Paying off the loan does not by itself lift the charge on the property — that takes a separate service. It costs AED 1,000 plus AED 250 for the title deed and takes 10 to 15 minutes. The card's main point is not the price: only a regular release goes online through the bank, while usufruct, provisional, portfolio and pre-sale releases require a trip to a registrar's office.
Checked against the official source on 17 September 2026: the Dubai Land Department service card "Mortgage release application". The page was read in its raw form; every figure carries its source link, and the source is listed at the end.
Mortgage registration and transfer, with their 0.25% rate, we covered separately. That chain has an exit people think about last: lifting the charge once the loan is repaid. The loan is closed — the entry stays in the register until a separate application is filed.
Five kinds of release inside one service
The card lists them verbatim: regular mortgage release, usufruct mortgage release, provisional mortgage release, provisional registration mortgage release, and portfolio mortgage release. Separately named is release in favour of UAE citizens' housing institutions, not only banks.
Price and time
| Line | Amount | Where stated |
|---|---|---|
| Mortgage removal | AED 1,000 | DLD card |
| Issuance of a title deed or usufruct title deed | AED 250 | DLD card |
| Knowledge fee per drawing | AED 10 | DLD card |
| Innovation fee per drawing | AED 10 | DLD card |
| Service partner fee | AED 300 + VAT | DLD card |
| Service time | 10–15 minutes | DLD card |
The AED 250 line is tied to a condition, and that matters: it is charged in case of an ordinary mortgage and the existence of an ordinary title deed or a usufruct title deed. The very same wording appears on the mortgage registration and transfer cards — the Department repeats it across the whole mortgage cluster.
A comparison worth keeping in mind. Registration is charged on the loan amount — 0.25%. Release is a flat AED 1,000 regardless of the size of the debt. On a two-million loan, registration cost AED 5,000; releasing that same charge costs a thousand.
The card's main point: two doors, and the second is wider
There are two channels — the online mortgage system on the Department's website, and Real Estate Registration Trustee centres. But you cannot always choose between them, and the card's note says so plainly:
"For mortgage removal applications followed by a sale procedure, a usufruct mortgage, provisional mortgage removal, provisional registration mortgage removal, portfolio mortgage removal, or mortgage removal followed by a procedure, one must move to a registrar's office to submit the application, either for regular mortgage removal application only via banks (on-line mortgage system)"
In substance: only a regular release goes online through the bank. Everything else goes to a registrar's office in person:
- a release followed by a sale;
- a usufruct mortgage;
- a provisional mortgage release;
- a provisional registration mortgage release;
- a portfolio mortgage release;
- a release followed by any other procedure.
The first item is the most common in real life. The classic scenario — "I repay the mortgage out of the buyer's money and transfer the property the same day" — does not go online by this card: it is a "release followed by a sale" and requires attendance at a registrar's office. Do not plan completion day around an online release.
Documents: different per channel, and both short
Through the bank (online mortgage system), regular release only: the owner's Emirates ID — and the card specifies that it is presented for identification only, no copy is submitted.
Through registrar offices: a letter from the bank for mortgage removal, plus the same Emirates ID on the same terms.
Note what is not on the list: no settlement certificate, no account statement, no loan agreement. What is required is the bank's letter; everything else is a question for the bank, not the Department. All documents are uploaded through the Department's digital safe.
Who does what in the procedure
The online route is built so that the application is filed by the bank, not the owner: the customer prepares the requirements with the bank, a bank employee enters the documents into the system, the bank's auditor checks the transaction, it then goes to the Department for auditing, and the Department's fees are deducted from the bank's account. The output reaches the customer by email.
The practical conclusion: if an online release is "not moving", the address for that question is the bank — on that route the bank is the initiator.
The centre route is the usual one: visit, completeness check, data entry by an employee, audit, payment and receipt, delivery by email.
What you actually receive
The card lists: a mortgage release letter (if registered), a title deed or usufruct title deed, or a statement certificate, or a provisional sale registration certificate (Oqoudi), plus the fee balance. A separate line says all outputs are e-deliverables.
The qualifier "if registered" is not a formality. It means the release letter is not issued in every case, and what follows from that the card does not explain.
Payment methods are broader than usual: ePay, the Sadad Dubai platform, Noqodi, and a manager's cheque in favour of the Land Department. Applicant status: UAE citizen, resident or tourist.
What we are not claiming here
- What the bank itself charges for a release. The card names only Department and partner fees. Bank commissions are their own tariffs, and we do not reproduce them.
- How long the bank's letter takes. The 10–15 minutes applies to the Department's service, not to preparing documents at the bank.
- What happens on partial repayment. The card describes a release, not a reduction of the charge.
- Why the release letter is qualified by "if registered". The condition is stated; no explanation is given.
- The amount of VAT on the partner fee. It is printed as "AED 300 + VAT" with no total, and we do not compute one for the Department.
Sources
- Mortgage release application — Dubai Land Department service card: five kinds of release and release in favour of UAE citizens' housing institutions, fees (AED 1,000 for removal, AED 250 for the title deed where an ordinary mortgage and an ordinary or usufruct title deed exist, AED 10 each for knowledge and innovation per drawing, partner AED 300 + VAT), 10–15 minutes, two channels and the note that only a regular release goes online through banks, documents per channel (bank letter, Emirates ID presented without a copy, upload through the digital safe), the procedure with the bank filing and fees deducted from the bank's account, the list of outputs and their electronic form, payment methods including a manager's cheque, applicant status — citizen, resident, tourist.
