Golden visa cost: how much a UAE golden visa through property costs, step by step (2026)

The golden visa cost through Dubai property is mostly the property: at least AED 2 million, plus the 4% Dubai Land Department registration fee. The visa itself is far smaller. The Dubai Land Department's golden visa service lists AED 9,884.75 for the main applicant, and family members are charged on top.

This guide is about the money: what you pay, to whom and in what order. Who qualifies, how the AED 2 million is measured, how off-plan and mortgaged property are treated and what the visa gives you are covered in our guide to the golden visa through UAE property. Read that first if you are not sure your property qualifies.

All amounts here are as the Dubai Land Department (DLD), GDRFA Dubai and ICP state them on their service pages, checked on 5 November 2026. Government fees change, so confirm the total at the counter before you pay.

The property must be worth at least AED 2 million, and buying it carries the same costs as any Dubai purchase. The largest is the 4% Dubai Land Department registration fee: AED 80,000 on an AED 2,000,000 home.

The 4% is set by Executive Council Resolution No. 30 of 2013 and is paid once, when the sale is registered. On an off-plan home the developer collects it at booking and registers the sale on Oqood. It is not charged again for the visa, and it is separate from the AED 4,020 Land Department fee inside the visa total.

What else you pay depends on how you buy:

Every line is explained, with worked examples, in our guides to the DLD fee and to the true cost of buying off-plan in Dubai. If you are still choosing a home, our AED 2m to 3m and AED 3m to 5m budget pages list projects at those prices.

Leave a margin above AED 2 million. The value is tested by the authorities, not by the brochure. A home bought at exactly the threshold leaves no room if the value comes in lower. The eligibility guide explains how the value is measured.

Not always, but it is the cheapest insurance in the process. GDRFA Dubai's service card says a property valuation certificate from a Dubai Land Department-licensed office may be accepted to confirm the value, and a valuation tells you before you apply whether you clear AED 2 million.

The Dubai Land Department's own property valuation service lists these fees:

For an apartment, that is AED 4,020 to the Land Department plus the partner fee if you apply through a centre. You need a request form, a letter from the owner with a passport or Emirates ID copy, a municipality or planning map and recent photographs. The output is a Real Estate Evaluation e-Certificate sent by email.

Banks also commission valuations when you borrow. If you have a mortgage, ask whether its valuation can be used, and what the bank charges for it.

You have to be in the country. The Dubai Land Department's service requires the applicant to be inside the UAE and attend in person; representatives are not accepted.

If you do not already hold a UAE residence visa or a visit visa that covers the time you need, ICP issues a six-month multiple-entry permit for golden visa applicants, which lets you enter, complete the medical, biometrics and paperwork, and leave and return during that period. It can be extended once for a similar period.

The fee for this permit has been revised since it was introduced. Check the current fee with ICP through its smart services before you apply. Plan your trip around the Land Department's stated service time of 7 to 10 business days, plus the time for the medical examination.

The Dubai Land Department's golden visa (investor) service lists five fee lines for the main applicant's ten-year residence permit, totalling AED 9,884.75.

How you pay. The department accepts bank transfer, credit card or cash.

Where you apply. At a Dubai Land Department service centre: the Al Manara Center (known as the Cube), the Golden Cube, a golden-visa-only office at Dubai World Trade Centre, or one of the department's registration agents. Opening hours differ by centre.

What happens. You visit the centre, submit the documents and pay; you do the medical examination at the centre; the residence permit is sent to you by email. The department gives 7 to 10 business days as the service time.

Documents for the main applicant. Your passport, the e-certificate of title or title deed, a personal photograph, and your UAE ID and current residence permit if you have them. If the property is mortgaged, a no objection letter from the bank showing the amount paid and the balance.

Each family member is charged separately. The Dubai Land Department lists AED 5,774.50 for a ten-year residence permit for each family member, the same for each parent, and an additional AED 100 for each sponsored person. Opening the family sponsorship file costs AED 318.75, once.

Worked examples

Adding those lines as published gives the following issuing fees by household. These are our sums of the published fee lines, not a quotation, and they leave out the valuation, insurance and private charges.

• Main applicant only: AED 9,884.75.
• Applicant and spouse: AED 9,884.75 + AED 318.75 + AED 5,774.50 + AED 100 = AED 16,078.00.
• Applicant, spouse and two children: AED 9,884.75 + AED 318.75 + 3 × (AED 5,774.50 + AED 100) = AED 27,827.00.
• Each parent added: a further AED 5,874.50.

Ask what the family fee includes. The page lists the family residence permit as one line. Before you pay, ask the centre whether each dependant's medical examination and Emirates ID are included in it, or charged separately.

Documents for family members cost money too. The department asks for a certified marriage contract and certified birth certificates for children, a notarised no objection letter from the father where the mother is the sponsor, an undertaking that children over 18 are unmarried, health insurance and an IBAN. For parents, a certified dependency certificate from the consulate and a certified birth certificate. Documents issued abroad usually need attestation, and translation into Arabic, which carry their own charges in each country.

