-
Services
POPULAR
BUSINESS SERVICES
VISA & RESIDENCY
DOCUMENT SERVICES
LEGAL SERVICES
EMIRATES ID
ACCOUNTING SERVICES
- Who We Are
- Resources
- Book a Consultation
Much of what circulates online about “new 2026 rules” for this route cannot be traced to any published instrument. Here is what the official pages say as of 30 September 2026.
We found no published federal circular that “retired” a cash-payment or 50%-equity rule for the Golden Visa. The current official wording is simple. ICP's Golden Residency guide says the investor must own one or more properties in the UAE worth at least AED 2,000,000 in total, registered in the investor's name, and that the property “may be financed through a loan, provided that the financing is obtained from an approved local bank.” The Dubai Land Department's service page says the property “may be mortgaged”, with a no-objection letter from the bank that states the paid amount and the balance. GDRFA Dubai's service card says “mortgaged property is acceptable.” The same DLD page also states, in its service description, that for a mortgaged property “a bank letter indicating 2 million AED paid amount as a proof” is to be provided. Neither ICP nor GDRFA Dubai publishes a paid-up figure — so if you file in Dubai and have paid less than AED 2 million towards the property, ask DLD whether your file will be accepted before you pay the fees.
What did happen: on 11 April 2026 GDRFA Dubai and the Dubai Land Department signed a memorandum of understanding to transfer three property-linked residency services — the Golden Residency, the Retiree Residency and the Property Residency — into the GDRFA Dubai system, so that customers deal with a single channel. The Dubai Media Office announcement gives no go-live date and no processing-time target. The two published timings today are 5 days on the GDRFA Dubai service card and 7–10 business days on the DLD service page.
For day-to-day purposes, the DLD, GDRFA Dubai and ICP service pages are what the counter works from — check them on the day you apply.
The official pages do not describe the AED 2 million figure in the same words. The DLD service page speaks of a property whose purchase value was AED 2 million or more at the time of purchase. The GDRFA Dubai service card says the value “must be certified by a property status statement certificate issued by the Dubai Land Department” and adds that a valuation certificate from an office licensed by DLD may be accepted. Either way the number comes from a DLD document, not from a broker's estimate — so if your purchase price and today's market value sit on opposite sides of AED 2 million, ask DLD which figure it will use before you pay the fees.
This is also where multi-property aggregation comes in. You can combine units to reach AED 2 million: DLD says “one or more properties” under the applicant's name, and GDRFA Dubai says “a property or a group of properties” with a total value of at least AED 2 million. The properties must be registered in your own name — an unregistered reservation does not count.
Don’t want to figure this out alone? Sarmat is a KHDA-certified training provider and registered typing centre in Deira, Dubai. Message us on WhatsApp — we answer questions like this every day.
Brokerage write-ups tend to cover one or two property scenarios. Buyers actually face four overlapping dimensions: ready vs off-plan, cash vs mortgaged, single vs portfolio, and sole vs joint ownership. Here is what the official pages say about each.
The cleanest case. Title deed in your name, value at or above AED 2 million on the DLD document, no mortgage, no co-owner. In Dubai the application is filed as the DLD “Golden Visa application – Investor” service or as the GDRFA Dubai “golden residence permit (investors)” service. Note that the GDRFA card requires a lien on the property “to ensure the continuity of ownership throughout the validity of the Golden Residency”.
Eligible, with a condition on the Dubai side. DLD's service page says the property “may be mortgaged” and asks for a no-objection letter from the bank stating that the bank does not object to a residence permit being issued on the property, and showing the paid amount and the balance. ICP's guide adds that the loan must come from an approved local bank. DLD's service description adds that for a mortgaged property the bank letter must indicate “2 million AED paid amount as a proof”. ICP and GDRFA Dubai publish no paid-up figure. If you have paid less than AED 2 million towards the property, ask DLD before you apply. Banks set their own fee and turnaround for the letter — ask yours before you book.
The federal and Dubai pages differ here. ICP's Golden Residency guide accepts off-plan units with a total value of at least AED 2,000,000, provided they are bought from an approved local real estate company. The DLD and GDRFA Dubai service pages do not mention off-plan at all: DLD's document list asks for an e-Certificate of Title or title deed, and GDRFA asks for a DLD-issued property status statement. If all you hold is an Oqood (initial sale registration), confirm with DLD which document it will accept for your unit before you apply.
We could not find a published exception for spouses. The GDRFA Dubai card has one rule for jointly owned property — “the value of the share must not be less than AED 2 million” — and DLD's page says the property must be “wholly owned by the investor”. If you hold the property jointly with your spouse and your own share is below AED 2 million, ask DLD before you apply. To sponsor your spouse on your Golden Visa you will need the marriage certificate, and a foreign certificate must be attested for use in the UAE — the origin-country attestation chain, then UAE MOFA (the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, formerly MOFAIC).
GDRFA Dubai's card says that where ownership is a share in a joint property, the value of the share must not be less than AED 2 million. Two friends co-buying a AED 3M apartment do not both get a Golden Visa from that single property.
