UAE Scraps Property Golden Visa Down-Payment Rule — What the February 2026 Change Means for Buyers

The Previous Rule and What Changed

Before February 20, 2026, obtaining the UAE Property Golden Visa — a 10-year renewable residency permit — required an investor to have paid at least 50% of a property's total purchase price, with a minimum paid amount of AED 1 million, before submitting a visa application. In practice, this rule excluded buyers in the off-plan segment who were following a developer's instalment schedule, as well as mortgage holders who had not yet built sufficient equity. A policy circular published on 20 February 2026 removes the payment schedule condition entirely. The sole remaining requirement is that the total assessed value of the property — or portfolio of properties, if combined title deeds are used — reaches or exceeds AED 2 million. How that value has been financed is no longer material to eligibility.

What Now Qualifies

The scope of the change is broader than initial coverage suggested. The circular confirms that all of the following property structures are eligible, provided the total value clears AED 2 million:

• Off-plan properties: under-construction units purchased from a developer, regardless of percentage paid to date.
• Mortgaged completed properties: standard bank-financed purchases at any loan-to-value ratio.
• Combined title deeds: two or more properties whose aggregate assessed value reaches AED 2 million.
• Jointly owned properties: subject to confirmation that the qualifying party's beneficial interest meets the threshold.
• All are subject to the existing 3-year minimum hold requirement — the visa is not retained if the property is sold within three years of application.

Why the Change Was Made and Who Benefits

The UAE's residency policy has been progressively de-linked from wealth as a barrier and re-linked to wealth as a signal. The previous 50% threshold was designed to ensure genuine capital commitment — but it excluded a large class of internationally mobile professionals and mid-tier HNW individuals who were structuring UAE property purchases sensibly through mortgages or developer payment plans. Mortgage finance in Dubai now operates at 75–80% LTV for expatriate buyers. A buyer purchasing a AED 3 million property with an 80% mortgage — a routine transaction — would previously have needed to wait years before accumulating 50% equity for visa eligibility. Under the new rule, that buyer qualifies immediately upon completion, assuming the property value meets the threshold. The demographic most meaningfully affected is the EUR 2–10 million net worth individual — too HNW to qualify on income grounds, too mortgage-reliant to have met the old equity bar.

Market and Lending Implications

The removal of the down-payment condition is expected to accelerate two market dynamics already in motion. First, demand in the AED 2–3 million property range — which already attracts the highest transaction volumes — is forecast to increase by 8–12% in H1 2026 as previously excluded buyers activate visa-driven purchase decisions. Second, UAE mortgage lenders are restructuring product offerings: 80–85% LTV products with longer tenors are in development specifically for buyers whose primary motivation is residency, not leverage. The requirement for a No Objection Certificate from the lending bank — confirming the institution does not object to a residence permit being issued against the mortgaged asset — remains in place, but is becoming a standard product feature rather than an exceptional request. The three-year hold requirement continues to function as the primary speculative deterrent.

Advisory Perspective

We view this change as one of the most substantive adjustments to the UAE residency framework in the past three years. It resolves a structural tension in the Golden Visa programme: the original design inadvertently penalised buyers using conventional mortgage finance, pushing visa-motivated demand toward all-cash purchases or toward developers offering payment plans that front-loaded equity accumulation. The February 2026 circular corrects that asymmetry. For our European clients — particularly those in France, Germany, and Italy where domestic tax and political environments are creating increasing motivation to establish legitimate offshore residency — the new rule materially lowers the practical barrier to UAE residency via property. The pathway is now straightforward: acquire a UAE property at or above AED 2 million through any conventional structure, hold for three years, and maintain the asset as a genuine residence. We are advising clients who have been deferring a UAE visa decision pending banking and legal structuring to treat this window as an active opportunity.