Before entering into a long-term lease agreement for one year, Dubai residents are required to provide property owners will certain documentation to meet the legal residency requirements. The tenant needs valid Dubai documentation to get the necessary services connected to the unit. Without it, the landlord won’t be able to register the lease and secure their legal rights. The responsibility falls on the property owner to ensure that all the documentation is in place before entering into a standard one-year renter’s agreement.

This is why when Dubai landlords are considering renting to a tenant for long-term lease they need to be sure that the tenant is able to provide the proper documents to prove their Dubai residency status. So what exactly is the documentation that landlord’s need to collect? Here is everything Dubai property owners need to know about establishing resident status.

Who is eligible to apply for standard long-term lease contracts in Dubai?

Only Dubai residents are eligible to apply for long-term lease contracts in Dubai. This includes:

• Residents of Dubai
• Anybody with a valid Dubai Residency Visa

To obtain a valid Residence Visa, a prospective tenant must be officially employed in Dubai. In this case, they will be sponsored by their employer. Property owners can include the name of the employer as well on the lease contract.

What type of visa is required to rent in Dubai?

A prospective tenant needs to be able to provide the necessary residency requirements documentation to the landlord before signing the lease.

It is important for Dubai property owners to keep in mind that a tourist visa will not suffice for the purposes of a standard long-term renter’s agreement. In some cases, a tenant may lose their job during the course of tenancy. This could lead to having their resident status downgraded to a tourist status. This is why it is important for Dubai landlords to not only ensure that residency requirements are met before signing the initial leasing contract but also before re-entering into a renewed rental contract with an already existing tenant.

The three documents needed to establish UEA resident status:

The Dubai Land Department (DLD) requires a tenant to provide the following documentation to establish their residency requirements. It is important for landlords to collect all the necessary documentation before registering the lease.

• A copy of a valid passport
• A copy of the renter’s UAE resident visa or alternately, a letter from the employer stating that the residency is being processed. In the case that the visa is being processed, the employer or sponsor should be named on the lease. As well as the tenant.
• Statement of income from the employer

Additional DLD requirements also include:

• A signed application for tenancy with all relevant information provided
• A security deposit. Four weeks of rent is the typical standard.
• Rent cheques. One rent cheque for three months rent and three more post-dated rent cheques covering four-month periods is standard but the landlord may decide how the payments are to be processed.

Property owners might also want to note that while not legally required, it is also a good idea to ask for either a salary certificate or a bank statement to ensure that the tenant will comfortably be able to make the rent payments.

Rental good conduct certificates

The Rental Disputes Settlement Centre makes it easier to find out if renters have had any recorded issues while renting in the past. The service is accessible to both individuals and real-estate management companies. The service is easily accessible by simply downloading the service’s easy to use Android or iPhone App.

This information can help with deciding whether you should enter into a rental agreement with a prospective tenant. If all is clear, the app will issue a Rental Good Conduct (RGC Certificate), which can be issued to either the tenant themselves or a potential landlord upon request. As such, it can be a good idea to ask prospective tenants to provide this RGC certificate. This ensures that they haven’t had any issues in the past.

Being a property owner is Dubai can be tough. There are a lot of legalities to abide by. It is important for property owners to take the time to do their research to fully understand their legal responsibilities. At Blueground, we provide a solution to make property ownership in Dubai a lot easier. When Dubai landlords lease their property to us, they no longer have to worry about vetting prospective clients or collecting all the required documentation because we handle it for them. Our partnerships with multinational companies ensure that we take senior business executives among other trustworthy tenants that ensure landlords will always get the rent on time with no headaches.