Golden Visa Property Requirement 2026: AED 2 Million, Mortgages, Off-Plan, Joint Ownership and the DLD Process

The golden visa property requirement is the rule that a foreign real estate investor must own one or more properties in the UAE with a total value of at least AED 2,000,000 to get a 10-year Golden residence. The property can be ready or a golden visa off-plan purchase (from an approved developer), and it can be financed by an approved local bank. It must be fully owned by the investor, or, for a joint owner, the investor’s own share must reach AED 2 million. In Dubai the value is proven to GDRFA through the Dubai Land Department. In the other emirates, ICP asks for a letter from that emirate’s real estate registration department.

This guide is built from the ICP, GDRFA, DLD, u.ae and Abu Dhabi pages and the Executive Regulation, all checked on 23 September 2026 and re-checked on 22 October 2026. Where official pages disagree, we quote both and say which one decides your file.

Golden visa property requirement: the short answer for your situation

Find the row that describes your property. Each one is explained in detail further down, with the source for every rule.

Golden visa property requirement: how MIRDXB PRO helps

Most property Golden files that stall do so on paperwork: a bank letter that omits the amount paid, a deed with a middle name the passport lacks, or a joint share just short of AED 2 million. We are a PRO and visa services firm based in Al Barsha 1. We prepare property investor files for DLD in Dubai and for ICP in the other emirates, and we tell you before you pay whether the file will pass.

If you want the whole application handled from start to finish, that is our Golden visa service for property investors. If you are not sure the property route is your best one, our wider Golden investor visa service covers the other investor categories too.

What we do

• Check the property against the golden visa property requirement as DLD, GDRFA or ICP words it, and give you a written answer.
• Work out the property value for golden visa purposes: purchase value, valuation and your share.
• Get the bank and developer letters right the first time, for a golden visa mortgaged property or a golden visa off-plan unit.
• Prepare the DLD or ICP file: photo to specification, passport, Emirates ID, current residence, health insurance and the family documents if you are adding dependants.
• Book and accompany you to the DLD Cube or trustee appointment, which you must attend in person.
• Follow through to the medical, Emirates ID biometrics, cancellation of any old residence and the family residences.

How it works

1. WhatsApp us your title deed or Oqood, your passport, and any mortgage or developer details. Tell us who else you want to sponsor.
2. We check the documents against the current DLD, GDRFA or ICP page. You get a written list of anything missing, the government fees and our fee.
3. You approve. We request the bank or developer letter wording, book the appointment and prepare the file.
4. You attend the appointment with us where the service requires you in person. We then track the approval, the medical and the Emirates ID and send you each result.

What it costs

Government fees are passed on at cost, and you see every receipt. That includes the DLD, GDRFA or ICP fees, the medical, the Emirates ID and any valuation. Our own service fee depends on what the file needs: a property check only, a single applicant, or an applicant with family. It is quoted in writing before we start. Our general pricing approach is on the fees page, and the full breakdown of Golden visa government fees is in our Golden visa cost guide.

Why investors use us

• We publish our sources. Every threshold in this guide links to the ICP, GDRFA, DLD, u.ae or Abu Dhabi page it came from, and we show you where those pages disagree.
• We cover both systems: DLD and GDRFA for Dubai properties, and ICP for property in Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and the northern emirates.
• We tell you when you do not need us: one ready, unmortgaged property in your sole name well over AED 2 million is a straightforward DLD file.
• You can walk in. Our office is in Al Barsha 1, open by appointment; whatsApp us any time, 24 hours; office open Monday to Friday, 9:00 to 18:00 (Dubai time).

Where the golden visa property requirement comes from

The golden visa property requirement sits in federal law and is applied by each emirate’s authorities. When a counter and a website disagree, the layer tells you who is right.

The Executive Regulation sets the floor; the emirate’s authorities decide how you prove it: DLD and GDRFA in Dubai, ICP and the local registration department elsewhere. The ICP vs GDRFA guide explains which authority holds which file.

