How to send money to Dubai to buy a property

Where your money needs to go

Before thinking about how to send the money, you need to know where it goes. That depends on what you buy.

If you buy off-plan, plan instalments go by law into the project’s escrow account at an approved bank. The bank only releases money to the developer as construction reaches each stage. The account number is in your contract and payment letter, and you can check it in the DLD’s Dubai REST app.

If you buy a ready home, payment happens on transfer day at a DLD trustee office. Fees can be paid by ePay, Dubai Pay, the Noqodi wallet or a manager’s cheque, and the price is paid to the seller as that transaction’s payment schedule says, almost always by manager’s cheques. A UAE bank issues a manager’s cheque against an account, so the usual step is to send the money to your UAE account first.

If you do not yet have a UAE account, the guide to opening a UAE bank account as a non-resident covers which banks allow it and what they ask for.

Three ways to send the money

There are three routes, and you can mix them. Many buyers use one for the deposit and another for the instalments.

Your usual bank is the simplest, because it already knows you and your history. In exchange, it usually adds a wider margin to the exchange rate.

An international payment firm usually offers a tighter rate. Before using one, check it is authorised by the financial regulator in your country, such as the FCA in the UK, and that it lets you send the amount you need to a company account in the Emirates. Some developers ask for the transfer to come from an account in the buyer’s name, so also check the developer accepts it.

Your own UAE account makes sense for a ready purchase, if your plan has post-dated cheques or if you will pay many instalments. You send money to your account when the rate suits you and pay from there in dirhams.

We help you choose the route that fits your payment plan and confirm what each developer accepts.

Converting to dirhams: where most money is lost

The dirham is pegged to the dollar: 1 dollar is always worth AED 3.6725. So if you pay in dollars, the rate does not move. If you pay in pounds or euros, what each instalment costs depends on how your currency stands against the dollar that day. GBP to AED is simply the pound-dollar rate multiplied by 3.6725.

What you really pay is the rate applied by whoever converts the money, and that rate includes a margin. The transfer fee is usually small and visible. The margin is not, and on a purchase it weighs much more:

Approximate figures, for illustration only.

To see what margin you are being charged, compare the rate offered with the day’s reference rate. Always ask for the total leaving your account and the total arriving in dirhams before you confirm.

The other decision is who converts. If you send pounds and let the receiving bank convert, you only learn the rate afterwards and the exact amount may not arrive. The safest option is to send dirhams, converted at source, so exactly what your contract asks for arrives. Some developers ask for this and adjust any difference in the next instalment.

If you are paying several instalments, spreading them over time also spreads the currency risk. See what falls due at each stage in the off-plan calculator, which already has an AED 1,000,000 60/40 plan set up, and switch the currency to dollars or euros to see it in yours.

Fees and who pays them

On an international transfer your bank, an intermediary bank along the way and the receiving bank may all charge. If fees are taken from the amount sent, the escrow account receives less than the contract asks for and the developer may claim the difference.

• Ask for all charges to be paid by you, so the full amount arrives. Your bank will tell you what that option is called in its app or website.
• Ask for the total cost: fixed fee, exchange margin and any intermediary charges.
• If you pay many instalments, compare two or three options once. The difference repeats on every transfer.

The other costs of buying, from the 4% DLD fee to the trustee office charges, are in the guide to the costs of buying in Dubai.

How long a transfer to Dubai takes

An international transfer usually takes one to several working days, depending on your bank, the currency and the banks involved. Allow for public holidays in your country and in the Emirates, which do not match.

• Send with time to spare before each plan date. If the contract has late payment charges, what counts is when the money arrives, not when you send it.
• The first large transfer takes longer, because your bank may hold it to review where the money comes from. Let it know beforehand and send the paperwork.
• On a ready purchase, the money needs to be in your UAE account a few days before transfer day so the bank can issue the cheques in time.

The paperwork your bank will ask for

Anti-money laundering rules require your bank to know where the money comes from and what it is for. In the Emirates, the developer and the agency also have to identify you and know the source of funds, known as KYC. Have these ready as PDFs:

• The sale and purchase agreement, the SPA, or the booking form if there is no SPA yet.
• The developer’s payment letter, with the destination account and amount.
• Your passport and proof of address.
• Where the money comes from: salary, sale of another property, inheritance, savings, dividends or sale of investments.
• If the money comes from crypto, your exchange and wallet history.

