Getting a mortgage in Dubai when you live abroad

We are a Dubai brokerage (RERA ORN 62268). We earn our commission when you buy. And when a client of ours takes a mortgage through a mortgage company we work with, that company pays us a small referral commission once the loan is issued; how much depends on the company. Ask us which companies they are. Every rule on this page is quoted from the authority that sets it, mostly the UAE Central Bank. Every bank figure is from that bank’s own page or key facts statement; where a bank’s pages disagree on a figure we use, we show each one. We read them between 8 and 12 October 2026. Banks change their terms often: treat every bank figure here as a question to ask, and get the answer in writing. This is general information, not financial advice.

The short version

• Yes, but for less. The Central Bank lets a bank lend an expatriate up to 80% of the value of a first home the buyer lives in, if it costs less than AED 5 million, and up to 60% of a second home or a home bought to let. Its rules do not ask where you live; the banks do. ADCB and ADIB lend buyers abroad up to 50%, HSBC up to 60%, and Mashreq 50%, 60% or 65%, depending on which of its pages you read; Dubai Islamic Bank’s undated material says 75% or 80%. On a flat you let, nothing above 60% can apply.
• We found eight banks that say they lend to buyers who live abroad and publish at least some terms for them: ADCB, ADIB, Commercial Bank of Dubai, Dubai Islamic Bank, Emirates Islamic, First Abu Dhabi Bank, HSBC and Mashreq. HSBC lends only to customers of its top account tiers, Premier and Private Bank, or to people who qualify for them. Emirates NBD, Standard Chartered and United Arab Bank say they lend to non-residents but publish no terms for them.
• Your income sets a second limit. All your debt repayments together, card payments included, may take at most half of your gross income, tested at a higher rate than you will pay; expect your loans at home to count. An expatriate may borrow at most seven years’ income, and no mortgage runs longer than 25 years. Each bank sets its own age limit: 60 at the end of the loan at ADCB, 65 at ADIB and Commercial Bank of Dubai, 70 at Mashreq.
• You need more than your share of the price. Since February 2025, banks may no longer lend the Land Department’s fee or the broker’s fee, The National reported, so both come from your own money. With a loan of 50% on a flat at AED 2 million, that is about AED 1.1 million of your own by the day of the transfer, or about AED 1.14 million with a broker at 2% plus VAT.
• The interest follows EIBOR, the rate at which UAE banks lend to each other, plus the bank’s margin, or is fixed for one to five years and then follows it. Expect to pay more than a resident: ADIB says non-residents pay a higher rate, and HSBC that different rates apply.
• From abroad, it takes weeks. The banks we read want a UAE account for the repayments, which takes weeks to open from abroad, and HSBC asks for your signature in person on the loan document.
• Off-plan, plan on your own money until completion. We found no bank that says on its own pages that it lends a non-resident money before completion; ADCB’s FAQ lists it as “Not Applicable”. For the payment due at completion, get a bank’s written offer for that unit before you sign.

What the Central Bank allows

The loan-to-value caps. The Central Bank’s mortgage regulation sets the most a bank may lend as a share of the property’s value, the loan-to-value (LTV) ratio:

Its table asks who you are, not where you live. It has rows for UAE nationals and for expatriates, and no row for buyers who live abroad: a foreigner who lives in Germany or the UK is an expatriate in these rules. A home you will let is not one you live in, so expect the 60% row, and ask the bank which row it applies. So on a flat you let, 60% is the most any bank may lend you; a higher figure on a bank’s page can only apply to a first home you live in. Banks may lend less than the caps, and most that publish a figure for non-residents do (next section). The caps are for homes; for an office or a shop, see Mortgages for an office or a shop.

