Pillar
Visas and residence
The UAE Golden Visa: thresholds, duration and renewal
Ten years, self-sponsored, not subject to the six-month absence rule. It is the strongest permit open to a foreign investor — provided you understand which value the threshold is assessed on.
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10 years Renewable, no sponsor
- Permit duration
- 10 years
- Renewable, no sponsor
- Property route threshold
- AED 2,000,000
- Value recognised by the DLD, not the price paid
- Absence rule for standard permits
- 6 months
- The Golden Visa is not subject to it
The point almost nobody writes
The AED 2,000,000 threshold is assessed on the value recognised by the Dubai Land Department, not on the price in your contract. On the secondary market, the gap is usually small. On an off-plan property, it can be real — and it is not always in your favour. A purchase pitched to the dirham at the threshold is a purchase that can end up below it.
The Golden Visa is the only UAE residence permit that depends neither on an employer, nor on a company, nor on regular presence in the country. That is what makes it the reference permit for an international investor whose life remains partly elsewhere. Four aspects decide a file: the threshold and the value it is calculated on, the routes other than property, dependants, and what happens when the ten years are up.
If you are not yet sure it is the right permit for your situation, start with the visas and residence guide, which compares the six existing permits on duration, sponsorship and the absence rule. The Golden Visa is the long-term route among them.
The permit
What the Golden Visa is, and what it is not
It is a 10-year residence permit, renewable, issued without a sponsor: you are your own sponsor. Three practical consequences follow, and they are what justify the difference in cost from a shorter permit.
It does not fall with a company
A partner visa ends if the licence is not renewed. The Golden Visa depends on no structure, and therefore on no yearly administrative deadline other than its own.
It is not subject to the six-month absence rule
Standard permits are cancelled after six consecutive months outside the United Arab Emirates. For someone who keeps a business abroad, that is the difference between a usable permit and a theoretical one.
It lets you sponsor your family with no remaining-validity condition
Dependants’ permits are aligned on yours, which avoids the staggered expiry dates that two-year permits create.
What it is not deserves to be said just as plainly. It does not exempt you from the medical test, the Emirates ID or health insurance. It is not tax residence — a separate subject, covered on the page banking and tax in the UAE. And it opens no bridge to UAE citizenship.
Property
The property route: the threshold, and the value that counts
The route our clients take most often is property. The threshold is AED 2,000,000 of value recognised by the Dubai Land Department. Four points change the way the purchase is put together.
The recognised value is not the price paid
The DLD issues a valuation certificate. That is the document examined, not your sale contract. On a resale at market price, the two usually match. On an off-plan purchase, a unit bought with a commercial discount, or a transaction between related parties, they can diverge. We recommend having the valuation established before treating the file as secured, and allowing a margin above the threshold rather than aiming for the exact amount.
The property must be held in your own name
A property held by a company does not open the personal route. It is a trade-off to settle early: holding through a structure has advantages for succession and management, but it closes the property route to the visa. The two logics are handled together, not one after the other — see investing in Dubai property for the legal framework that applies to foreign buyers.
Joint ownership is calculated by share
Two spouses who buy an AED 2,000,000 property together do not each hold an AED 2,000,000 property. Depending on the configuration, one is the applicant and the other a dependant, which does not have the same effects if the couple separates or the applicant dies. This is a point to settle before signing, not when filing.
Mortgages and off-plan purchases remain special cases
A mortgaged property long required a minimum share of the price to be paid already; that requirement has changed. An off-plan property depends on the registration of the sale with the DLD, which does not happen at the same point with every developer. These are the two parts of the system that move most often: we check them at the time of filing, for your file.
Routes
The same permit, five routes in
Property is not the only route, and it is not always the fastest. Numerical criteria that are not settled are described here by their mechanism rather than by an amount.
| Route | What it requires | Watch point |
|---|---|---|
| Property investment | One or more properties held in your own name, with a value recognised by the Dubai Land Department of at least AED 2,000,000 | What counts is the value recognised by the DLD, never the price paid |
| Financial investment | A deposit, an approved investment fund or a stake in a UAE company, above an amount set by the authority | The vehicle must be on the list of accepted vehicles, which changes |
| Entrepreneur | A technology project or company, validated by a recognised incubator or economic authority | Validation by an approved third party is the real condition, not the company itself |
| Specialised talent | Doctor, researcher, engineer, senior executive, creative or sporting profession, on the recommendation of a competent authority | A salary or qualification level is required depending on the category |
| Outstanding pupil or student | Recognised results at an accepted institution, in the UAE or abroad | The permit is often issued for a shorter period before conversion |
Scroll the table sideways to see every column.
