Short-term rental and the Dubai Golden Visa
Letting a Dubai property, including short stays, is not a Golden Visa category and it does not replace the AED 2 million purchase-value test. The visa still depends on title in your name. DLD’s FAQ allows a mortgagor to manage the mortgaged property and receive its revenue, which is not a ban on rent, and it is also not a holiday-home permit. Running a holiday home is a tourism-licence activity under DET. THAJ can look at that licence. The licence does not issue the visa.
Rent does not change the visa test
ICP and DLD care that the property is wholly in the applicant’s name and that the purchase value meets AED 2 million, with the mortgage and off-plan conditions on the property guide. Income you collect is not added to the purchase price. A full calendar on a holiday-home platform does not repair a purchase value under AED 2 million. The commercial property page already says rental income is not a substitute for the value test. Short stays are the same point, not a friendlier one.
DLD’s mortgage FAQ says the law permits the mortgagor to manage the mortgaged property and receive its revenue. Rent is revenue. That sentence is not a Golden Visa approval, and it does not remove the bank no-objection letter DLD asks for when the visa property is mortgaged. Read mortgage and the Golden Visa for the letter. If you sell, assign the off-plan contract, or transfer the title into a management company, you are on the selling question. A management contract is not automatically a sale. The pages we cite do not give an exclusive holiday-home contract its own visa outcome, so ask DLD before you sign away control of a property you are using for the permit.
The holiday-home licence is a different file
DET’s mainland licence types include a tourism licence for hospitality such as hotels, holiday homes and timeshares. That is a trade licence. It is described on the trade licence types page. It is how Dubai expects a holiday-home activity to be licensed. It is not evidence for a Golden Visa.
- If you only own the home and someone else is the licensed operator, your visa question is still your name on the title.
- If you will operate the holiday home yourself, the activity has to sit on a licence that allows it. THAJ sets that up as business setup work and keeps it current as PRO.
- A company that owns the unit is not you. Personal Golden Visa property and a company title are different files. See commercial property.
- How rental income is treated for corporate tax is on the tax benefits page. The FTA position cited there is about tax, not about whether the visa survives.
THAJ does not publish a holiday-home package price, a nightly rate, or a guaranteed occupancy. Those are not government fees we have cited.
Frequently asked questions
Can I Airbnb a property and still use it for a Golden Visa?
Short-term letting is not a visa category. The title and the AED 2 million purchase value still have to qualify. Operating the holiday home needs the right DET licence, which is separate from the visa.
Does rental income count toward AED 2 million?
No. DLD uses the purchase value at the time of purchase. Rent is not added to it.
Can I rent out a mortgaged Golden Visa property?
DLD’s FAQ says a mortgagor may manage the property and receive its revenue. You still need the bank letter the visa service asks for, and you should not assume the bank’s mortgage terms allow the kind of letting you plan.
Will THAJ get me a holiday-home permit and the visa in one product?
They are two authorities and two files. We will not sell them as one package with one price.
Official sources
Facts on this page were checked against these sources on 5 November 2026. Rules and fees can change; the authority’s current page always prevails.
- Golden Visa application — Investor (fees, documents, terms) — Dubai Land Department (DLD)
- Frequently asked questions (escrow, trustee office fee, auction registration, mortgagor revenue) — Dubai Land Department (DLD)
- Golden Residency Guide — Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs & Port Security (ICP)
- Business licensing — licence types and set-up process — Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism (DET)
- Business set-up options: mainland or free zone — Government of Dubai (dubai.ae)
Separate the title from the letting
Send the title and say who will operate the stays. We will tell you which file is a visa and which is a licence.