Half your income, tested at a higher rate. The same article caps all your repayments together, the debt burden ratio (DBR), at “50 percent of gross salary and any regular income from a defined and specific source”. The Central Bank’s rules for loans to individuals count card payments in it. The banks ask for a letter on your debts from your bank and a credit report from your country, so expect your loans at home to count too. To work out the ratio, banks must “stress test the loan at (2 to 4) percentage points above the current rate of interest on the loan”, depending on where rates stand in the cycle. If a low introductory rate applies, they test the rate that follows it. The rent from a flat you let can count as income, but the bank must leave out at least two months’ rent, for months without a tenant. If the loan runs past your retirement, the repayments after it must fit within half of your income in retirement.

Seven years’ income, 25 years at most. An expatriate may borrow “up to 7 years annual income”, within the 50% limit; “the maximum tenor of the mortgage loan is 25 years”, and each bank sets the age by which the last instalment must be paid. Paying only interest at first is allowed only on a loan for an investment, and for five years at most.

At today’s rates, the 50% limit decides first. Earning the equivalent of AED 30,000 a month gross, with no other debts, you can spend at most AED 15,000 a month on repayments. Tested at 8% over 25 years, that carries a loan of about AED 1.94 million; tested at 10%, about AED 1.65 million; over 15 years, ADCB’s limit for non-residents, about AED 1.57 million at 8%. The seven-year rule alone would allow AED 2.52 million. These are our sums on round test rates; the bank’s own test rate and term decide.

Your share of the price is your own money. The regulation says the down payment “should be drawn from the borrower’s own resources and not from other sources of borrowing”. So your share cannot come from a loan at home if you also take a Dubai loan. Since February 2025, banks may also no longer include the Land Department’s fee and the broker’s fee in a mortgage, The National reported: both come from your own money too.

The banks that lend to non-residents

What each bank publishes for buyers who live abroad, on its own pages and in its key facts statement, as we read them between 8 and 12 October 2026. A key facts statement is the summary of a loan’s terms that, under the Central Bank’s standards, should be the first document a bank gives you.

• ADCB: “up to 50% for Non-residents”, for at most 15 years, with the loan repaid by the age of 60, from AED 750,000 to AED 15 million. It sets no minimum income for non-residents but asks for AED 200,000 held with the bank. Its FAQ lists finance for non-residents on property under construction as “Not Applicable”, and non-residents must take its group life insurance.
• ADIB: “Financing upto 50% of property value”; for employees, a salary of AED 15,000 a month, and age 65 at most when the finance ends. Its page for non-residents also says “No early settlement fees when selling the property”. Its key facts statement says non-residents “will incur a higher profit rate along with higher Advance Rental Payment”; both terms are explained under Islamic home finance, below.
• Commercial Bank of Dubai: finance for “non-resident customers”, with no figure for them on its page; its key facts statement of 31 October 2025 sets age 65 at the end of the loan for non-residents and an approval-in-principle fee of AED 2,100 for them.
• Dubai Islamic Bank: a “Non-Resident Program”, with two figures that do not agree, neither dated: “up to 75% finance” in its leaflet, and “upto 80% of the property value” in the summary its page gives search engines, not on the page itself. Ask for the figure in writing.
• Emirates Islamic: confirms home finance for non-residents and lists the documents it wants from them, with no figure.
• First Abu Dhabi Bank: “Mortgages for non-UAE residents looking for investment properties in the UAE”, up to AED 10 million, with no figure for the share it lends.
• HSBC: “up to 60% of your property’s value”, for customers of Premier or Private Bank, its top account tiers, which have their own entry conditions, or people eligible for those accounts. For residents, HSBC asks for at least AED 15,000 a month and an age of 21 to 65 (its fixed-rate page says 18 to 65); it publishes no income or age terms for buyers abroad.
• Mashreq: three figures for non-residents: “Up to 60%” among the headline figures of its page for them, “up to 50% of the fair market value” in the questions on the same page, and “Up to 65% for Non-Residents” in its key facts statement revised on 19 June 2026. Its home-loans page asks for a “Minimum monthly income starting AED 15,000 or average monthly balances starting AED 25,000 for non-residents”. Mashreq lends non-residents for up to 25 years, to the age of 70 at the end of the loan.