The AED 2 million golden visa property requirement, precisely

Every official source we checked uses the same number: AED 2,000,000. There is no higher figure for some emirates and no lower one for others on the Golden investor route. The differences are in what counts toward it and how it is proven.

Three details are worth reading closely, because files fail on them:

• “Not less than” means exactly AED 2,000,000 passes. The Executive Regulation, GDRFA and ICP all set a floor. DLD’s wording is “equal to or more than 2 million AED”. A deed showing AED 2,000,000 meets the property value for golden visa purposes. One showing AED 1,999,000 does not.
• “Total value” allows more than one property. The regulation says “one or more Real Estate with a total value”; GDRFA says “a property or a group of properties”. You do not need a single AED 2 million unit.
• “Wholly owned” is about you, not about one deed. DLD and ICP require the property to be fully owned by the investor. For a jointly owned property, GDRFA looks at your share alone, as explained below.

Golden visa property requirement: 5 years or 10 years?

The old version of this guide said the property route gives a 5-year visa. That came from the u.ae portal, which still lists “Investors (real estate): 5 years” in its summary table. We have checked every issuing page since, and none of them agrees with it.

Our reading: the 10-year figure is the current one. It is in the Executive Regulation, on the three pages that actually issue the permit (DLD, GDRFA, ICP) and in DLD’s fee list, which charges for a 10-year Emirates ID. The 5-year references come from older announcements that have not been updated. What you receive is decided by the issuing authority, and all three issuing pages say 10 years. If your permit is ever issued for a shorter term, ask the issuing authority to confirm the category before you accept it.

What counts toward the property value for golden visa purposes

The official pages are written for one ready apartment in one name. Here is each common situation, what the rules say, and where they are silent.

1. A ready property in your sole name: the basic golden visa property requirement

This is the case every page was written for. You need the title deed (DLD calls it the “E-Certificate of Title / Title deed”) in your name, showing the property and its value. If it is not mortgaged, nothing else about the property needs proving in Dubai. Check that the name on the deed matches your passport exactly, including the order of names. A mismatch here is the most common reason a Cube appointment ends early.

2. Several properties: the property value for golden visa files is the total

All the official pages allow it. DLD says “(one or more properties)”, GDRFA says “a property or a group of properties”, and the regulation says “one or more Real Estate with a total value of not less than (AED 2,000,000)”. Two apartments at AED 1.1 million each qualify. So do a studio, a townhouse and a shop that total AED 2 million.

Each property must be in your sole name, or you count only your share. No official page says how properties in two different emirates are combined, so we plan portfolios within one emirate where possible.

3. Land and non-residential property

GDRFA’s card says the accepted property “includes all types of properties”. The Executive Regulation says “Real Estate” without restricting it to homes. DLD’s valuation service covers vacant land, villas, units, commercial buildings and agricultural land. So a plot of land, an office or a shop in your sole name can count toward the golden visa property requirement in Dubai, provided its value is certified.

The risk with land is the value: an old deed may show a low purchase price. See the valuation section below.

4. Golden visa off-plan purchases

Golden visa off-plan purchases count. The Executive Regulation allows “Real Estate units off the map with a total value of not less than (AED 2,000,000) two million dirhams, on condition that the purchase is made from local companies approved by the Competent Local Authority.” In Dubai, the register for off-plan sales is Oqood, and the developer and project are registered with DLD’s Real Estate Regulatory Agency (RERA).

What the pages do not say is how much of the price you must have paid. Here the sources diverge:

• DLD’s Golden page does not mention golden visa off-plan files separately. It asks for a title deed, and for a mortgaged property the bank’s no-objection letter.
• ICP’s published guide, as reported by Gulf News on 27 July 2025, says off-plan properties qualify if bought from approved UAE developers, “with payment completion evidence”.
• Abu Dhabi asks for the purchase agreement from an approved developer and “evidence that no less than AED 2,000,000 in payments till date have been made”.

