Retiring in Dubai: property, the retirement visa and mortgages after 60 (2026)

To retire in Dubai you need three things: a residence visa that does not depend on a job, a home, and health insurance. The UAE retirement visa covers the first, and owning property can be the way you qualify for it.

The retirement visa is a five-year, renewable residence permit for retired foreigners. In Dubai it is issued by the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs (GDRFA Dubai). You sponsor yourself, so you need no employer and no relative as sponsor.

This guide covers the visa criteria as the official pages state them, how a property purchase fits, the golden visa as an alternative, health insurance, running costs, buying off-plan in retirement and borrowing after 60. It is not personal immigration or financial advice; confirm your own case with GDRFA Dubai and your bank.

GDRFA Dubai lists two personal conditions and one financial condition. You must have worked for at least 15 years before retiring, inside or outside the UAE, and be 55 or older. You must then meet one of the financial conditions below.

The federal wording differs slightly. The u.ae page, updated 28 July 2026, gives an annual income of AED 180,000 as the general figure and AED 240,000 for an application from Dubai. Its property option reads as property of no less than AED 1 million and savings of no less than AED 1 million. ICP's service page says 15 years of service or age 55, and property or a deposit of AED 1 million.

Because the three pages are not worded the same, treat GDRFA Dubai's service page as the reference for a Dubai application and ask it to confirm your case before you buy. The income figure of AED 240,000 a year works out at AED 20,000 a month.

The property route in detail

Property is the route most buyers ask about, because one purchase can both house you and qualify you. These are the points that decide it.

• The value is assessed. GDRFA Dubai accepts the purchase or market value as assessed by the competent authority. In Dubai that is the Dubai Land Department, which offers a property valuation service.
• More than one property can count. The criterion is one or more properties worth at least AED 1,000,000 in total.
• A mortgage reduces what counts. A mortgaged title deed is accepted only if the amount paid to release the mortgage is at least AED 1,000,000 at the time you apply.
• Off-plan homes. The official pages do not say whether a home still on the Oqood register counts. Ask GDRFA Dubai before you rely on an off-plan home for this visa.

The deposit and income routes

If your money is in savings rather than property, the deposit route needs AED 1,000,000 in a UAE financial institution, transferred within 60 days of the residence being issued. If you have a pension, the income route needs AED 240,000 a year in Dubai, supported by six months of bank statements.

These routes matter to buyers too. They let you hold residency while an off-plan home is being built, and they let you buy a cheaper home than AED 1 million and still qualify.

If your home is worth AED 2 million or more, the golden visa through property is usually the stronger choice. It lasts ten years instead of five, does not require you to be 55 or retired, and off-plan property qualifies on the Oqood registration. Below AED 2 million, the retirement visa is the property route open to you.

Our guide to the golden visa through UAE property explains the AED 2 million test in depth, including how valuations, mortgages and joint ownership are treated. The fees, from valuation to family members, are in golden visa cost.

You apply to GDRFA Dubai online, through its smart app, at a Customer Happiness Centre or at an Amer centre. GDRFA Dubai gives the expected processing time as 48 hours.

Documents. ICP's list for the retiree permit includes a passport valid for at least six months, a personal photo, a water or electricity bill, a certificate confirming retirement and the length of service, proof of property ownership or a valuation, a bank certificate for income where relevant, and valid health insurance. GDRFA Dubai lists the documents for each route as set out in the table above.

Fees. GDRFA Dubai lists a residence permit fee of AED 200, a Knowledge Dirham of AED 10, an Innovation Dirham of AED 10, AED 500 if you apply from inside the country and AED 20 for delivery. It adds AED 100 to the issuance fee for each year the residency exceeds two years. Medical examination and Emirates ID charges are separate; check the current amounts with GDRFA Dubai.

Renewal. The permit runs for five years and is renewed on the same terms, so you must still meet a financial condition when you renew. GDRFA Dubai gives a 60-day grace period after expiry or cancellation.

Family. The retiree service pages do not set out sponsorship of a spouse or children. Ask GDRFA Dubai how your family can be sponsored before you plan the move. The golden visa allows family sponsorship, as our golden visa guide explains.

Health insurance is compulsory for residents of Dubai under Law No. 11 of 2013, and valid health insurance is on ICP's document list for the retiree permit. The Dubai scheme that enforces it is called ISAHD; its circulars say visas are not issued or renewed without cover in place.

An employee's insurance is paid by the employer. A retiree is self-sponsored, so you choose and pay for your own policy. The minimum level of cover in Dubai is the Essential Benefits Plan set by the Dubai Health Authority, and many insurers sell wider plans on top.

Premiums depend on age, health and the plan. Get written quotes before you commit to a purchase, check whether pre-existing conditions are covered and from when, and ask how the premium changes as you get older.