Combining is allowed: DLD's page says “one or more properties” under the applicant's name, and GDRFA Dubai's card says “a property or a group of properties with a total value of no less than AED 2 million”. Neither page publishes further conditions for a portfolio. In our experience at the counter, a problem on any one title can hold up the whole file — we've seen aggregations refused because one of three units had an unresolved service-charge dispute logged against the title.
Three authorities publish rules for this route. They are not three counters you queue through one after another.
Because the transfer to GDRFA Dubai has been announced but no completion date has been published, check both the DLD and the GDRFA Dubai service pages on the day you apply to see which channel is taking applications.
Setting aside the property itself, the Dubai Land Department publishes an itemised total of AED 9,884.75 for the 10-year investor Golden Visa: medical examination AED 700, Emirates ID AED 1,153, residency AED 2,856.75, DLD fees AED 4,020 and administrative fees AED 1,155. GDRFA Dubai's own service card lists a residence permit fee of AED 1,100, plus AED 10 Knowledge Dirham, AED 10 Innovation Dirham, an AED 500 fee for applications made inside the country and AED 20 delivery, and notes that the issuance fee increases by AED 100 a year when the residency is longer than two years. Dependants, health insurance, the bank's fee for a no-objection letter and any attestation of foreign documents come on top.
This is also where the decision to handle it yourself or hand it off to a typing centre starts to matter — fees scale slowly, but rejections are expensive in time, and every rework restarts the clock.
The eligibility criteria look simple. The rejections cluster around document hygiene.
According to ICP's Golden Residency guide, a Golden Visa holder can obtain residence permits for a spouse and children regardless of their age, and for parents, and can sponsor domestic workers “in accordance with the applicable regulations and procedures in the UAE”. The ICP guide does not state a number of domestic workers, so we do not quote one here. DLD's service page lists marriage and birth certificates and health insurance among the family documents. Filing dependants alongside the primary application avoids a second round of visits.
Sarmat is a KHDA-certified training provider and Dubai typing centre with twelve-plus years processing UAE government files and 5,000+ clients on record. Our Government Relations team has handled 500+ visa files, Golden Visa files on the property and salary routes among them. We see two profiles at the counter: applicants who self-file, hit a rejection on a stale NOC or a deed mismatch, and come in three weeks behind schedule — and applicants who hand the file to a PRO and arrive with every document already checked. Both can work. Only one is predictable.
If you're a professional looking to do this work yourself — for your own portfolio, your employer's foreign hires, or as a paid service — our Certified PRO Program is a three-day KHDA-certified course; Golden Visa Application is one of the 15 topics in its Immigration & Visa Services module, alongside the ICP and GDRFA portal work. AED 2,890 with Tamara/Tabby instalments available, three months of mentorship after the course. If you're weighing that route, our golden visa specialist guide shows what the work looks like file by file.
It depends on which page you read. ICP's federal Golden Residency guide accepts off-plan units worth at least AED 2,000,000 in total when bought from an approved local real estate company. The Dubai Land Department and GDRFA Dubai service pages do not mention off-plan, and DLD's document list asks for an e-Certificate of Title or title deed. If you only hold an Oqood registration, confirm with DLD which document it will accept before you apply.
Yes. DLD's service page says the property may be mortgaged, with a no-objection letter from the bank that shows the paid amount and the balance. ICP's guide says the loan must come from an approved local bank, and GDRFA Dubai's card says mortgaged property is acceptable. DLD's service description also says that for a mortgaged property the bank letter must indicate a paid amount of AED 2 million; ICP and GDRFA Dubai publish no paid-up figure. We found no federal circular changing the rule in 2026.
You can combine. DLD's service page refers to one or more properties under the applicant's name, GDRFA Dubai's card to a property or a group of properties with a total value of no less than AED 2 million, and ICP's guide to one or more properties with a total value of at least AED 2,000,000.
In Dubai the application is filed through the Dubai Land Department's Golden Visa application (Investor) service or GDRFA Dubai's golden residence permit (investors) service. On 11 April 2026 the two signed a memorandum of understanding to move the property-linked residency services into the GDRFA Dubai system; no go-live date has been published. ICP publishes the federal criteria and issues the Emirates ID.
The official pages word it differently. DLD's service page refers to a purchase value of AED 2 million or more at the time of purchase. GDRFA Dubai's card says the value must be certified by a property status statement issued by DLD, and that a valuation certificate from a DLD-licensed office may be accepted. If your purchase price and current value fall on opposite sides of AED 2 million, ask DLD which figure it will use.
DLD's service page gives 7 to 10 business days. GDRFA Dubai's service card gives 5 days. Add time for the bank's no-objection letter on a mortgaged property and for attesting any foreign family documents.
Yes. ICP's Golden Residency guide says the holder can obtain residence permits for a spouse and children regardless of age, and for parents, and can sponsor domestic workers in accordance with the applicable UAE regulations and procedures. The guide does not state a number of domestic workers. File dependants alongside the primary application to avoid repeat visits.
Helping individuals and businesses navigate UAE government procedures with precision and ease.Based in Dubai. Local experts. Government-compliant.
Proudly based in Dubai