We found no official page that sets a construction percentage for golden visa off-plan files in Dubai; the marketing claims (50% built, any stage) cite nothing official. Treat the developer’s statement of account and confirmation as the evidence that matters; the exact documents are confirmed at application.

5. Joint ownership and the property value for golden visa files

GDRFA’s card answers this directly: “If the ownership is in the form of a share in a joint property, the value of the share must not be less than AED 2 million.” Your share is your percentage on the title deed multiplied by the property’s value.

A joint owner who falls short can add property in his or her sole name. The pages do not say this in terms, but it follows from “total value” and GDRFA’s share rule.

6. Husband and wife as co-owners

The GDRFA share rule applies to spouses too. A AED 3 million home owned 50/50 by a couple gives each AED 1.5 million, so neither meets the golden visa property requirement on it alone.

DLD’s own pages show that spouses are treated differently only where the page says so. DLD’s Golden visa for retirees page expressly allows husband and wife to share one property, with a certified marriage contract. The Golden visa application (investor) page contains no such provision. The workable routes for a couple below AED 4 million are:

• the spouse whose share is AED 2 million or more applies, and sponsors the other spouse as a family member (see our Golden visa family sponsorship guide); or
• the ownership is restructured so that one spouse holds at least AED 2 million, which is a DLD transaction with its own fees and, if mortgaged, the bank’s consent.

7. Property owned by your company

The real estate investor pages all speak of property “owned by the investor”. None of them addresses property registered to a company that the investor owns. GDRFA’s investor card has separate categories for “Investor/Partner in companies” and for tax-paying investors, with their own evidence (a certified financial report and trade licence). If your property sits in a company, the company route may fit better than the golden visa property requirement route. Do not transfer property out of a company to yourself for the visa without advice: DLD transfer fees apply to the transfer.

8. Property abroad or fractional shares

Property abroad does not count. A fractional or tokenised share counts only if DLD registers it as your share on a title deed and it reaches AED 2 million by itself.

Golden visa mortgaged property: what each authority actually says

This is the most searched question on the property route and the one with the most conflicting answers online. The official pages do not agree with each other either, so we set them side by side.

Read together, a golden visa mortgaged property in Dubai qualifies when its current DLD valuation reaches AED 2 million, whatever the loan balance, provided the bank’s no-objection letter states the amount paid and the outstanding balance. Abu Dhabi is stricter: what counts there is your own equity.

For a Dubai property, the exact documents are confirmed at application, so have the bank letter in the right form before you book the DLD appointment.

What the bank letter for a golden visa mortgaged property should say

Banks issue these letters routinely, but not always in the form DLD wants. Ask your bank for a letter addressed to the Dubai Land Department (or “to whom it may concern” if the bank insists) that states:

1. that the bank has no objection to a residence permit being issued to you on the basis of the property (DLD’s wording);
2. the property details as on the title deed: plot, building, unit number and area;
3. the purchase price and the amount you have paid to date, including your down payment and principal repaid;
4. the outstanding loan balance; and
5. the date, stamp and an authorised signatory.

The amount paid and the outstanding balance (items 3 and 4) are what the file is checked against, so make sure both are on the letter.

Golden visa mortgaged property: is my bank an approved local bank?

No official page publishes the list of “local banks determined by the Competent Local Authority”. A mortgage registered at DLD by a UAE-licensed bank is the case the rule has in mind; an overseas or private loan is not.

Golden visa mortgaged property: worked example

Apartment A qualifies in Dubai on its current DLD valuation, with the bank’s no-objection letter in the file. It would not qualify in Abu Dhabi, where your own equity must reach AED 2 million.

Valuation or purchase price: which number is the property value for golden visa files?

The official pages use two different measures of value, so it helps to know which one decides your file.