On a flat you let, Mashreq’s 65% and Dubai Islamic Bank’s 75% and 80% cannot apply: the Central Bank’s table allows 60%. Their figures are not wrong; they can only be for a first home the buyer lives in.

Other banks say they lend to non-residents but publish no terms for them. Emirates NBD’s home loan is “open to you” if you are “investing from abroad”, on a campaign page. Standard Chartered lists “NON UAE resident” among those who can apply. United Arab Bank: “Financing is also available for non‑resident individuals.”

Banks also choose by nationality and by building. ADCB’s document lists differ between nationalities, and it does not normally lend to self-employed non-residents of nationalities outside its main list. Standard Chartered lends on completed property “as per our list of approved developments”, Emirates Islamic on “approved projects”, and Dubai Islamic Bank’s off-plan finance is for projects it has approved. Before you make an offer, ask whether the bank will lend on that building.

What to take from it: plan on 50%. It is the figure ADCB and ADIB publish and the one in Mashreq’s own answers, and on a flat you let no bank may lend more than 60%. If a bank offers you more, get it in its written offer. Some banks will not lend to you at all, because of your nationality, your work or the building. Ask two or three banks for an approval in principle before you make an offer; some charge for it (see the fees below). Our own clients from abroad borrowed in 2026 from banks such as Emirates NBD and Sharjah Islamic Bank, and in our experience buyers abroad get around 50% to 60% of the value.

What the loan costs

The interest. A variable rate is EIBOR plus the bank’s margin, reset as EIBOR moves: three-month EIBOR at HSBC and Mashreq, one-month EIBOR at ADIB. The Central Bank published three-month EIBOR at 4.19% on 9 October 2026; in the first nine days of October it moved between 4.19% and 4.39%. A fixed rate holds for an agreed period, at HSBC one, two, three or five years, and then turns into a variable rate based on three-month EIBOR. Mashreq, ADIB and Dubai Islamic Bank also set a minimum rate below which yours will not fall, even if EIBOR does. The rates banks advertise are their lowest, often for their best customers; ADCB’s “from” rate, for one, is for its Excellency segments. For buyers abroad, ADIB’s key facts statement says non-residents pay a higher profit rate (the word Islamic banks use for interest), and HSBC’s rates page that “different rates apply” if you live outside the UAE. Compare offers on the rate after the fixed period as well as during it.

The fees, at the bank. An approval in principle (also called pre-approval) costs nothing at First Abu Dhabi Bank, AED 2,100 for non-residents at Commercial Bank of Dubai, and AED 1,050 at Mashreq by its key facts statement, though its home-loans page advertises free pre-approval. The processing fee is 1.05% of the loan at Mashreq, VAT included; HSBC charges its Premier and Private Bank customers 0.525%, at least AED 5,250, VAT included. The valuation is AED 2,625 at HSBC, and at Mashreq, whose key facts statement gives AED 2,650 in its cost example.

The fees, at the Land Department. The Dubai Land Department (DLD) charges 0.25% of the loan plus AED 290 in small fees to register the mortgage on a finished property, and the registration trustee office charges AED 4,000 plus VAT for it. The DLD’s page for buying a property whose seller has a mortgage says that the trustee’s fee is waived if a mortgage is registered on the same day: ask the trustee office whether that applies to yours.

Insurance. Expect to insure your life for the loan, and often the property. Mashreq lists 0.165% a year of the amount outstanding for life cover and 0.06% of the property’s value for property insurance; ADIB’s page for non-residents says ADIB pays the property insurance for the full term. For a flat, the building is also insured through the service charge: ask whether the bank accepts that. ADCB requires non-residents to take its own group life policy. Where insurance is a required part of the loan, the Central Bank’s standards say the bank must tell you its cost in writing and let you choose from at least three insurers it approves: ask ADCB what choice you have.

Repaying early. The Central Bank caps the fee at 1% of what you owe or AED 10,000, whichever is less, plus VAT; on a fixed rate, the bank may also charge its “actual cost (to break fixed loans)”. Some banks charge less (next section).

