Can a non-resident take a mortgage on a Dubai home? The lender decides the loan, and the Dubai Land Department registers it in the lender's favour, asking a non-resident foreigner for a copy of his passport.
- Who decides the loan: the lender.
- Who registers it: the Dubai Land Department, in the lender's favour.
- What registration costs: 0.25% of the loan, plus fixed fees.
- What a mortgaged home still qualifies for: the Golden Visa, at AED 2 million or more.
Who does what in a Dubai mortgage?
A loan has two halves, and two parties hold them. The Dubai Land Department is the registry. Its service page describes a mortgage registered "in favor of the financing entity in order to guarantee the rights entailed on the property", whether a first or a second degree mortgage. The loan itself is the lender's.
Everything below starts once a lender has agreed. The registry's page covers mortgages on ready homes and on off-plan units, which it calls provisional. What the buyer does comes next.
What does the buyer do, and what does the bank do?
The buyer prepares the mortgage requirements with the bank, and from there the registration runs by one of two routes. On the Land Department's online mortgage system the filing is the bank's: a bank employee enters the documents and a bank auditor reviews them. The transaction then goes to the registry's audit department, and the outputs reach you by email. For the bank's side of it, we introduce our buyers to mortgage brokers.
The second route is a service centre. You or your representative go to a Real Estate Registration Registrars Office with the documents, an employee enters and audits the transaction, you pay the fees and receive a receipt, and the outputs arrive by email. The page puts the service time at 20 to 25 minutes, so the visit is short.
Both routes put documents in front of the registry, and the next question is which ones.
What does the Land Department ask for?
For an individual who files through a trustee office, the page lists a letter from the mortgagee bank, three mortgage contracts certified by the bank and signed by both parties, and a power of attorney where one is used. For identification it asks for the owner's UAE ID or, in its words, a "copy of passport for non-resident foreigners". That last line is where a non-resident's file differs from a resident's.
On an off-plan unit, the developer's no-objection e-certificate is added, issued through the Dubai REST app. With the papers in, what remains is the fee.
What does registering a mortgage cost?
0.25% of the loan, plus fixed fees that do not move with the loan.
Registration of a mortgage on a loan of AED 1,000,000 (about USD 272,300), on a ready home, one drawing:
| Line | Amount |
|---|---|
| 0.25% of the loan | AED 2,500 |
| Title deed | AED 250 |
| Knowledge fee | AED 10 |
| Innovation fee | AED 10 |
| Service partner fee | AED 4,000 plus VAT |
| Total | AED 6,770 plus VAT on the AED 4,000 (about USD 1,840 before VAT) |
On a loan this size the fixed part, AED 4,270 before VAT, is larger than the percentage, so the total is nearly three times the AED 2,500 a reader would expect from 0.25% alone. On a loan of AED 3,000,000 the percentage is AED 7,500 and the fixed part is the same AED 4,270, so the larger the loan, the more the percentage decides. For a provisional mortgage on an off-plan unit the service partner fee is AED 5,000 plus VAT.
Source: Dubai Land Department, "Mortgage registration application", page updated 23 September 2026, read 1 October 2026. Dollar figures at the peg of AED 3.6725 (UAE Central Bank).
The registration of the loan is a separate line from the purchase itself. The transfer fee on the purchase is 4% of the sale value, of which the buyer pays 2% on a ready home. The cost of buying property in Dubai sets every fee in the order you pay it. With the loan registered, the next question is what it leaves in reach.
Can a mortgaged home still qualify for the Golden Visa?
Yes. The Land Department's investor application page says that a property worth AED 2 million or more (about USD 544,600), in one name or more, qualifies its owner for the ten-year Golden Visa, and that a mortgaged property is acceptable. The bank's no-objection letter goes with the application, and the applicant must be inside the UAE to make it. The page was updated on 8 September 2026.
A home bought at AED 2,000,000 therefore reaches the line with a mortgage registered against it. Golden Visa through Dubai real estate walks the application.