In practice, the value that counts for a Dubai file is the property’s current DLD valuation, which must reach AED 2 million. The purchase value on your deed is the starting point, and the exact documents are confirmed at application.

DLD’s valuation service: proving the property value for golden visa files

DLD’s Property Valuation service values vacant land, residential units and villas, agricultural land, commercial and industrial buildings, and hotels. It is available at Real Estate Services Trustee Centres, on the Dubai REST app and on Dubai Now. The fees published on the service page are:

Trustee centres add a service partner fee (AED 180 to AED 530 plus VAT). A private DLD-licensed valuer may be cheaper, but acceptance is at DLD’s discretion.

The lien, and what happens to the golden visa property requirement if you sell

This is the condition most buyers do not hear about until the counter. GDRFA’s card says: “It is required to place a lien on the property to ensure the continuity of ownership throughout the validity of the Golden Residency.” It also says the “property may not be disposed of nor the financial deposit refunded throughout the 10-year residency period”.

In plain terms, the qualifying property is registered at DLD as supporting your Golden residence, and you cannot freely sell it while the visa relies on it. That changes how you should think about the purchase:

• Selling is not simply a DLD transfer. GDRFA publishes no procedure for releasing the lien.
• If you sell without a replacement, the basis for the visa is gone, for you and every family member you sponsor.
• Replacing the property. No official page describes moving the lien. Buy and register the new property and update the file before releasing the old one, and plan it with DLD before listing.
• Refinancing or remortgaging changes the bank position: the no-objection letter and the balance on file no longer match, and the lien still has to be respected. Speak to us before you refinance.

If the residence is cancelled, ICP’s grace period for Golden residence holders is 180 days after cancellation or expiry, so the family has time to change status. Our guide to UAE residence grace periods explains how that works.

Applying in Dubai: the DLD Golden visa service

For property in Dubai, the application is made through the Dubai Land Department’s Golden Visa application – Investor service. DLD handles the property side and the visa side as one transaction and passes the residence to GDRFA. You do not need to open a separate file at GDRFA first.

DLD’s golden visa property requirement, as published

• “The value of the property is 2 million AED, wholly owned by the investor” (one or more properties).
• “The property may be mortgaged, and a no-objection bank letter to be submitted indicating that the bank does not object to issuing a residence permit.”
• “The applicant must be inside the UAE.”
• “Only the applicant is required to attend, escorts are not allowed to apply nor to apply by a representative is permitted.”

The last two points matter for investors who live abroad. You cannot send an agent with a power of attorney to the DLD Golden service in your place, and you must be in the country. If you are outside the UAE, ICP’s entry permit for real estate investor residency (below) is the way in.

Documents DLD lists for the investor

DLD fees for the investor (published)

DLD publishes a single itemised list for the 10-year investor permit. We have added the figures and they match DLD’s stated total.

Family members are extra. DLD lists AED 5,774.50 for each family residence permit (spouse, children or parents), a family sponsorship file opening fee of AED 318.75, and AED 100 for each additional sponsored person. Health insurance, attestation of marriage and birth certificates, and any bank or developer letters are not included. Our Golden visa cost guide works through full family totals.

Service time and where to go

DLD states 7 to 10 business days. The service is delivered at the Al Manara Center (Cube), the Golden Cube, Dubai World Trade Centre (Central 1, Office No. 2), and three DLD-approved registration agents: EGSH Real Estate Registration Agent, Alyalayis Real Estate Registration Trustee Services L.L.C and Gulf Vision Real Estate Registration Agent L.L.C. DLD’s published customer journey is short:

1. The customer goes to a service centre.
2. The customer submits the service requirements and pays the fees.
3. The customer has the medical examination at the centre.
4. The residence permit is sent by email.

