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Golden Visa Fees: Every Line Item, Priced
The short answer
There is no single golden visa fee. The General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs in Dubai prices the permit itself as a block of separate lines — a residence permit fee, a knowledge dirham of AED 10, an innovation dirham of AED 10, a fee for completing the transaction inside the country, a delivery fee of AED 20, and an uplift of AED 100 for each year the residency runs beyond two. The Emirates ID is charged separately by the federal identity authority at AED 100 per year of residence plus an AED 100 smart service fee, the medical fitness examination is charged by the testing centre, and property applicants pay Dubai Land Department fees on top of all of it.
Ask what a golden visa costs and you will be quoted a number. Ask which authority charges it, and the number stops being a number — it becomes six or seven lines, levied by three different bodies, and the total depends on which of them is handling your file and on the category you qualify under.
That gap is where most of the anxiety about this route sits. It is not that the fees are large. It is that nobody itemises them, so a quote cannot be checked against anything. For those considering operating with an onshore trade licence, understanding fee structures is crucial.
Everything below comes from the authorities' own published service cards. Figures above roughly AED 300 are rounded here and labelled approximate; the exact posted amount is on the card, and it is the card that governs, not this page.
The permit lines, as the GDRFA states them
The Dubai residency authority publishes a service card for each golden residence category — investors, specialised scientists, top students, first line of defence, and the rest. The eligibility conditions differ completely between them. The fee block does not: the same lines appear on every card.
Two of those lines are worth pausing on. The knowledge dirham and the innovation dirham are AED 10 each — genuinely ten dirhams, not a rounding of something larger — and they attach to almost every federal transaction, so seeing them on a quote is a sign the quote was built from the real card. The 'fee inside the country' line, around AED 500, is the one people mistake for a penalty. It is the charge for completing the permit while you are already in the UAE rather than entering on it, which is the ordinary case for anyone already resident. This is similar to how UAE business licence variable fees can vary based on specific circumstances.
- Residence permit fee — approximately AED 1,100
- Knowledge dirham — AED 10
- Innovation dirham — AED 10
- Fee inside the country — approximately AED 500
- Delivery — AED 20
- Plus AED 100 for each year the residency runs beyond two
Emirates ID is priced per year, which is why ten years looks expensive
The federal identity authority prices a new identity card for residents at AED 100 per year of residence, with an AED 100 smart service fee on top, and an urgent service fee of AED 150 if you want it handled at one of the authority's own service centres. A ten-year golden visa therefore carries roughly AED 1,100 of card before anyone has been quick about it. The Dubai Land Department's bundled golden visa service card puts the ten-year Emirates ID at approximately AED 1,150, which is the same arithmetic with the service fee inside it.
This is the single line that most often makes a golden visa quote look inflated against a two-year residence permit. It is not inflated. It is ten years of card bought at once, and it is the only line on the list that scales directly with the length of the visa.
The medical, and the two things that are not on any card
A medical fitness certificate is a condition of the residence visas for the founding team, not an optional extra, and the UAE government portal sets out the tests involved. The fee is charged by the testing centre rather than by the residency authority, which is why no single federal price is published for it. The Dubai Land Department's bundled card prices the examination at approximately AED 700; centres and service tiers differ, and a same-day or premium tier costs more. This process is akin to forming a free-zone company, where specific requirements and fees can vary.
Nomination is the first thing that is not on a card. The talent categories require an endorsement or nomination letter from the relevant body — Dubai Culture and Arts Authority, the Ministry of Economy, the General Sports Authority, the Emirates Council for Artificial Intelligence and Digital Transactions, among others — and the GDRFA lists that letter as a required document without publishing a fee for it. If someone quotes you a 'nomination fee', they are quoting their own charge for obtaining the letter, not a government one.
Attestation and translation are the second. Degree certificates, patents, foreign court documents and academic transcripts frequently need attesting, and that is priced by the attesting body and the translator. It is real money and it is nobody's visa fee.
The property route adds Dubai Land Department lines
Where the qualifying basis is real estate, the Dubai Land Department runs the application as a bundled service and prices the whole ten-year package on one card. That card is the most useful published document on this subject, because it is the only place the lines appear together with a total.
