Dubai Mortgage for Non-Residents Insights

A Dubai mortgage for non-residents is usually explained as a deposit question. Put down the 40 per cent the market commonly quotes, borrow the rest, and the purchase completes. The number that actually decides most of these purchases is a different one, and it sits on a Dubai Land Department web page rather than in a bank's product sheet.

If the property is mortgaged, the Land Department wants to see two million dirhams paid, not two million dirhams owned. That single word changes the size of the property you need to buy. It is the catch in the middle of an otherwise simple product, and a loan moves the threshold rather than lowering it.

Who actually sets the limit for a non-resident?

The UAE Central Bank publishes Regulations Regarding Mortgage Loans, and Article 3 is the one lenders work from. It is specific about who it covers.

The article uses two categories and two only: "UAE Nationals" and "Expatriates". For a national buying a first home the maximum is 85 per cent of value at or below five million dirhams and 75 per cent above it. For an expatriate the equivalent rows read 80 per cent below five million and 70 per cent above it. A second or subsequent property, which the regulation heads "Second and Subsequent House or Investment Property", drops to 65 per cent for nationals and 60 per cent for expatriates regardless of value. The maximum term is 25 years, and an expatriate may borrow up to seven years of annual income.

Now notice what the text does not do. It never defines "Expatriates", and the words "resident" and "non-resident" do not appear in the article at all. Whether a buyer living abroad falls inside the expatriate rows is a question the regulation leaves open. So the 40 or 50 per cent quoted to such a buyer is commercial policy rather than a published ceiling, and each bank answers it for itself.

That is the practical point. The forty or 50 per cent a bank quotes a buyer living abroad is not a published ceiling. It is a commercial policy, set by that bank, for that applicant, in that currency, and policies differ between institutions.

One category is worth keeping in view: a purchase made to let sits in the "Second and Subsequent House or Investment Property" row on its own terms, whoever makes it. Our Dubai mortgage page sets out the terms currently available to buyers living abroad.

The open question has a second consequence. The seven-years-of-income test is written into the expatriate row, and if a bank does not treat a buyer living abroad as falling there, the equivalent affordability test is the bank's own. That is why two lenders can look at the same income and reach different answers about the same flat.

One rule does reach every purchaser. Under the same article, property bought off-plan carries a maximum loan-to-value of 50 per cent, "regardless of purpose, value, or category of purchaser".

What does the state charge on a mortgaged purchase?

These are the rates the Land Department publishes on its page for registering the sale of a mortgaged property, the service that covers a sale where a mortgage is involved. They are separate from anything the bank charges you.

• Transfer fee. Amount: 4 per cent of the sale value. On a four million dirham purchase with a two million loan: 160,000 dirhams.
• Mortgage registration. Amount: 0.25 per cent of the mortgage value. On a four million dirham purchase with a two million loan: 5,000 dirhams.
• Registrar fee, sale at 500,000 dirhams or above. Amount: 4,200 dirhams. On a four million dirham purchase with a two million loan: exempt where the mortgage is registered the same day.
• Base service fee. Amount: 1,000 dirhams. On a four million dirham purchase with a two million loan: 1,000 dirhams.
• Innovation fee. Amount: 525 dirhams, as the page prints it. On a four million dirham purchase with a two million loan: 525 dirhams.
• Title deed. Amount: 250 dirhams. On a four million dirham purchase with a two million loan: 250 dirhams.
• Knowledge fee. Amount: 10 dirhams. On a four million dirham purchase with a two million loan: 10 dirhams.
• **Total. Amount: . On a four million dirham purchase with a two million loan: 166,785 dirhams**.

Figures are as published by the Dubai Land Department, read on 27 September 2026. The right-hand column is our own calculation from those rates.

The page notes that the registrar's fee is exempted where the mortgage is registered on the same day as the sale. Where it is not, a service partners fee of 4,000 dirhams plus VAT applies instead, bringing the total to about 170,985 dirhams. Where the seller's own mortgage has to be released first, the page adds 1,290 dirhams for the release procedure and 315 for the registrar. The department gives 15 to 20 minutes for the counter transaction itself.

Two things follow. The transfer fee is charged on the whole purchase price, not on the part you paid for in cash, so borrowing does not shrink it. And none of these charges is covered by the mortgage. On the purchase above, a buyer needs two million dirhams of deposit plus about 167,000 dirhams of state charges. That is before any bank, agency or valuation fee enters the picture, and our UAE buying guide sets those out. That is a little over 54 per cent of the price, in cash, on a purchase described as 50 per cent financed.

Can you get the Golden Visa on a mortgaged property?

The Land Department's own Golden Visa service page states the property condition as "the value of the property is 2 million AED, wholly owned by the investor (one or more properties)". For a mortgaged property the description asks for "a bank letter indicating 2 million AED paid amount as a proof to be provided". The service terms put it differently. They ask for "a no-objection bank letter ... indicating that the bank does not object to issuing a residence permit on the property, indicating the paid amount and the balance".