What GDRFA’s own card adds

GDRFA’s Issuing a golden residence permit (investors) card covers all investor types, including “Real Estate Investor”. It lists a residence permit fee of AED 1,100, AED 100 a year for years 3 to 10 (AED 800), and AED 500 when the applicant is inside the country: AED 2,400 inside. Its completion time is 5 days. These are GDRFA’s own lines for its other investor routes. On the DLD route you pay DLD’s itemised list instead, and the receipt shows the split. The card is where the lien condition and the joint-share rule are published.

Step by step: the golden visa property requirement from purchase to Emirates ID (Dubai)

This is the order that avoids repeat visits. Each step depends on the one before it.

1. Confirm the value on paper. Check your properties against their current DLD valuation (your share only, for joint property). If the total is below AED 2 million, decide now whether adding a property or the 2-year property investor visa is the realistic route.
2. Fix names. The name on every deed must match your passport. If not, correct the DLD record first; the Golden file will not.
3. Get the bank letter if any property is mortgaged, showing no objection, the amount paid and the balance. For off-plan, get the developer’s statement of account and any NOC the developer issues.
4. Buy health insurance for yourself (and the family, if you are sponsoring them) that is valid in Dubai.
5. Clear fines. Any overstay fine (AED 50 a day), traffic or other block on your file will stop the transaction. Check before the appointment.
6. Book the DLD appointment at a Cube centre or approved agent, and attend in person with the originals.
7. Pay and have the medical at the centre, as part of DLD’s service.
8. Status and cancellation. Your existing residence is cancelled and your status adjusted to the Golden residence. If you have an employer visa, plan the MOHRE and employer side first.
9. Emirates ID. Give biometrics if ICP asks for them; the 10-year Emirates ID follows. Our Emirates ID status check guide shows how to track it.
10. Family. Apply for the spouse, children and parents under your Golden file.

Applying from outside the UAE: ICP’s entry permit for the golden visa property requirement route

If you meet the golden visa property requirement but live abroad, ICP publishes a separate service: Entry Permit Issuance for Real Estate Investor Residency. ICP describes it as “a service through which a visa is issued for real estate investors to complete the procedures for obtaining the Golden Residency for a period of 10 years.”

You enter on this permit, then complete the residence inside the UAE. For a Dubai property, that is the DLD service above; for property elsewhere, it is ICP’s residence issuance. The key document is the letter from the emirate’s real estate registration department confirming ownership and value. Keep it recent, because the counter will compare it with the title deed.

Abu Dhabi: the golden visa property requirement through the Residents Office and ADREC

Abu Dhabi publishes the most detailed rules of any emirate, and they are stricter on mortgages than Dubai. The Abu Dhabi Residents Office page for real estate investors says:

• The investor “must own real estate which is/are purchased with a minimum total value of AED 2,000,000 outside a mortgage.”
• “Mortgages through national banks are permitted for real estate properties worth more than AED 2,000,000”, but the investor’s own capital must be at least AED 2 million. Its example: on an AED 5 million property, the mortgage cannot exceed AED 3 million.
• Fully owned property: a purchase agreement registered with the Department of Municipalities and Transport (DMT), or a Real Estate Unit Value Certificate, showing at least AED 2 million.
• Mortgaged property: the Real Estate Unit Value Certificate and a Search Certificate confirming there is no seizure and the value is at least AED 2 million.
• Golden visa off-plan: the purchase agreement from an approved developer and “evidence that no less than AED 2,000,000 in payments till date have been made”.
• Duration: 10 years. Residents apply through TAMM; non-residents contact the Abu Dhabi Investment Office.

Property registration in Abu Dhabi is handled by the Abu Dhabi Real Estate Centre (ADREC), part of DMT, through the DARI platform. The value certificates and search certificates above come from there. The residence itself is issued by ICP, since Abu Dhabi files are ICP files.

Sharjah and the northern emirates: the golden visa property requirement via ICP

For property in Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain, Ras Al Khaimah and Fujairah, the residence is issued by ICP, and the same federal test applies: AED 2 million, fully owned, bank finance from an approved local bank allowed, and off-plan from approved developers. The evidence is the letter from that emirate’s real estate registration department that ICP’s card asks for.

