Is it true that off-plan qualifies once you have paid 50 per cent?

That figure is not on u.ae, ICP, DLD or GDRFA. I could not find a published source for it anywhere official, so I am not going to repeat it. If somebody quotes it to you, ask them which page it is on.

Can I combine two off-plan units to reach AED 2 million?

DLD's condition is "the value of the property is 2 million AED, wholly owned by the investor (one or more properties)", so combining is allowed in principle. Whether the certificate issues against interim-registered units is the same open question as above, and it does not change by splitting the purchase in two.

Does the lien mean I cannot sell?

A lien is placed to keep ownership continuous for the life of the residency, so selling the property is what ends the basis for the visa. If you are planning to exit before handover, read selling off-plan before handover first, and be clear that the residency and the resale are pulling against each other.

Answers · Golden visa and residency

Does off-plan property qualify for the golden visa?

No official page says off-plan property qualifies for the golden visa, and no official page says it is excluded either. What the published conditions actually require is ownership of AED 2 million or more of property, certified by Dubai Land Department and secured by a lien for the life of the residency. Whether DLD certifies an interim-registered unit is the question that decides it.

Updated October 2026 · By Ahmed Kandil

What each official page actually requires

I checked all four today, because the answer people repeat online is not on any of them.

Official source	What it states
u.ae, golden visa page	“Minimum capital of AED 2 million; property ownership”. Validity listed as 5 years for real estate investments. Silent on off-plan.
ICP, Real Estate Investor Residency entry permit	“Letter from the Real Estate Registration Department confirming investor’s ownership of property worth at least AED 2,000,000”, and “The property must be fully owned by the investor”. Fees AED 300. Silent on off-plan.
DLD, Request for Golden Visa (Investor)	“The value of the property is 2 million AED, wholly owned by the investor (one or more properties)”. Mortgage allowed with a bank no-objection letter. AED 9,884.75 in fees, 7 to 10 business days, applicant must be inside the UAE. Silent on off-plan.
GDRFA, golden residence permit (investors)	Property or properties “with a total value of no less than AED 2 million”, value “certified by a property status statement certificate issued by the Dubai Land Department”, and “It is required to place a lien on the property to ensure the continuity of ownership throughout the validity of the Golden Residency”. Valid 10 years.
GDRFA, visa for a foreigner who owns property, which is a different and older route	“the property must be entirely constructed”, “The property must be habitable”, fully owned or financed by a local bank, and proof of income of at least AED 10,000 a month.

That last row is the one that matters, and it is the reason this question has a bad answer everywhere. The completion requirement that people quote at you is real, and it is written on the property owner visa page, which is not the golden visa. See how much property you need for a golden visa for the AED 2 million route in full.

So is there anything stopping a lien on an off-plan unit?

The lien is the condition most people assume off-plan fails, so this is worth going through properly. Off-plan ownership in Dubai sits under Law No. 13 of 2008, which created the Interim Property Register.

Article 3(1). “Any disposition that occurs in respect of any Real Property Unit sold off-plan will be entered in the Interim Property Register”, and any disposition “will be void unless entered in that Register”. So an off-plan purchase is a registered interest, not an unregistered promise.
Article 6. Units entered in that register “may be disposed of by way of sale, mortgage, or any other legal disposition”. Which means a mortgage, and therefore a lien, is legally available against an interim-registered unit.
Article 8. On completion the unit moves into the main Property Register in the purchaser’s name “provided that the purchaser fulfilled all his contractual obligations”.

So the mechanism GDRFA relies on exists for off-plan units. The law does not block it.

Then what actually decides it

The property status statement certificate. GDRFA requires the AED 2 million to be certified by DLD, and ICP requires a letter from the registration department confirming ownership at that value. Neither page says whether DLD issues those against an interim registration rather than a title deed, and DLD does not publish the answer on either its golden visa application page or its FAQ. I am not going to invent a figure or a rule for it. What I can tell you is that this is the single document the whole question turns on, so if residency is part of why you are buying, get DLD to confirm in writing that your specific unit and its registered value will produce that certificate, before you sign anything.

One more thing to note, the duration is inconsistent across official pages

This catches people out. u.ae lists 5 years for real estate investments. DLD’s own FAQ says “a three-year residency on a property whose value is AED 750,000 or more and a five-year residency on a property whose value exceeds AED 2 million”. GDRFA says the golden residence is “valid for 10 years and can be extended if the same conditions are met”, and DLD’s investor application page prices a 10-year permit. Those are four official sources and they do not agree. Which means a number quoted to you in a sales room, without a source, is worth nothing on this particular point.

My take

If you are buying off-plan and the visa is a bonus, buy for the property and treat the residency as something you sort out at handover, when you have a title deed and the question disappears. That is the position I would take for most buyers, because the property decision and the residency decision have different timelines and tying them together usually means compromising on the unit.

If the residency is the actual reason you are buying, I would not buy off-plan for it. Not because the law blocks it, since Article 6 plainly does not, but because you would be relying on an administrative practice that no authority has published, and a handover date you do not control. Buy something completed at AED 2 million or more instead, where the title deed exists on the day you transfer. That’s just an opinion. But this is how things are.

Of course there is a downside to doing it my way. Completed stock at AED 2 million buys you less space than off-plan at the same number, and you give up the payment plan. So it really comes down to what you are looking for, and whether the visa has a deadline attached to it or not.

Questions I get asked next

Is it true that off-plan qualifies once you have paid 50 per cent?: That figure is not on u.ae, ICP, DLD or GDRFA. I could not find a published source for it anywhere official, so I am not going to repeat it. If somebody quotes it to you, ask them which page it is on.
Can I combine two off-plan units to reach AED 2 million?: DLD’s condition is “the value of the property is 2 million AED, wholly owned by the investor (one or more properties)”, so combining is allowed in principle. Whether the certificate issues against interim-registered units is the same open question as above, and it does not change by splitting the purchase in two.
Does the lien mean I cannot sell?: A lien is placed to keep ownership continuous for the life of the residency, so selling the property is what ends the basis for the visa. If you are planning to exit before handover, read selling off-plan before handover first, and be clear that the residency and the resale are pulling against each other.

Sources

If you tell me the project and the unit, I will tell you what is registered against it today and what you would be relying on if the visa is part of your reason for buying.

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