Owning removes the rent, but not the running costs. These are the ones that apply to every owner-occupier, with our guides for the detail.

Service charges vary more than any other line. A villa community with large shared grounds and a tower with a gym, pool and concierge charge very differently. Check the approved rate for a completed building nearby before you buy off-plan, because a new building has no approved budget until it is finished.

For the one-off costs of buying, from the 4% Dubai Land Department fee to registration and agency, see the true cost of buying off-plan in Dubai. For taxes on property, see property tax in Dubai.

Yes. Foreign buyers of any age can buy off-plan in Dubai's freehold areas, and the purchase is registered on the Dubai Land Department's Oqood register. Payments go into the project's escrow account, which our guide to Dubai's escrow law explains.

What changes in retirement is the timing. An off-plan home might hand over two to four years after you buy, and you need a visa and a place to live in between.

Plan the visa around the handover. If GDRFA Dubai confirms an off-plan home does not count for the retirement visa, the deposit or income route can carry you until handover, when the home's value can take over. If your home will be worth AED 2 million or more, the golden visa accepts an off-plan home on the Oqood registration.

Match the payment plan to fixed income. A pension does not rise with a developer's instalment schedule. Compare plans with the payment plan calculator, and look at post-handover payment plans, where part of the price is paid after you move in.

Choose the home for the next twenty years. Lifts, step-free access, a ground-floor bedroom in a townhouse, shade, and the distance to a hospital and to shops matter more than a view. Browse townhouses, villas and apartments, or search by budget, for example AED 1 to 2 million or AED 2 to 3 million.

Check the developer and the project. Use the Dubai Land Department's Project Status service and our guide to checking an off-plan project and developer. Our buying off-plan step by step guide covers the purchase itself.

Yes, from banks that lend to older borrowers, but the bank decides how long the loan can run. The Central Bank's mortgage regulations set minimum standards that every lender must follow and let each bank apply stricter limits.

The age limit is the bank's. The regulations cap the term at 25 years and say the maximum age at the last repayment is set by each lender under its own risk policy. So a 62-year-old's term depends on which bank they ask.

Retirement income is tested. Where the repayment schedule runs beyond your expected retirement age, the bank must make sure the balance outstanding at that point can be serviced at a debt burden ratio of 50% of your post-retirement income. Repayments must come from salary, verifiable business income or rent; end-of-service benefit is not allowed as the source.

Loan-to-value caps. For an expatriate, the maximum is 80% on a first completed home under AED 5 million, 70% above AED 5 million and 60% on a second home or investment property. On property bought off-plan it is 50% for every buyer. The loan cannot exceed seven times annual income for an expatriate.

Mortgages and the visas interact. For the retirement visa, a mortgaged home counts only once AED 1,000,000 of the loan is paid off. For the golden visa, only your equity counts. A large mortgage can therefore leave you with a home but without the visa it was meant to support.

Try figures in our mortgage calculator, and read off-plan mortgages in the UAE and EIBOR and UAE mortgage rates for the detail.

These examples apply the official rules to simple cases. The prices are illustrative, not quotes for any project.

A retiree buying a completed AED 1.2 million apartment with cash. The home is worth more than AED 1,000,000, so it meets the property condition once its value is accepted. The golden visa is not available, because the home is below AED 2 million. Visa: the five-year retirement visa.

A retiree buying a completed AED 1.5 million townhouse with an 80% mortgage. The loan is AED 1.2 million and the equity AED 300,000. The home does not yet count for the retirement visa, because AED 1,000,000 of the mortgage has not been paid off. This buyer needs the deposit or income route until the paid-off amount reaches AED 1,000,000.

A couple buying an off-plan AED 2.2 million villa on a payment plan. The home is above AED 2 million and off-plan property qualifies for the golden visa on its Oqood registration, subject to the Dubai Land Department's valuation. That gives ten years of residency without a retirement test. Our golden visa guide explains why buying with headroom above AED 2 million matters.

1. Confirm the visa route first. Ask GDRFA Dubai whether your service record, age and chosen financial condition qualify, and whether an off-plan home counts.
2. Decide between the retirement visa and the golden visa. At AED 2 million or more, compare the ten-year option.
3. Get health insurance quotes for your age before you commit to a purchase.
4. Value the home. Use the Dubai Land Department's valuation service if the price is close to AED 1 million or AED 2 million.
5. Check the running costs: the service charge rate, DEWA and district cooling, and the housing fee.
6. If you borrow, ask the bank its age limit and how it will treat your pension income.
7. Match the payment plan to your income, and check the handover date against your visa timing.
8. Plan renewal. You must meet a financial condition again every five years.

• The ten-year option: golden visa through UAE property and golden visa cost.
• Can you own here at all: can foreigners buy property in the UAE.
• Where to live: Dubai's areas and districts and new areas in Dubai.
• Homes on sale now: all projects and new launches.