What does emigrating to Dubai cost?
Answer four questions and you have an honest range for your situation. Every item shows whether it's a checked rate or an estimate. The paperwork costs hundreds of dirhams here. The money is in the year's rent up front, the school and the buffer Dubai asks of you.
Looking for the whole route to Dubai, not just the costs? See the steps, the order and the paperwork →
A rough indication for your situation
A few short questions, and you get a range instead of an amount. That's deliberate: an exact figure would suggest a precision nobody has.
Count on a total of
€ 6.300 – € 20.000
Where does that difference come from?
- The first months€ 6.000 – € 18.000
Below you'll find per item where the upper and the lower limit come from.
- Aanvraag en papieren
- € 100 – € 1.300
- De verhuizing
- € 250 – € 700
- De eerste maanden
- € 6.000 – € 18.000
Every item, one by onePer item the amount, the source and whether it's a rate or an estimate
Aanvraag en papieren
- Emirates ID€ 50 – € 50
- Visa, medical examination and sponsorship(estimate)€ 0 – € 1.000
The amount depends on who pays for the visa. By law the employer bears the cost of the employee's own work visa. What remains is the family you sponsor: the family members who get their visa through your residence permit. Per family member you pay an entry permit, a medical examination and visa fees. On top of that come service charges, which differ per channel and per emirate. Anyone coming without an employer (on a Golden, Green, remote or retirement visa) pays everything themselves and sits at the top of the band. Market indication per person: AED 1,500-4,000 (dirham) all in.
- Legalising documents(estimate)€ 60 – € 250
De verhuizing
- Travel(estimate)€ 250 – € 700
The season really counts here, which is why the band is wider than for the European destinations. You pay a one-way flight Amsterdam-Dubai per person, plus hold luggage.
De eerste maanden
- The first months(estimate)€ 6.000 – € 18.000
This is the biggest item of this route, because in Dubai you pay in advance. The legal standard is a year's rent in at most four instalments up front, often in cheques. Add to that: the deposit, the agent's commission, the housing fee (a housing charge of 5% of the annual rent), the deposit for DEWA, the electricity and water company (AED 2,000 for a flat, 4,000 for a villa), and registration of your tenancy contract in Ejari. If you have children, count the first school term: all education is private. And almost everyone buys a car in the first months. Without a buffer of your own, Dubai does not start.
And if you buy a house?
This calculation assumes renting: the first months include deposit and rent in advance.
If you buy, count on 4 to 8% of the purchase price on top of this amount. On a home of € 250,000 that's € 10.000 to € 20.000.
What you pay depends on how you buy: in cash, count on 4 to 6%; with a mortgage it runs to 6 to 8%. The biggest item is the 4% transfer fee of the Dubai Land Department, Dubai's land registry. Formally the seller shares it; in practice the buyer pays the whole amount. Add administration fees (AED 4,700 to 5,500). For an existing home you also pay 2% agent's commission plus VAT. If you buy directly from the developer, that commission lapses. Foreigners pay exactly the same rate as residents.
Note: buying isn't simply allowed here
Full ownership is possible only in the designated freehold areas, where outright ownership is allowed. There you buy as a foreigner with one hundred per cent ownership. There are many such areas by now: Dubai Marina, Downtown, Palm Jumeirah, JVC, Business Bay and more. Even so, it is not a free choice across the whole city.
An order of magnitude based on averages, not a quote. The real amounts depend on your occupation, your route, the season and dozens of choices you still have to make.
Rates checked on 21 August 2026.
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