Can Russians buy property in Dubai? Yes, freehold, but only on the designated plots.

Can Russians buy property in Dubai?

Yes, in designated areas. Dubai Law 7 of 2006 permits non-GCC foreigners to hold freehold without a time limit, or a usufruct or leasehold up to 99 years, on plots designated by the Ruler, listed in Regulation 3 of 2006. Outside those plots there is no freehold for foreign buyers.

The designated areas include Dubai Marina, Palm Jumeirah and Emirates Hills among others. The gate is the plot, not the passport, so this is a map question rather than a nationality question. Confirm a specific plot's status with the Dubai Land Department before a deposit, and do it from the department's own record rather than from a brochure.

No residency is needed to buy. A non-resident buys on a passport, a resident uses an Emirates ID.

The full position: UAE foreign property ownership, explained.

How much Russian buying is there in Dubai, and how well is it measured?

Poorly measured, and the published figures disagree. The Dubai Land Department does not routinely publish a nationality breakdown. What exists is one academic estimate, one brokerage's own deal mix and one brokerage survey, and they point in different directions.

Three data points, with their grade attached.

• An estimate, from leaked data. The EU Tax Observatory put Russian residential purchases in Dubai after February 2022 at about 6.3 billion dollars, split roughly 2.4 billion ready and 3.9 billion off-plan, which it described as more than ten times pre-2022 inflows. That is a research estimate built on leaked records, not an official series.
• One brokerage's own deals. Betterhomes reported Russian buyers at about 15 percent of its own transactions in 2022, third in 2023, and outside its own top ten for the first time in the second quarter of 2025. That is one firm's book, not the market.
• A demand survey. NF Group ranked the UAE first among destinations for Russian foreign property demand in the first half of 2026. Inquiry and brokerage surveys sit below official statistics.

So the honest answer is that Russian buying in Dubai was clearly large after 2022 and the current level is not established by any public official source. Where a page gives you a precise Russian market share for Dubai, ask which department published it.

The market where the nationality mix is published quarterly from land registry records, for comparison: Thai condo buyers by nationality.

What does registration look like in Dubai, and what does it cost?

Title is registered with the Dubai Land Department and an unregistered transfer is not valid. Off-plan units go on the interim register, Oqood, and move to a title deed after completion. The transfer fee is 4 percent of the price, officially 2 percent buyer and 2 percent seller, plus a trustee fee and small fixed fees.

In practice buyers usually carry the whole 4 percent. Budget roughly AED 4,000 plus VAT for the registration trustee and AED 250 for the title deed.

There is no VAT on buying a home. Residential sales are exempt and the first sale of a new home within three years of completion is zero rated. Commercial property is taxed at 5 percent.

What the documents are: the Dubai title deed and Oqood, explained. The full cost stack: UAE property buying costs.

Does buying in Dubai give residency?

It can. Property worth AED 2 million or more gives a 10 year Golden Visa residence. In Dubai a mortgaged property can qualify with a bank no objection certificate, and Abu Dhabi requires AED 2 million of equity. The visa follows the property value, not the buyer's nationality.

This is the one destination in this set where the purchase itself is a published residence route rather than a separate project. That changes the sequencing: the property decision and the residence decision can be underwritten together, and the AED 2 million threshold is the number both hang on.

Apply through the Dubai Land Department for a Dubai property, or the Abu Dhabi department for an Abu Dhabi one. The federal conditions sit with the Ministry of Economy and Tourism, and those conditions are where to check the current position rather than an agent's summary of it.

What does an owner pay each year in Dubai, and on the rent?

There is no annual property tax in Dubai and no personal income tax or capital gains tax for individuals. There is a 5 percent municipality housing fee on annual rent, collected through the utility bill. Rent from long lets registered on Ejari sits outside Corporate Tax whatever the amount.

The exception to watch is the holiday let. Income from a holiday home operated under a Department of Economy and Tourism permit is licensed business income and can fall inside the 9 percent Corporate Tax above AED 1 million of turnover. That is a structure decision, and it belongs before the unit is furnished for short lets rather than after.

Rent increases are capped by Decree 43 of 2013 at between 0 and 20 percent depending on how far the current rent sits below the index, with 90 days' notice required for a change. Underwrite the index rather than the asking rent on the listing.

The detail: UAE property tax for foreigners.

What should be settled before the first off-plan instalment?

Three things: that the plot is on the designated list, that the unit is registered on Oqood in your name, and that the funding for the whole payment plan is confirmed with your own bank. Dubai sells a lot of stock on multi-year plans, so the funding question stretches across years.

A payment plan you cannot service is a forfeiture risk written into the contract, so the order matters. Confirm the designated status and the Oqood registration from the Dubai Land Department's own records, and confirm the money leg with the institutions that will actually handle it.

Banks and payment providers apply their own checks on every buyer and on the source of funds, those checks differ between institutions and they change over time. Get your own position confirmed in writing before the first instalment, not after. This page states published requirements and does not describe routes around any restriction.

The money leg: transfer money to the UAE for a property.

Header photo: Francisco Anzola, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons. All credits: image credits.