The department's own fees are the largest single item, and they exist because the property has to be verified and a valuation certificate produced before the residency authority sees the file at all.
The Dubai Land Department's golden visa service card, ten-year permit. Figures above AED 300 rounded and approximate.
Medical examination
- Charged by
- Testing centre
- Approximately
- AED 700
Emirates ID, ten years
- Charged by
- Federal identity authority
- Approximately
- AED 1,150
Confirmation of residency permit, ten years
- Charged by
- Residency authority
- Approximately
- AED 2,860
Dubai Land Department fees
- Charged by
- Dubai Land Department
- Approximately
- AED 4,020
Administrative fees
- Charged by
- Dubai Land Department
- Approximately
- AED 1,155
Card total
- Charged by
- —
- Approximately
- AED 9,900
Family member, each
- Charged by
- Bundled
- Approximately
- AED 5,775, plus about AED 320 file opening
| Line | Charged by | Approximately |
|---|---|---|
| Medical examination | Testing centre | AED 700 |
| Emirates ID, ten years | Federal identity authority | AED 1,150 |
| Confirmation of residency permit, ten years | Residency authority | AED 2,860 |
| Dubai Land Department fees | Dubai Land Department | AED 4,020 |
| Administrative fees | Dubai Land Department | AED 1,155 |
| Card total | — | AED 9,900 |
| Family member, each | Bundled | AED 5,775, plus about AED 320 file opening |
What we do not publish, and why
Every figure on this page is an authority cost. None of them is our fee, and we do not publish ours on a blog post, because a professional fee that is honest about scope cannot be reduced to a number that applies to a scientist's nomination and a two-property portfolio alike.
What that means practically is that you can take this list to any provider, including us, and ask which lines are government and which are theirs. A provider who cannot separate the two on request is not a provider whose total you can check.
In short
What to take from this
- There is no single golden visa fee — the permit, the Emirates ID, the medical and, for property applicants, the land department all charge separately.
- The GDRFA fee block is the same across every golden residence category, even though eligibility is not.
- The knowledge and innovation dirhams are AED 10 each; delivery is AED 20; the inside-country fee is around AED 500 and is not a penalty.
- Emirates ID is AED 100 per year of residence plus an AED 100 smart service fee, so ten years costs about AED 1,100 in one go.
- The Dubai Land Department's bundled property-route card totals approximately AED 9,900 for a ten-year permit.
- How much are the government fees for a UAE golden visa?
- The GDRFA in Dubai publishes a residence permit fee of approximately AED 1,100, a knowledge dirham of AED 10, an innovation dirham of AED 10, a fee inside the country of approximately AED 500, delivery of AED 20, and AED 100 for each year beyond two. The Emirates ID and the medical examination are charged separately, and the property route adds Dubai Land Department fees.
- Is there a separate government fee for a golden visa nomination?
- The GDRFA service cards list a nomination or endorsement letter from the relevant authority as a required document and publish no fee for it. A quoted 'nomination fee' is a provider's charge for obtaining the letter, not a government charge.
- What does the Emirates ID cost on a ten-year golden visa?
- The federal identity authority charges AED 100 per year of residence plus an AED 100 smart service fee, so a ten-year card is around AED 1,100. The Dubai Land Department's bundled golden visa card puts it at approximately AED 1,150. An urgent service at one of the authority's centres adds AED 150.
- What is the 'fee inside the country' on a golden residence service card?
- It is the charge for completing the permit while the applicant is already inside the UAE rather than entering on the permit from abroad. The GDRFA cards state it at AED 500. It is a standard line, not a fine or a late charge.
Sources
Where this comes from
- GDRFA Dubai — issuing a golden residence permit (investors)
- GDRFA Dubai — issuing a golden residence permit (specialised scientists)
- Dubai Land Department — golden visa application, investor
- ICP — new identity card issuance fees
- UAE Government portal — medical test for residence visa
- UAE Government portal — golden visa
This page is general information about UAE business setup, not legal, tax, immigration, or banking advice. Rules, fees, permitted activities, and bank policies can change. Final eligibility depends on your facts and the applicable rules at the time of application.