With these to hand, the transfer goes through without holds. We help you gather what the developer asks for and prepare the proof before each payment.

How to check the destination account and avoid fraud

The most serious risk is not the exchange rate but sending money to the wrong account. Some scams slip into an email thread and send changed bank details that look official.

• A UAE IBAN has 23 characters and starts with AE, followed by two check digits and three digits identifying the bank. If it does not fit, stop.
• Off-plan, the account holder must be the project escrow account, not just the developer or a person. Check it in Dubai REST.
• Never pay into an agent’s personal account or a third party’s.
• If the account is changed by email or message, send nothing until you confirm it by phone on a number you already had, not the one in the message.
• Send a small amount first if it is your first payment to that account and time allows.

To check the project and developer, see the guide to verifying an off-plan project. Before each payment, we check the destination account with you.

Your first transfer, step by step

1. Ask the developer for the payment letter, with the amount in dirhams, the account and your unit reference.
2. Check the account in Dubai REST or with the developer’s phone number you already had.
3. Compare the rate at your bank and one other option, with the total leaving and the total arriving.
4. Tell your bank and send it the contract and proof of where the money comes from.
5. Send in dirhams, with charges paid by you, and your name, unit and customer number in the reference.
6. Send the transfer receipt to the developer and ask for the official receipt.
7. Keep everything: transfer receipt, official receipt and the developer’s statement of account.

The receipts prove what you have paid, satisfy your bank and help you declare correctly at home. How each stage is paid, from the EOI to handover, is in the guide to payment methods.

Sending money to Dubai from the UK or the US

From anywhere, the transfer is international and arrives in dirhams. What changes is your currency, what your bank asks for and what you declare at home. Cash is rarely a good idea: entering the Emirates with more than AED 60,000 in cash, about $16,300, must be declared at customs. If you do not travel to sign, you will need a power of attorney, and as the UAE is not part of the Apostille Convention it is legalised in a chain: notary, your foreign ministry, the UAE embassy and the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Sending money to Dubai from the UK

What you pay in pounds moves with the pound-dollar rate, because the dirham is pegged to the dollar. If you use a payment firm, check it is on the FCA register. A bank transfer is not declared at the border, but taking £10,000 or more in cash between Great Britain and a country outside the UK must be declared. If you are UK resident and let the home, the rent normally goes on your return to HMRC. Dubai is 4 hours ahead of the UK in winter and 3 in summer.

Sending money to Dubai from the US

Paying in dollars carries no currency risk, because the dirham is pegged to the dollar. A bank wire is not declared at the border. Cash is: leaving the US with more than $10,000 must be reported to CBP on FinCEN Form 105. If you open a UAE account and your foreign accounts exceed $10,000, you file an FBAR, and the rent is reported to the IRS. New York and Miami are 9 hours behind Dubai in winter and 8 in summer.

From anywhere else

The approach is the same: an international transfer in dirhams or dollars, with your contract to hand in case your bank asks. For what you declare at home, ask a tax adviser in your country.

Wherever you live, we tell you which account each payment goes to and when, and go through every transfer with you.

Mistakes that cost the most

• Accepting the first exchange rate without comparing it.
• Sending pounds or euros and letting the receiving bank convert.
• Letting fees come off the amount so less than the contract asks for arrives.
• Sending the day before the plan date.
• Paying an account received by email without confirming it.
• Not warning your bank before the first large transfer.
• Not having the money in your UAE account in time for the transfer-day cheques.
• Not keeping the receipts.

Things to keep in mind

• Off-plan, money goes into the project escrow account. Check it in Dubai REST.
• For a ready home, the seller is paid on transfer day, usually by manager’s cheque from a UAE bank.
• The dirham is pegged to the dollar at 3.6725.
• The exchange margin weighs more than the fee: always compare it.
• Send in dirhams, with charges paid by you.
• Have your contract and proof of the source of funds ready.
• A UAE IBAN has 23 characters and starts with AE.

If you are buying, we tell you which account each payment goes to and when, help you prepare the paperwork for your bank and check every transfer with you.

Frequently asked questions

Keep reading

Payment methods and EOIs when buying off-plan in DubaiOpening a UAE bank account as a non-residentDubai property buying costs

See all guides