What it adds up to. On a flat at AED 2 million with a loan of AED 1 million, using Mashreq’s fees as the example:

Every cost on top of the price, and who pays it under the contract: What buying property in Dubai costs on top of the price.

If you sell, move the loan or fall behind

If you sell, your bank is paid what you owe at the transfer, by a manager’s cheque from the buyer, and the DLD completes the sale once the bank’s release letter arrives; the fees are under Selling. The Central Bank’s cap on the fee for repaying early applies, and some banks charge less. HSBC charges it on its variable loan only if you repay from your own money or a sale within the first three years. ADIB’s page for non-residents says “No early settlement fees when selling the property”.

If you move the loan to another bank, the Central Bank says there should be “no impediment for borrowers to refinance with other institutions”; the same cap applies, plus the actual cost of breaking a fixed rate. HSBC charges its fee on its variable loan if you move within the first seven years. Emirates Islamic advertises “a 0% processing fee for buy-out cases”, when it takes over a loan from another bank.

If you fall behind, the bank can start a forced sale after at least 30 days’ notice through a notary public; if you still do not pay, the execution judge orders the property attached, and it is sold at public auction. If a payment is at risk, talk to the bank before it falls due.

Step by step, from abroad

The documents

Every bank has its own list. What two of them ask employed non-residents for, on their own pages:

• Emirates Islamic: your passport; a salary certificate (a letter from your employer confirming your job and salary) no more than 45 days old; three months’ payslips if you have them; six months’ bank statements showing your salary; a liability or reference letter from your bank; your tax returns for the past two years, if you file them; a credit bureau report, if your country has one; and for the property, the seller’s offer, the sale and purchase agreement, the title deed and site plan, and the receipts for your down payment.
• ADCB: your passport, your latest salary certificate, six months’ bank statements, two years’ tax returns and a credit report from the UAE’s bureau or from your country. For nationalities outside its main list, it asks for twelve months’ statements and for tax returns attested by the foreign ministry of your country and of the UAE. How an attestation works: Attestation.

Mashreq and ADIB ask non-residents for three months of bank statements. If your documents are not in English, ask whether the bank wants a translation; if you do not file a tax return at home, ask what it accepts instead.

If you are self-employed, expect two years of audited accounts, twelve months of business and personal statements and your company’s papers.

Off-plan: before completion, and at it

The Central Bank caps a loan on property bought off-plan at 50%, whoever borrows. Your own money goes in first: where the loan pays the developer in stages, the bank “must first use owner’s equity portion of the construction price to pay the developer/contractor” before it lends anything. A unit bought off-plan can be mortgaged while it is in the interim register; the trustee’s fee to register that mortgage is AED 5,000 plus VAT.

We found no bank that says on its own pages that it lends to non-residents before completion. ADCB’s FAQ lists it as “Not Applicable”. Others publish off-plan loans without saying whether non-residents qualify. Mashreq lends up to 50% once the project is at least 35% built, not for a resale. Dubai Islamic Bank lends up to 50% on projects it has approved, once they are 35% built and you have paid half the price. ADIB’s key facts statement describes finance for property under construction, in a product it also offers to non-residents, without saying that the two go together. Emirates NBD’s pages for Emaar and Sobha buyers speak of a loan “even before handover” once “you reach 50% payment”, and their forms let you choose “Non-Resident”, but they publish no terms for it. Ask, in writing, before you count on any of them.

At completion, the payment your plan ties to completion is often large. HSBC’s fixed-rate page says it “can finance the last payment due to the developer upon completion” of a new build bought from the developer; buyers abroad may apply as Premier or Private Bank customers. Emirates Islamic advertises “special handover finance packages”, without saying for whom. The Central Bank’s rules do not say when a unit bought off-plan stops counting as off-plan, so ask the bank whether its 50% cap still applies at handover. Plan the payment from your own money unless a bank has said yes in writing, for this unit: see The completion payment.

