Most Golden Visa property pages still talk as if you must have paid 50% of the price — or AED 1 million — before a mortgaged or off-plan file can qualify. Immigration firms and DLD-adjacent coverage report that a federal circular dated 20 February 2026 removed that paid-equity test. We have not independently sighted the circular on an ICP product page (the historic ICP “Golden Visa for real estate investors” URL currently 404s). Treat the recap below as widely reported, not a substitute for the DLD investor eService.
The 10-year property threshold itself did not change: AED 2 million on the authority’s assessment of the asset. What changed, if the circular is applied as reported, is how much of that value you must already have paid.
What secondary sources say changed on 20 February 2026
Coverage from immigration desks (including EGSH and mortgage specialists) describes the same three points:
- Qualifying number: Dubai Land Department assessed value of the property (or combined properties) of at least AED 2 million — not the cash you have already transferred.
- Mortgage: A UAE-licensed lender’s no-objection certificate (NOC) is still typically required. The NOC is about the bank’s consent to the residency application, not a replacement for the AED 2 million value test.
- Off-plan: Units from approved, DLD-registered projects can count once the purchase is registered (Oqood / project registration), subject to current eService rules — delivery risk is unchanged.
If your file was structured around a 50% or AED 1 million paid-in test, ask counsel whether that condition still appears on your submission checklist. Brochure language lags circulars; so does some official web copy.
What did not change
- The 10-year property route is still an AED 2 million investment, not a cheaper shortcut.
- The April 2026 change to the 2-year property investor visa (sole-owner minimum removed; joint-owner share reported at AED 400,000) is a different product. Do not mix the two.
- A qualifying visa does not make the unit a good investment. Underwrite net yield, service charges, and developer delivery separately — see our Golden Visa through property guide and eligibility checker.
How we confirm a file before anyone pays
On an engagement we do not treat a blog recap as the rulebook. The sequence is:
- Confirm current fields on the DLD Request for Golden Visa (Investor) eService and any ICP page that is live on the day you apply.
- For mortgaged stock: obtain the lender’s NOC language in writing — paid amount, outstanding balance, and explicit non-objection to the residency application.
- For off-plan: match project registration, escrow, and SPA to the DLD project-status record. Our developer and DLD verification sequence is the checklist we use.
- Model the purchase as an asset: mortgage, net yield, and buying costs — typically 6–8% upfront on top of price.
Who this matters for
Buyers who were waiting to “pay down to 50%” before applying may now be looking at a valuation-and-NOC file instead. That can pull residency timing forward. It does not reduce LTV risk, handover risk, or service-charge drag. If residency is the only reason for the purchase, that is still the wrong reason — the unit has to stand on its own economics.
For the full route comparison (10-year vs 2-year vs retirement) and official links we currently cite, stay on the canonical Golden Visa guide. For a 2024-era checklist that we now treat as a pointer, not the live rulebook, see what to verify before you buy.
General information only — not legal or immigration advice. Rules and eService fields change. Confirm with UAE authorities and licensed counsel before you commit capital.
Changelog
- 31 August 2026 — Initial publish. Sources: secondary immigration and DLD-adjacent coverage of a 20 February 2026 circular; DLD investor eService URL as the confirmation step. ICP investor product URL not live at time of writing.
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