Mortgages for expats and non-residents in Dubai
Expatriates can borrow for a home in Dubai inside the Central Bank ceilings: 80% on a first home at or under AED 5 million, 70% above that, and 60% on a later or investment property. Non-residents are not given a separate ceiling in those rules. Each bank decides whether it will lend, and on what documents, inside the cap.
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Resident expatriate and non-resident
A resident expatriate lives in the UAE and holds a residence visa. A non-resident does not. Banks often want a resident's salary paid locally. A non-resident is assessed on income from abroad, and many lenders are simply more cautious. That caution is credit policy. It is not an extra percentage written into the Central Bank table.
Do not treat a forum's non-resident deposit as a rule. If a bank will only go to the investment-property cap, it will say so in the terms. We ask rather than guess.
Documents
Residents are commonly asked for Emirates ID, a passport, a salary certificate or trade licence, payslips or accounts, and bank statements. Non-residents are commonly asked for a passport, proof of address overseas, and proof of income. The bank can ask for more once it has seen the file.
Golden Visa
The UAE government publishes a real-estate route to a Golden Visa for an investor who owns property worth at least AED 2 million. A mortgage is not a visa. The immigration authority decides the visa. The bank decides the loan. Owning a mortgaged home does not, by itself, prove you qualify, and qualifying for a visa does not oblige a bank to lend.
Read the current rule on the UAE government portal before you rely on it, and see our note on a Golden Visa alongside a mortgage.
Questions
Several UAE banks will look at a non-resident application. The Central Bank loan-to-value ceilings still apply. There is no separate non-resident percentage in those ceilings. The bank's own policy decides whether it will lend and how far inside the cap it will go.
For an expatriate, the Central Bank ceiling on a first owner-occupied home is 80% at or under AED 5 million and 70% above that. A second home or an investment property is capped at 60%. Off-plan is capped at 50%. A bank may require a larger deposit.
A Golden Visa is an immigration status. It may change how a bank classifies you, because you may then be a resident. It does not change the Central Bank ceilings, and it is not an approval for a loan.
No. The advice is free of charge to you. We work with every major UAE lender and the bank, if it approves the loan, provides the funds.