Oqood is the Dubai Land Department system that registers off-plan property sales on the Interim Property Register. Your developer files it after you sign the SPA, you pay 4 percent of the purchase price, and the DLD issues an oqood certificate. It is the interim equivalent of a title deed, and it converts into a real title deed at handover.
The reason this matters more than any other piece of paperwork in an off-plan purchase: under Article 3 of Dubai Law No. 13 of 2008, a sale that is not entered in that register is void. Not disputed, not weakened. Void.
What oqood means
The oqood meaning is simple. Oqood is the Arabic word for "contracts", and the DLD uses it as the name of the platform where off-plan contracts get registered. So when someone asks what is oqood, there are really two answers stacked on top of each other: the system that does the registering, and the certificate you receive at the end of it.
People also search for oqood dubai and what is oqood in dubai, and land on developer pages that describe it as a formality. It is not a formality. It is the single legal act that turns your signed contract into an ownership interest the Dubai courts will recognise.
The law that makes oqood matter
Most explanations of oqood registration skip the legal basis, which is the part that should make you pay attention. Dubai Law No. 13 of 2008 created the Interim Property Register, and Article 3 is unusually blunt about what happens if your purchase never reaches it.
"Any disposition that occurs in respect of any Real Property Unit sold off-plan will be entered in the Interim Property Register, and any sale or any other legal disposition that transfers or restricts ownership or any ancillary rights will be void unless entered in that Register."Article 3, Law No. (13) of 2008 Regulating the Interim Property Register in the Emirate of Dubai, published in the Official Gazette 14 August 2008
Read that last clause again. If the developer takes your money, signs an SPA, and never registers the unit, you do not have a weak claim to the property. Under the law you have no claim to the property at all. What you have is a contract dispute against a company.
Law No. 19 of 2020 later replaced Article 11 of the same law, setting out what a developer may retain if a buyer defaults: up to 40 percent of the unit value where the project is over 60 percent complete, and up to 25 percent below that. It is worth knowing which side of that arithmetic you are on before you stop paying instalments over a delayed handover.
Oqood versus a title deed
These get confused constantly, including by brokers. They are not the same document and they do not carry the same weight.
| Document | Register | When issued | What it gives you |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oqood certificate | Interim Property Register | After SPA signing, during construction | A recorded ownership interest in a unit that does not physically exist yet. Lets you resell before handover, subject to developer NOC and payment thresholds. |
| Title deed | Main Property Register | At handover, after the completion certificate | Full registered freehold ownership of a completed property. This is what counts toward the AED 2 million Golden Visa threshold. |
The oqood vs title deed distinction matters at resale. Selling an off-plan unit before handover is a transfer on the interim register, not a normal transfer, and the developer has to issue an NOC first. It also matters for visas, because the threshold is assessed on the title deed value.
What oqood registration costs
The oqood fee is 4 percent of the purchase price, the same headline rate as the DLD transfer fee on a ready property. On an AED 1.5 million off-plan apartment that is AED 60,000.
| Charge | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Oqood registration fee | 4% | Of the purchase price stated in the SPA. Paid to the DLD, usually collected by the developer on its behalf. |
| Admin and issuance fees | Varies | Published figures range from a few hundred dirhams to several thousand depending on who is quoting. Get the exact amount written into your SPA rather than accepting a verbal figure. |
| Knowledge and innovation fees | Small fixed | Tens of dirhams. Not material, but it should still appear itemised. |
| Who pays | Buyer | Some developers run promotions absorbing the 4 percent. If yours does, confirm it is written into the SPA and not just in the brochure. |
One thing to plan for. The 4 percent is due near the start, not at handover, and it cannot be financed. That sits alongside the wider point I make in the guide to how to buy property in Dubai: transaction costs in this market are a cash event, and they arrive earlier than most buyers plan for.
How to get your oqood certificate
You do not file this yourself. The developer does. Knowing how to get oqood certificate documentation still matters, because your job is to verify each step actually happened.
- Sign the SPA and make the first paymentThe registration clock starts here. The sale should reach the Interim Property Register within 60 days of signing.
- Hand over your documentsPassport copy, Emirates ID and visa copy if you are a UAE resident. Non-residents can complete the whole thing on a passport.
- Pay the 4 percentNormally collected by the developer and remitted to the DLD. Ask for the DLD receipt, not the developer's own acknowledgement. Those are different pieces of paper.
- The developer files it through the DLD systemThey upload the contract details, buyer information and unit specification to the Land Department.
- The DLD issues your certificateDelivered digitally. Issuance typically runs a few business days once the filing is complete and the fee has cleared.
- Verify it yourself, do not take their wordCheck the record through DLD channels rather than relying on a PDF the developer emailed you. This is the step people skip, and it is the only one that actually protects you.
Oqood login and the oqood portal
A lot of people search for oqood login and oqood portal expecting a buyer account. Here is the actual shape of it, because the search results on this are genuinely misleading.