Islamic home finance

The same limits, other contracts. Islamic banks finance a home mostly by ijara, a lease that ends with ownership: the bank buys the property and you pay rent and the price over the term, at a profit rate instead of interest. The Central Bank’s caps apply to them as to any bank. ADIB’s key facts statement puts its advance rental payment, a payment upfront, at up to 2% of the finance, at least AED 5,000 and at most AED 30,000, and says non-residents pay a higher one, and a higher profit rate. Ask whose name the title deed carries during the term: it matters for a Golden Visa and for a sale.

The currency

Your loan is in dirhams. The Central Bank pegs the dirham to the US dollar at 3.6725 dirhams to the dollar. If you earn dollars, the exchange rate barely matters. If you earn euros or pounds, both your instalments and what you still owe move with it. At the euro rates of the last three years, between 3.80 and 4.35 dirhams, a debt of AED 1 million was worth between about €230,000 and €263,000. The pound went from 4.55 dirhams at the end of January 2025 to 5.04 at the end of June, and a debt of AED 1 million from about £220,000 to about £198,000 (more in the guide for buyers from the UK). If you let the flat, the rent is in dirhams too: it pays the instalments in the same currency, and what moves is what you add from home and what you owe, counted in your money. More in The cost nobody quotes you.

If you buy with a partner, through a company or for the Golden Visa

With a spouse or partner, ask the bank whether it takes a joint application, counts both incomes and needs both of you to sign the loan. Whose names are on the title deed matters for a Golden Visa: see If you buy together with your spouse.

Through a company, ask the bank first whether it lends to the company at all: the bank pages on this page describe loans to individuals. Which companies may own property in Dubai: In your own name or through a company.

For the Golden Visa, the federal rules count a property bought with a loan from an approved bank at its total value, but Dubai pages speak of AED 2 million paid. The property is also tied to the visa by a lien while it lasts (see The lien). What counts: What counts towards the AED 2 million.

Do you need a Dubai loan?

You can pay from your own money. You can buy off-plan on a payment plan, whose “interest-free” label has a cost of its own (see What “interest-free” costs). Or you can borrow at home against a home you own there, which makes your Dubai purchase a cash purchase. A Dubai bank will not lend on top of that: the Central Bank wants your share of the price from your own money, not from other borrowing.

Compare the cost. New housing loans in Germany cost 3.60% on average in August 2026, by the Bundesbank’s measure, and newly drawn secured loans in the UK 4.60%, by the Bank of England’s. Three-month EIBOR alone was 4.19% on 9 October 2026, before a bank’s margin. A loan at home puts your home there at stake, and you then owe euros or pounds against a flat and a rent in dirhams. How the interest counts against the rent in your tax at home: see the guides for buyers from the UK and from Germany.

Claims you will meet, checked

• “Buyers can finance 75–80%.” Only for a first home the buyer lives in. On a flat you let, the Central Bank’s ceiling is 60%, whatever a bank’s page says, and ADCB and ADIB lend buyers abroad 50%.
• “A buy-to-let is financed like a home you live in.” Not under the Central Bank’s table: 80% for a first home you live in, below AED 5 million; 60% for a home you let.
• “The Central Bank allows non-residents 60–65%.” Its table has no row for non-residents: it asks whether you are a UAE national and whether you live in the home.
• “You can add the DLD fee to the loan.” Not since February 2025, The National reported.
• “Six months of statements is the rule.” Each bank sets its own list: three months at Mashreq and ADIB, six at Emirates Islamic, six or twelve at ADCB.
• “Non-residents can borrow until 65.” Each bank sets its own age: the loan must end by 60 at ADCB, by 70 at Mashreq.

Before you sign Form F and the loan: eleven checks

Questions and answers

Related guides

• How to buy property in Dubai from abroad, step by step
• What buying property in Dubai costs on top of the price
• Proving where your money came from
• How off-plan payment plans work in Dubai
• What can go wrong when you buy off-plan in Dubai
• Getting a Golden Visa through Dubai property
• Dubai property terms, explained
• Can foreigners buy commercial property in Dubai?
• Buying property in Dubai from Germany
• Buying property in Dubai from the UK