Dubai retirement visa: 55 and over, AED 20,000 a month or AED 1 million, and the two official figures that disagree

The UAE has the highest income bar of any retirement route on this site, and the least agreement about what it is. The issuing authority in Dubai says one thing, a Dubai government investment portal says another, and the federal authority for the other emirates words the eligibility rule a third way. All three are official. Only one of them decides a Dubai application.

Everything below was read on 25 October 2026 on the pages themselves: the service page of the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs in Dubai, GDRFA, "Issuing a residence permit for the retired foreigner", last updated 22 December 2023; Visit Dubai's application page for the retirement visa; the Invest in Dubai page "Retirement residency visa"; and the federal Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs and Port Security, ICP, service page for the retiree category, last updated 11 December 2024.

Dubai retirement visa requirements: what GDRFA, the issuing authority, says

GDRFA's terms and conditions are the text a Dubai application is decided against. Condition 1 is required, then one of 2 or 3:

1. Service and age, both. "The period of service of the foreigner before his retirement is not less than (15) fifteen years, whether inside or outside the country, and he has completed (55) fifty-five Gregorian years of age."
2. Property or a deposit: real estate in the UAE worth at least AED 1,000,000, by purchase or market value as assessed by the emirate's authority, or a deposit of at least AED 1,000,000, which must be moved into a UAE financial institution "within (60) sixty days from the date of issuance of the residency" unless the money is invested in the country.
3. Or income: "the fixed annual income of the retiree shall not be less than (240,000) two hundred and forty thousand Dirhams or its equivalent in foreign currencies, whether the source of the income is inside or outside the country", with six months of bank statements.
4. A mortgaged property counts if at least AED 1,000,000 has been paid off at the time of the application.

The permit is issued "without a sponsor or host within the country for five years, renewable under the same terms as when first granted".

The UAE retirement visa figures that disagree: AED 180,000 or AED 240,000

The Invest in Dubai page, run by Dubai's economy department, describes the same visa with different numbers. It opens the scheme to "retired applicants who are at least 55 years old", with no service requirement, and lists "Minimum yearly income of AED180,000 (approx. US$49,000 annually or AED15,000/US$4,100 per month)".

That figure is a quarter lower than GDRFA's, and the 15 years of service are missing. Visit Dubai's own application page, run by the same department and linked from the Invest in Dubai page as "Apply now", agrees with GDRFA: 55 years, 15 years of service, and "A sustainable income of at least AED240,000 (approx. US$65,000) a year or AED20,000 (approx. US$5,400) a month".

The federal ICP page for the other emirates agrees with GDRFA on the money — "not be less than AED 240,000 or equivalent in foreign currency" — but words the eligibility as 15 years of service "or" reaching 55, where GDRFA says "and".

For a Dubai application, plan on GDRFA's text: AED 240,000, and both the age and the years of service. The lower figure is on a page that does not issue anything.

How to prove the income for the Dubai retirement visa

Visit Dubai's application page sets out what GDRFA accepts as proof of income: a letter from the pension scheme or other source naming the beneficiary and the start date, or a letter from a former employer still paying a retirement income; and a six-month bank statement from a Dubai-based bank, stamped by the bank, showing deposits of at least AED 20,000 a month or AED 240,000 a year from that source. International applicants must have their bank letters attested.

GDRFA's own page says only "a bank account statement for the last (6) six months". The Dubai-bank requirement is in Visit Dubai's guidance, which means a retiree moving from abroad may need to open a UAE account and route six months of pension through it before applying.

Dubai retirement visa on savings or property: AED 1 million

Savings. Visit Dubai asks for a letter from a UAE bank, in Arabic, addressed to GDRFA, confirming AED 1 million in a three-year fixed deposit in a bank located in the UAE, plus proof of retirement: an end-of-service letter giving the years of service, or a letter from a social-security body.

Property. The application goes to the Dubai Land Department, not GDRFA, in person at its golden-visa service centres. The title deed must be for property in Dubai, in the applicant's own name or a company he owns entirely, worth at least AED 1 million by the deed, and not off-plan. Several properties can be combined to reach the figure. A mortgaged property qualifies once AED 1 million has been paid.

Combination. AED 1 million in total, made of a three-year fixed deposit and a property of at least AED 500,000 each.

UAE retirement visa cost: about AED 3,715 per person

Visit Dubai gives the all-in figure: once GDRFA or the Land Department approves, AED 3,714.75 per applicant, about US$1,010, covering the entry permit, change of status, residency stamping, Emirates ID, medical examination and management fees. GDRFA itemises its own lines, among them AED 2,280 in residence fees and AED 575 for the identity card, with AED 100 added to the issuance fee for each year beyond two.

Health insurance comes after approval, not before. Visit Dubai's guidance says the application can start without it; after the medical test you buy a plan, from a local insurer or by keeping an international one with a letter confirming it covers the UAE.

Tax for retirees in the UAE: no income tax, and a certificate that needs days

The UAE levies no personal income tax, so a foreign pension is not taxed there. Whether that helps depends on your home country: a pension can stay taxable at home unless you can show you are resident in the UAE, and the certificate that proves it, the Federal Tax Authority's tax residency certificate, is not automatic with the visa. It needs 183 days in the UAE, or 90 days with a residence permit and a home or a job, or a centre of life there. How the days are counted, and which certificate to ask for, is in the guide to the UAE tax residency certificate.

A US citizen remains taxed by the United States on citizenship, wherever he lives.

Dubai retirement visa or golden visa

A retiree with AED 2 million in property can take the ten-year investor golden visa instead, with no age or service condition. A retiree with AED 1 million can take only the retirement visa, which runs five years. The investor routes and their history are in the UAE golden visa guide.

Frequently asked questions

Where this sits in the rest of the site

The investor golden visa and what changed in it is in the UAE golden visa guide. The tax residency certificate is in its own guide. Dubai after the 2026 changes is in Dubai in 2026: what changed, and rents and utility bills in the cost of living in Dubai. Retiring in the Mediterranean instead is compared in retiring in Greece, Malta and Cyprus. Every figure here is traced on the sources page. How this route compares with five other countries, on income, cost, term and pension tax, is in countries with a retirement visa.

If Dubai is where you plan to retire

We do not sell property and we do not give legal or tax advice. What we do is put a person who knows what they are asking in front of a licensed adviser in the UAE. The question that decides this route is rarely the AED 240,000. It is whether your pension can be routed through a Dubai bank for six months before you apply, and whether your home country will accept that you have left. Send it through the enquiry form. We take no part in the fee.

Sources: where each figure comes from

• Age, service, AED 240,000, AED 1 million, the 60-day deposit rule, the mortgaged property, five years renewable, the fee lines: GDRFA Dubai, "Issuing a residence permit for the retired foreigner", terms and conditions and fees, last updated 22 December 2023, read 25 October 2026.
• The Dubai bank statement, the attested letters, the three-year fixed deposit, the Land Department route, not off-plan, the combination, AED 3,714.75, health insurance after approval: Visit Dubai, "Apply for the retirement visa", read 25 October 2026.
• AED 180,000 and no service condition: Invest in Dubai, "Retirement residency visa", read 25 October 2026.
• 15 years or 55, AED 240,000: ICP, service page for the retiree category, last updated 11 December 2024, read 25 October 2026.
• The tax residency tests: Cabinet Decision No. 85 of 2022, as recorded on our UAE tax residency certificate page. The dirham's peg of 3.6725 to the US dollar.
• Not published here: which of GDRFA's "and" and ICP's "or" an emirate other than Dubai applies in practice; and whether the AED 180,000 figure was ever in force in Dubai.