The oqood platform is a developer and broker facing system. It is where developers register projects, open escrow accounts, request sub-division and file unit sales. It was never designed as a consumer portal, and there is no buyer dashboard waiting for you there. Reach the DLD's services through dubailand.gov.ae rather than guessing at a subdomain.
As a buyer, the channel you want is Dubai REST, the DLD's official app, where you can pull up your own registered property records. A trustee office will also run the query for you in person. If someone tells you the only way to confirm your oqood dubai land department registration is to ask the developer, that is not true, and it is worth asking why they said it.
When the certificate does not arrive
Weeks have passed and there is nothing
Chase it in writing, addressed to the developer, referencing the SPA date and the 60 day registration window. Keep the correspondence. A developer that is slow on registration is telling you something about how it will handle a handover date.
The certificate exists but the details are wrong
Check the unit number, the area in square feet, the buyer name spelling against your passport, and the purchase price. An error in the registered price follows you to resale and to any visa application. Get it corrected while the developer still has an incentive to help you.
You are buying from another buyer, not the developer
This is an interim register transfer. Confirm the seller's oqood registration is real and in their name before any money moves, and confirm the developer will issue the NOC, which usually requires a minimum percentage paid. Verify the existing record first. Everything else in the deal depends on it.
For what to check about the developer themselves before you get this far, I ranked them by delivery record on top developers in Dubai, and the wider case for and against off-plan is in the guide to buying off-plan in Dubai.
Frequently asked questions
What is oqood in Dubai?
Oqood is the Dubai Land Department system that registers off-plan property sales on the Interim Property Register, and also the name of the certificate it issues. Oqood is Arabic for "contracts". It functions as an interim title deed during construction and converts into a full title deed once the property is completed and handed over.
How much is the oqood fee?
The oqood registration fee is 4 percent of the purchase price stated in the SPA, the same headline rate as the DLD transfer fee on a ready property. On an AED 1.5 million unit that is AED 60,000. There are additional admin, issuance and knowledge charges, and published figures for those vary widely, so have the exact amount written into your SPA.
Is an oqood certificate the same as a title deed?
No. An oqood certificate sits on the Interim Property Register and covers a unit still under construction. A title deed sits on the main Property Register and covers a completed property. The oqood converts into a title deed at handover. For the Golden Visa property threshold, what counts is the title deed value.
What happens if my off-plan purchase is never registered?
Under Article 3 of Dubai Law No. 13 of 2008, a sale or disposition of an off-plan unit is void unless it is entered in the Interim Property Register. In practice that means you would hold a contractual claim against the developer rather than a recognised ownership interest in the property. This is the reason to verify registration yourself rather than assume it happened.
How do I do an oqood login or find the oqood portal?
There is no buyer login. The oqood platform is a developer and broker facing DLD system used to register projects and unit sales. As a buyer you check your own records through the Dubai REST app, the Dubai Land Department's official services at dubailand.gov.ae, or by asking a registration trustee office to run the query.
How long does oqood registration take?
The sale should be registered within 60 days of signing the SPA. Once the developer has filed and the 4 percent fee has cleared, the certificate is normally issued digitally within a few business days. If several weeks pass with nothing, chase it in writing and keep the correspondence.
Can I sell my property before handover with only an oqood?
Yes, subject to conditions. It is a transfer on the interim register rather than a standard title transfer, and the developer must issue a No Objection Certificate first. Most developers require a minimum percentage of the price to be paid before they will allow it, and that threshold is set in your SPA, so check it before you count on an early exit.
Who pays the oqood registration fee, the buyer or the developer?
The buyer, in the normal case, with the developer collecting it and remitting it to the DLD. Some developers run launch promotions where they absorb the 4 percent. If that is part of your deal, make sure it appears in the SPA itself rather than only in the marketing material, and ask for the DLD receipt once it is paid.
Where to go next
Sources
- Law No. (13) of 2008 Regulating the Interim Property Register in the Emirate of Dubai, Government of Dubai Legislation portal. Published in the Official Gazette 14 August 2008. Article 3 is quoted verbatim above.
- Law No. (19) of 2020 amending Law No. (13) of 2008, in force 24 November 2020, for the replaced Article 11 and the 40 percent and 25 percent developer retention thresholds on buyer default.
- Dubai Land Department for the registration process, the Dubai REST app and trustee office verification.
- The 4 percent registration fee is the DLD rate applied to off-plan registration. Admin and issuance charges are quoted inconsistently across published sources, which is why this page gives a range and tells you to have the figure written into the SPA rather than stating a precise number it cannot verify.
Figures last checked 19 September 2026. The 2008 law and its 2020 amendment are the current governing legislation at that date. This page is general information, not legal advice; for a specific dispute, take the SPA to a UAE qualified lawyer.