We found no published Golden visa pages from these land departments adding to the federal test. Ask the registration department what its letter will state, and check two things:

• Type of ownership. Foreign ownership may be limited to designated areas or to usufruct or long-lease rights, which are not ownership. Confirm the title type.
• Which authority will hold the file. If you live in Dubai but own property in Sharjah, the property evidence comes from Sharjah and the residence is an ICP one. Our ICP vs GDRFA guide explains the split.

Below AED 2 million: the 2-year property investor visa

If your property does not reach the golden visa property requirement, Dubai has a separate property investor visa: the Dubai Land Department’s Investor Residence Application (Taskeen). DLD describes it as a service that “enables real estate investors to apply for a residency visa linked to property ownership within the Emirate of Dubai, with the possibility to sponsor a spouse and children”.

The eligibility was relaxed in 2026. DLD’s page, checked on 23 September 2026, now says:

• 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.”

Before the change, the property investor visa required a property worth at least AED 750,000. Khaleej Times reported the change on 29 April 2026; the DLD page is the authority.

Press reports also mention a paid-up minimum for mortgaged property on the property investor visa (50% or AED 375,000). It is not on DLD’s Taskeen page, so we do not rely on it, but expect a bank letter if you have a mortgage.

Golden visa or property investor visa: which one?

The per-year figures are our arithmetic from DLD’s published totals: AED 9,884.75 over 10 years, AED 10,212.50 over 2, and AED 6,984.75 over 5. They leave out insurance and family fees. The 10-year Golden visa costs less at DLD than one 2-year property investor visa.

The Golden visa for retirees (property)

For owners aged 55 and over, DLD’s Golden Visa Application – Retiree is a third option. It gives a 5-year renewable residence to a retiree owning property “the purchase value of which is equal to or more than 1 million AED at the time of purchase”. Multiple properties can be combined. DLD’s page says that for mortgaged property the paid amount must be AED 1 million, or a bank letter must confirm a deposit locked for three years or more. Husband and wife may share one property with a certified marriage contract. The DLD total is AED 6,984.75.

Family sponsorship under the golden visa property requirement route

A Golden residence on the property route carries the same family rights as any other Golden residence. The Annex to Cabinet Resolution 65 of 2022 (Article 3) allows residence permits for family members of a Golden residence holder, “including the spouse and children, regardless of age and parents”, for a renewable period of 10 years. DLD’s investor service lists the documents for a spouse, children and parents, and the fees shown above.

Three points are specific to property files:

• The family depends on the property. If the property is sold or the lien is released, the basis for every family residence under your file goes with it.
• Housing is proven by the property itself if the family lives there, or by a registered tenancy if they live elsewhere.
• Only the investor attends DLD. DLD’s note says escorts may not apply at the same time, so family applications follow the investor’s.

The full family rules, including domestic workers, sons and daughters of any age, and what happens to the family if the holder dies, are in our Golden visa family sponsorship guide.

What you get once approved, and what you must keep

Because the six-month rule does not apply, a Golden holder does not need a re-entry permit after six months abroad. Holders of the 2-year property investor visa do, since theirs is an ordinary residence.

Costs summary for the golden visa property requirement route

This is the short version. Every line, with renewals and family totals, is in our Golden visa cost guide, and the wider fee tables are in our UAE government fees list.

What goes wrong on golden visa property requirement files

If a file has already been refused or returned, our guide on what to do when a Golden visa is rejected covers reconsideration and reapplying.

What circulates online that is not true

How to verify every figure yourself

Worked cases: the golden visa property requirement in practice

These cases are built from the situations we see most often. Names and identifying details are left out, and the figures are the published ones.

1. Two apartments, one in joint names with a spouse

An engineer owns a Dubai Marina apartment in his sole name, bought for AED 1,250,000. He also owns a JVC townhouse with his wife, bought for AED 1,900,000 and split 50/50 on the deed. He assumed the total, AED 3,150,000, was his.