Health insurance is a required document in the family and parent files on the Dubai Land Department's page. The premium depends on the insurer, the cover, each person's age and any existing conditions, so the price is on request from your insurer.

Buy cover that meets Dubai's requirements for residents, and check that it starts before you submit the family file. For parents in particular, premiums can be a significant part of the cost of sponsoring them, so get quotes early.

They describe different things. The Dubai Land Department lists a full package for property investors at its centres, including the medical and Emirates ID. GDRFA Dubai's golden residence service card for investors lists the residence permit fees on their own.

The GDRFA card lists a residence permit fee of AED 1,100, AED 10 Knowledge Dirham, AED 10 Innovation Dirham, AED 500 for applying inside the country and AED 20 for delivery. It adds that the issuance fee increases by AED 100 for each year when the residency is longer than two years. It gives 5 working days as the expected time, and accepts real estate applications through accredited centres.

The practical point: whichever door you go through, ask for a written total covering everything you will pay that day, for you and for each family member. Do not add the two lists together.

A mortgage adds paperwork, not a visa fee. The Dubai Land Department's service accepts mortgaged property with a no objection letter from the bank showing the amount paid and the balance. Ask your bank what it charges for that letter.

GDRFA Dubai's service card says that, for the real estate route, a lien is placed on the property for the duration of the permit following Land Department procedures, and that the property cannot be disposed of during the ten-year period. Ask the centre whether any fee applies to registering or later releasing that restriction, and what happens to the visa if you sell.

How mortgaged, jointly owned and off-plan property count towards the AED 2 million is covered in our eligibility guide. If you are still borrowing to buy, our guide to off-plan mortgages in the UAE covers the bank side.

The permit runs for ten years, according to the Dubai Land Department and GDRFA Dubai, and can be renewed if the same conditions are still met. The renewal fee is set when you apply, so check the current fee with GDRFA Dubai or the Dubai Land Department a few months before expiry.

Plan for the renewal to repeat most of the original costs for each family member: a medical examination where required, Emirates ID and the residence permit fee. Your property must still meet the conditions at that date.

Put the steps together and the visa is a small part of the total. The table below takes a single applicant buying an off-plan apartment at AED 2,000,000 directly from a developer, with a valuation and no family members.

Before handover, an off-plan buyer pays the price in instalments, so the timing of the visa depends on when the authorities accept your file. The eligibility guide covers how off-plan property is assessed. If you add a spouse and two children, the visa line rises from AED 9,884.75 to AED 27,827.00 by our addition of the published fees, and health insurance is added for each dependant.

Most avoidable costs come from applying before the file is ready. These are the common ones:

• A value too close to AED 2 million. If the value is tested below the threshold, the application fails and fees already spent on documents and travel are lost. A valuation first costs far less.
• Joint ownership without a check. GDRFA Dubai's service card says that for jointly owned property the investor's own share must be worth at least AED 2 million. Buying jointly at AED 2 million leaves each owner short.
• Unattested family documents. A marriage or birth certificate that has not been certified and attested has to be sent back to the issuing country, which costs time and courier fees.
• No insurance in place. The family file needs health insurance; arranging it at the counter can delay the application.
• Travelling without an entry plan. If you apply from abroad without the right entry permit, you may have to leave and come back.
• Paying for a service you do not need. The Dubai Land Department's centres handle the property route directly. If you use an agent, know what it will do that the centre would not.

Several costs sit outside the official fee lists. None of them is fixed, so ask for quotes before you start.

• Typing and service centres. Private centres charge their own service fees for preparing applications.
• Agents and consultants. Optional. If you use one, agree the fee in writing and check what it covers.
• Attestation and translation. For marriage, birth and dependency documents issued abroad.
• Photographs and courier. Small, but they add up for a family.
• Travel. If you apply from abroad, the trip and the time in Dubai.

Before you pay anything, confirm each of these:

1. The property is worth at least AED 2 million, with a margin, and is registered in your name.
2. You know the 4% DLD fee and other purchase costs, and they are paid.
3. You have a valuation if your value is close to the threshold.
4. You will be in the UAE for the application, or have an entry permit, with the current ICP fee checked.
5. You have a written total from the centre for the main applicant and each family member.
6. Family documents are certified, attested and translated where needed.
7. Health insurance for dependants is in place.
8. If the property is mortgaged, the bank's letter is ready.
9. You understand the lien and the conditions for keeping the property during the permit.
10. You have noted the renewal date.

The eligibility rules, the threshold and what the visa allows are in our golden visa through UAE property guide. Foreign ownership rules are in can foreigners buy property in the UAE?. Tell us your budget and family size, and we will send homes above AED 2 million that fit, with today's prices and payment plans checked for each.