A two million dirham flat bought with a one million dirham loan has one million dirhams paid against it, and a letter stating a paid amount of two million cannot be written for it.

Note what the letter states, though: the paid amount and the balance, as they stand when it is written. That is a running figure, and mortgage repayments increase it. So there are two ways to reach the threshold on a mortgaged property, not one. Buy larger, or pay the loan down until the paid amount reaches two million. The page does not say whether the Land Department measures the paid amount at completion or at the date of application, and that is worth confirming before either route is chosen.

The permit itself is a ten-year renewable residence permit, and the page lists total fees of 9,884.75 dirhams for the investor's own permit, with a processing time of seven to ten business days. Sponsored family members are charged separately: the page lists 5,774.50 dirhams for a ten-year family permit, 318.75 to open the sponsorship file and 100 dirhams for each sponsored person.

Two further terms matter more to a buyer living abroad than anything in the fee list. Term three reads "The applicant must be inside the UAE." The page adds that "only the applicant is required to attend", and that applying through a representative is not permitted. This step cannot be delegated to an agent or handled under a power of attorney. Our guide to the Golden Visa against the two-year investor visa sets out which of the two fits which buyer.

How much property do you need if you borrow?

The arithmetic is simple once the rule is clear. The paid share of the price has to reach two million dirhams, so the price you need rises as the loan rises.

• 40 per cent. Share you pay: 60 per cent. Minimum price to reach 2m dirhams paid at completion: about 3,334,000 dirhams.
• 50 per cent. Share you pay: 50 per cent. Minimum price to reach 2m dirhams paid at completion: 4,000,000 dirhams.
• 60 per cent. Share you pay: 40 per cent. Minimum price to reach 2m dirhams paid at completion: 5,000,000 dirhams.

Prices are our own calculation from the Land Department's two million dirham paid-amount condition, read on 27 September 2026. The three rates are illustrations rather than published ceilings, because a non-resident's rate is set by the bank. The table also assumes the paid amount is measured at completion; a buyer who pays the loan down reaches the same threshold from a smaller property.

So the loan changes more than the interest bill. Borrowing 60 per cent on a two million dirham flat leaves you, on completion, with a property, an interest bill and a paid amount of 800,000 dirhams. Put the same cash against both routes. A buyer holding the two million dirhams of paid share plus the 166,785 dirhams of charges, about 2,167,000 dirhams, could instead pay outright for a two million dirham flat and cover its charges. That buyer qualifies for the visa on a property they own free of any loan. The same cash, used as the paid share on a four million dirham purchase with a 50 per cent loan, also qualifies, on a property of twice the price. What it also leaves them with is an interest bill, a bank with a charge over the title and a rental income that now has to service a loan.

Which of those is right depends on what you came for. If the visa is the point, the cash you can commit sets the floor under your search before any bank does. That floor is what our Dubai listings should be filtered to before a search begins.

What documents will you be asked for?

The Land Department and the bank ask for different things, and the order matters.

• Passport and, for the visa application, the documents the Golden Visa service page lists
• Proof of the source and transfer of the funds you are paying with
• The bank's own income and liability evidence, which varies by institution
• A valuation instructed by the bank, on the property you have agreed to buy
• For the visa on a mortgaged property, the bank letter stating the paid amount and the separate no-objection letter
• The title deed, issued once the transfer is registered

Whether the paid-amount proof and the no-objection letter are one document or two depends on what the bank issues and what the counter accepts. That is a question for the lender and the trustee centre rather than something to assume.

In what order should the loan, the purchase and the visa be done?

1. 1.The visa decision comes first. It sets the minimum price once the loan is known, and the threshold is expensive to discover after a deposit has been paid.
2. 2.The bank's number comes before the price. A non-resident ceiling is bank policy, so the figure differs by institution and by currency of income.
3. 3.Add the state charges to the cash column. 4 per cent of the whole price plus the registration items, none of which the loan covers.
4. 4.Agree the sale and instruct the valuation. The bank lends against the valuation, not the agreed price, and a shortfall lands in your cash column.
5. 5.Register the transfer and the mortgage together. The Land Department registers the sale of a mortgaged property as one procedure.
6. 6.The bank letter comes before the visa application. Whatever form the lender issues it in, it has to state the paid amount.

Our guide to buying in Dubai covers the market side of the decision.

Before you commit the cash

A mortgage in Dubai is registered for 0.25 per cent of the loan, and the planning around it costs far more than that. It does not reduce the transfer fee and it does not qualify for the visa on its own. It raises the price of the property you need if the visa matters to you, and our Dubai Golden Visa page sets that floor out in full. SmartDecision Properties sets out the price a client's cash and expected loan actually reach before a search begins, and refers the loan and the permit themselves to the lender and the immigration channel.

This article is general information. It is not mortgage, immigration, tax or investment advice. Land Department charges and visa conditions change, and individual bank policies vary widely for buyers living abroad. Verify your own position with the Land Department, your lender and a qualified adviser before you commit money.