On GDRFA’s share rule, what counts is his sole apartment (AED 1,250,000) plus his half of the townhouse (AED 950,000): AED 2,200,000. That meets the golden visa property requirement on these values, which the file checks against the current DLD valuation. His wife’s share is AED 950,000, so she is sponsored as his spouse rather than applying in her own right. Neither property is mortgaged, so no bank letter is needed. He attends a Cube centre in person with both title deeds.

2. A golden visa mortgaged property with a 25% deposit

A sales manager bought a Downtown apartment for AED 2,400,000 with a 25% deposit (AED 600,000) and a UAE bank mortgage. Two years of repayments have reduced the principal by about AED 90,000, so she has paid around AED 690,000. A developer’s agent told her the mortgage “no longer matters since February”.

The mortgage does not stop her file, but nothing about it is automatic. In Dubai the apartment is assessed on its current DLD valuation, which must reach AED 2 million, and the bank’s no-objection letter must state the amount paid and the outstanding balance: about AED 690,000 paid and the rest outstanding. We asked her bank for the letter in that form, checked the current valuation and prepared the DLD file. The exact documents are confirmed at application.

3. Golden visa off-plan purchase, 40% paid

An investor abroad bought two off-plan units from a RERA-registered developer for AED 1,100,000 each, a total of AED 2,200,000. He has paid 40% under the payment plan (AED 880,000), and the project is due for handover next year.

The property value for golden visa purposes is met on the contracts; the open question is payment evidence, which ICP asks for and DLD does not quantify. We got the Oqood certificates and a statement of account and asked DLD before he flew in on ICP’s AED 300 entry permit to attend in person.

4. Land plot bought cheaply: proving the property value for golden visa files

A business owner bought a residential plot in 2013 for AED 900,000. Similar plots now sell for well over AED 2 million. His title deed shows the 2013 price.

Land counts (“includes all types of properties”), and the value that counts is the current DLD valuation, not the 2013 price on the deed. We advised a DLD valuation (DLD lists 7 working days for land; confirm the residential plot fee when booking) before paying the Golden fees. The exact documents are confirmed at application.

5. A golden visa mortgaged property in Abu Dhabi

A doctor bought an Abu Dhabi villa for AED 4,500,000 with a mortgage of AED 3,000,000 from a national bank. Her equity is AED 1,500,000.

Abu Dhabi’s rule is stated plainly: AED 2 million of the investor’s own capital “outside a mortgage”, and on a AED 5 million property the mortgage cannot exceed AED 3 million. At AED 4,500,000 her mortgage can be at most AED 2,500,000, so she is AED 500,000 short. She can pay down the loan by AED 500,000, or use another Golden route. As a doctor she may qualify through a professional route; see our guide for doctors, nurses and teachers.

What we will and will not do

• We will check your deeds, Oqood, bank letters and developer statements against the DLD, GDRFA or ICP wording before you pay any government fee.
• We will tell you plainly when the published rules are silent or disagree, and what we would do in your place.
• We will book the DLD or ICP appointment, prepare the file, accompany you, and follow through to the Emirates ID and family residences.
• We will tell you when the property investor visa or another Golden route is the better answer.
• We will not promise approval. The decision is the authority’s, and the Golden visa has discretionary elements.
• We will not recommend a property purchase or advise on its investment merits. We are a PRO company, not a broker or financial adviser.

Related guides

• Golden visa eligibility 2026: every route and threshold
• Golden visa cost in Dubai
• Golden visa family sponsorship
• Golden visa salary requirement
• Golden visa nomination process
• Golden visa vs Green visa
• Golden visa rejected: what next
• UAE residence visa grace period
• UAE visa types: the complete list

Checking the property, preparing the DLD or ICP file and seeing the family residences through is what our PRO services in Dubai team handles every week.