It is not a mark-up. You are paying a decade up front instead of every two years — and over ten years it is cheaper than five separate renewals.
The number that actually matters
The processing fee is trivial next to the qualifying requirement. Broadly, the routes are:
| Route | What you must hold or earn |
|---|---|
| Property investor | Property at or above the qualifying value |
| Business investor | Capital in a UAE company at the required level |
| Salaried professional | Monthly salary at or above the threshold, with a valid contract |
| Specialised talent | Licence, seniority and standing — usually by nomination |
| Outstanding students | Academic performance against published criteria |
Thresholds are set by the ICP and were revised during 2026, including on the property route. Check the current figures in our eligibility criteria guide before making a purchase or a plan on the strength of an older number.
Costs for a family
Dependants are priced individually, and this is where budgets overrun:
- Spouse — application, medical, Emirates ID and insurance, broadly the same shape as the main applicant
- Each child — the same chain, plus an attested birth certificate
- Parents — possible but assessed on their own terms, with age-based insurance frequently the largest single line
- Attestation — marriage and birth certificates, AED 400 – 1,200 per document if not already done
A family of four can therefore run several times the single-applicant figure. What you are buying, though, is ten years rather than a two-year cycle — the comparison is set out in Golden Visa family sponsorship.
What is not included in any quote
- Attestation and MOHRE equivalency where qualifications are being assessed
- Property valuation or title deed fees on the investor route
- Outstanding fines, which must clear before the file moves
- Urgent processing, where offered
- Cancellation of your existing visa, once the Golden Visa is approved
A refusal costs you the fee and is recorded against the file. On a discretionary route — particularly talent nominations — a weak application submitted early is worse than a strong one submitted later.
Have eligibility assessed before paying. If the answer is that you do not yet qualify, that is worth knowing for the price of a conversation rather than the price of a refusal.
Is it worth it?
Compared against renewing a standard employment visa every two years, the ten-year term removes roughly four or five renewal cycles — each with its own medical, Emirates ID, typing and fees. Across a decade the pure fee saving is real but not dramatic.
The value is structural rather than financial. Your residency stops depending on an employment relationship, your family follows your term instead of a two-year cycle, extended absence is treated more flexibly, and a job change becomes a job change rather than an immigration event. For people who intend to stay, that is what they are actually buying.
Worked example: one applicant against a family of four
Abstract ranges are hard to budget from. Two realistic scenarios, both assuming the qualifying threshold is already met and documents are attested.
| Line | Single applicant | Family of four |
|---|---|---|
| Applications | AED 2,800 – 3,800 | AED 7,000 – 11,000 |
| Medical fitness | AED 300 – 700 | AED 900 – 2,100 |
| Emirates ID (10 yr) | AED 1,000 – 1,200 | AED 4,000 – 4,800 |
| Medical insurance, year one | AED 650 – 2,500 | AED 2,600 – 8,000 |
| Typing and submission | AED 100 – 300 | AED 400 – 1,000 |
| Indicative total | AED 4,850 – 8,500 | AED 14,900 – 26,900 |
Children are cheaper on medical and insurance but carry the same application and Emirates ID lines. The spread on the family total is driven almost entirely by insurance, which is why two families with identical visas can be AED 10,000 apart.
Add attestation if the marriage and birth certificates are not already done — AED 400 to 1,200 per document, and largely incurred outside the UAE. Detail in our attestation cost guide.
Sequencing, and why it saves money
Attestation first, always
It is the longest step and the only one that cannot be accelerated from inside the UAE. Starting it late is what forces people into paying for urgent handling elsewhere in the chain — which does not help, because attestation is the actual bottleneck.
Clear the file before applying
Outstanding fines stop the application without refusing it. Clearing them first costs the same money and avoids a stalled file.
Get eligibility assessed before paying
Fees are not refunded and refusals are recorded. On discretionary routes this matters more than the fee itself.
Compare insurance properly
It is the widest-spread line in the whole exercise, especially for older dependants, and it recurs annually rather than once.
Cancel the old visa last
Only once the Golden Visa is approved. Cancelling early starts a grace period against you for no benefit.
The recurring cost nobody budgets
The application is a one-off. Medical insurance is not — it is mandatory every year for every person on the visa, and it rises with age. Over a ten-year term, insurance will comfortably exceed everything else on this page combined, particularly for a family that includes parents.
That is not an argument against the Golden Visa. It is an argument for pricing the decade rather than the application, and for treating the headline fee as the smallest number in the exercise.
Want to know what it would cost you specifically?
Tell us the route you think applies and who you would sponsor. We will give you the government fees at cost, our fee separately, and an honest view on whether the application is likely to succeed.
Golden Visa cost questions
How much does a UAE Golden Visa cost?
The application runs AED 2,800 to 4,800 depending on category and whether you apply from inside or outside the UAE. All-in with medical, a 10-year Emirates ID and insurance, budget AED 4,500 to 7,500 for one applicant.
Why is the Emirates ID so much more expensive?
Because it is issued for ten years rather than two. At roughly AED 100 per year of validity that is AED 1,000 to 1,200 paid once — cheaper across the decade than five separate renewals.
Do I pay the qualifying amount as a fee?
No. Property value, capital or salary are thresholds you must meet, not payments to the authority. The only money paid to government is the processing fee and the associated medical, ID and insurance costs.
Is it cheaper to apply from inside the UAE?
Generally yes, by roughly AED 1,000, because an application from outside includes an entry permit. Whether you can apply from inside depends on your current status.
What does it cost to renew after 10 years?
Renewal broadly repeats the application chain — fee, medical, Emirates ID and insurance — and requires that you still meet the qualifying criteria. Selling the qualifying property without replacing it is the common way people fall out of eligibility.
Are the fees refunded if I am refused?
No. Application fees are not refunded and the refusal is recorded, which is the practical argument for having eligibility assessed before submitting rather than after. If you have already been refused, see what to do next.
Please note. Golden Visa fees and qualifying thresholds are set by the ICP and were revised during 2026. Figures verified August 2026 and are indicative — confirm the current position before purchasing property or committing funds. General information, not financial advice.
If you would rather have it handled
Golden Visa applications fail on preparation far more often than on eligibility — a document that was never attested, an equivalency that was never obtained, a supporting file assembled in the wrong order.
We prepare and submit these as part of our PRO services in Dubai, including the attestation and equivalency work that usually sits behind them.