Family
Dependants
The holder sponsors their spouse and children, as well as a quota of domestic staff. Three practical rules are worth remembering.
- Dependants’ permits are aligned on yours. They expire with it and lapse with it. That is an argument for the long permit when a whole family is moving.
- Sponsorship requires housing with an Ejari-registered lease, or a title deed. A care-of address is not enough.
- Each dependant has their own file: medical test, biometrics, Emirates ID, health insurance. The family timeline is therefore longer than the individual one, and that is almost always what gets underestimated.
Expiry
Ten years, then renewal
The permit is renewable, but renewal is not automatic: it is a fresh examination of the condition that opened it. On the property route, that means the property must still be held, and still be worth at least the threshold at the time of review. A sale during the ten years without a replacement purchase removes the basis of the permit.
Two points often discovered too late. First, a market downturn can bring the recognised value below the threshold: that is the other reason not to buy at the exact amount. Second, the medical test and the reissue of the Emirates ID have to be done again, for you and for each dependant.
What makes a file fail
In the files we take over, failure rarely comes from the substance. It comes from a property held by a company when the personal route was intended, a recognised value lower than the price paid, an off-plan purchase whose sale was not yet registered, or a badly split joint share. None of these four causes can be fixed after the deed is signed.
Budget
What it costs, and what the costing is based on
The cost of a Golden Visa is not the amount invested: that remains your asset. The real cost is made up of the authority’s application fees, the DLD valuation certificate, the medical test, the issue of the Emirates ID, the mandatory health insurance and, where relevant, the same items for each dependant. On top of that come the costs of buying the property itself, which are of another order of magnitude and can be estimated with the property purchase costs calculator.
These fees vary with the emirate where you apply, the channel used and the make-up of the household: an order of magnitude published here would not match your file. Ask us to cost your configuration: you will receive the total line by line, for your family and your application channel.
The questions Golden Visa files raise
How much do I need to invest in property for a Golden Visa?
The value recognised by the Dubai Land Department on the property or properties must reach AED 2,000,000. It is not the price in your contract that counts, but the value the DLD recognises, established by a valuation certificate. This is a working value, to be confirmed before you commit to a purchase pitched at the threshold.
Does an off-plan property qualify for the Golden Visa?
It depends on the registration of the sale and the progress of the project, not on signing the contract. A contract signed with a developer is not enough: registration with the Dubai Land Department produces the document that is examined. Depending on the developer, that registration does not happen at the same time or at the same pace.
Can several properties be combined to reach the threshold?
Practice allows it in a number of cases, but the properties must be held on the same terms and the documents required are not the same in every configuration. A file built on combined properties needs checking beforehand; it is not an assumption on which to commit to a purchase.
Is a mortgaged property eligible?
A purchase with a mortgage long required a minimum share of the price to be paid already, and a letter from the bank was requested. That requirement has changed. It is one of the parts of the system that change most often: we check the state of the rules at the time of your application.
Does the Golden Visa lapse if I stay outside the UAE for several months?
No. This is the most important practical difference from other residence permits. A property owner visa, a partner visa or an employment visa is cancelled after six consecutive months outside the United Arab Emirates; the Golden Visa is not subject to that rule. The exact conditions remain to be confirmed with the authority for your file.
Who can I bring with me on a Golden Visa?
The spouse and children are sponsored by the holder, and a quota for domestic staff is provided for. Dependants’ permits are tied to yours: they are aligned on your expiry date and end with it. You need housing with an Ejari-registered lease and a file per person.
Does the Golden Visa exempt me from the Emirates ID and the medical test?
No. The Emirates ID card, the medical test and health insurance remain mandatory, at the start and at every renewal. The Golden Visa changes the duration and the strength of the permit, not the formalities that come with it.
Does the Golden Visa give the right to UAE citizenship?
No. They are two separate regimes and there is no automatic bridge from one to the other. UAE naturalisation comes through nomination, within a small quota, and remains exceptional for a foreign investor.
Read before you apply
Tool
Check your eligibility
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Property
Off-plan property in Dubai
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Property purchase costs
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Banking and tax in the UAE
Independent advice
Have the recognised value checked before you sign
Send us the property you own or have in mind and how it will be held. We will tell you whether the value recognised by the DLD will clear the threshold, what margin to allow, and which documents to gather before applying.