Buy off-plan and you do not get a Title Deed — there is nothing finished to issue one against. Your right is recorded in the provisional register through the Oqood system. Here is the process from Dubai Land Department's own service pages: who registers, within what deadline, at what fees, and how to check the record exists.
Figures verified against official sources on 2026-09-13. Rates and fees are set by UAE authorities and can change — primary sources are linked at every figure and at the end.
Off-plan purchases make up a large share of Dubai transactions. And almost every buyer has the same uneasy question in the first month: the money is paid, so what exactly do I hold? No Title Deed was issued, and a developer contract is a contract, not ownership.
The answer is that an unfinished property has its own, provisional registration track. It is called Oqood.
What the provisional register is
Dubai Land Department describes the initial sale registration service like this:
"This service allows a real estate developer to register units sold off-plan or land plots whose value has not been fully paid at the provisional register." — DLD, Request to register the initial sale
So the provisional register exists precisely for the case where the property is not yet completed or not yet fully paid. The application is filed by the developer, through the Oqood portal — not by the buyer.
The deadline worth knowing
This is the key practical figure of the article:
"The sale and purchase contract shall be registered in the provisional register within 90 days from the date of signing the contract."
90 days from the date of signing. If more time has passed and you have seen no confirmation of registration, that is grounds to ask your developer a direct question — not to wait until handover.
Fees on initial registration
The DLD service page lists them outright:
| Item | Amount | source |
|---|---|---|
| Seller | 2% of sale value | verify |
| Purchaser | 2% of sale value | verify |
| Knowledge fee | AED 10 | verify |
| Innovation fee | AED 10 | verify |
| Developer self-registration fee | AED 1,000 | verify |
Note the wording: the regulation splits 2% and 2% between the parties. How that split reads in your particular contract is a matter for the contract — worth reading before signing rather than after.
For an individual, the page names a copy of the sale and purchase contract, a copy of a valid Emirates ID, and a copy of a valid passport for non-residents.
And what a Title Deed is
The Title Deed is the certificate of ownership of a completed property. DLD has a separate service for issuing it, and its page states exact amounts:
| Item | Amount | source |
|---|---|---|
| Title Deed certificate issuance | AED 250 | verify |
| Map issuance | AED 120 | verify |
| Knowledge fee | AED 10 | verify |
| Innovation fee | AED 10 | verify |
| Total | AED 390 | verify |
Processing time on the service page is 5 minutes, delivered as an electronic link.
⚠️ An important caveat we will not paper over. On that particular service page, the eligibility field reads "Emirati Citizen". We do not know from that document what the process and cost are for other categories of owner, and we will not fill the gap with a guess. If you are not a UAE national, confirm the issuance process directly with Dubai Land Department.
What a buyer should actually do
- Verify the contract is registered. Not "the developer said so" — the record. DLD runs its own checking services, including Title Deed verification.
- Count 90 days from signing. That is a deadline from the regulation, not a market custom.
- Read who bears the 2% + 2% in your contract. The regulation names both sides; a contract may allocate it differently.
- Do not conflate Oqood with a Title Deed. The first records your right to a property under construction; the second is the certificate for a completed one. Moving from one to the other follows a procedure, not automatically from payment.
What we are deliberately NOT claiming
- The process and cost of Title Deed issuance for non-nationals — the service page we quote states a different applicant category, and we do not present a guess as fact.
- Who in your deal actually pays the 2% + 2% — that is a matter of contract, not a general rule.
- Amounts and deadlines can change by decision of Dubai Land Department; check the service page before paying.
- This is not legal advice, it is a reading of published regulations.
Sources
- DLD — Request to register the initial sale — provisional register, Oqood portal, 90-day deadline, fees 2% + 2% + AED 10 + AED 10 + AED 1,000.
- DLD — Issue Title Deed — AED 250 + 120 + 10 + 10 = AED 390, 5 minutes, applicant category.
- DLD — Title Deed verification — certificate checking.
