How do you track a Dubai off-plan purchase from abroad?

Through three records the Dubai Land Department keeps, none of which needs you in Dubai. The Oqood e-certificate, emailed within 90 days of signing, proves the sale is registered (Dubai Land Department, 2026). The Project Status Enquiry, Dubai REST and WhatsApp show every project's completion percentage and escrow bank (Dubai Land Department, 2026). And the escrow agent holding your money must give you your account records on request (Dubai Land Department, Law 8 of 2007).

Key facts

• Oqood: registered within 90 days of signing; e-certificate emailed to the purchaser (Dubai Land Department, 2026).
• Progress: completion percentage and escrow bank for every project, immediately, online, in Dubai REST or on WhatsApp 800 4488 (Dubai Land Department, 2026).
• Instalments: due only once the developer evidences the agreed stage with a letter from a consultant approved by the Land Department (Dubai Land Department, 2026).

What is registered, and where?

Every off-plan sale must be entered in the Interim Property Register, and an unregistered sale is void (Dubai Land Department, Law 13 of 2008). The entry is the Oqood. The developer applies through the Oqood portal within 90 days of signing, the Land Department processes it in one business day, and the provisional registration e-certificate goes to the purchaser by email; non-residents supply a passport copy (Dubai Land Department, 2026).

If it has not arrived by day 90 and the developer delays, you can apply to register the contract yourself through the Land Department's Real Estate Registration Assurance section (Dubai Land Department, 2026).

How do you check construction progress from abroad?

Three channels show one record: the Project Status Enquiry on the Land Department website, the Dubai REST app and the Malik assistant on WhatsApp at 800 4488. Search by project name or number and you get, immediately, a fact sheet, inspection details, the escrow bank, start dates and the completion percentage (Dubai Land Department, 2026).

Dubai REST adds site photographs, the escrow account number and the payments due (Dubai Land Department, 2026). Login is by Emirates ID, title deed or the mobile number registered with the Land Department, each with a one-time code, and it works abroad provided those details are current (Dubai Land Department, 2026). An off-plan buyer usually has neither of the first two, so make sure the developer registers a mobile number you will keep.

The percentage comes from RERA's periodic review; a technical report expires after three months and the developer must pay for a new one (Dubai Land Department, 2026). The open data also gives each project a status, from Active through Freezed to Cancelled (Dubai Land Department, 2026). Anything other than Active or Finished deserves a conversation with your adviser.

How do payments and escrow work, and how do you confirm the money arrived?

Every buyer payment must be deposited in the project's escrow account with an accredited escrow agent. There is one account per project, dedicated to its construction, and no creditor of the developer can attach it (Dubai Land Department, Law 8 of 2007). The Land Department publishes the list of approved agents (Dubai Land Department, 2026).

Before you send an instalment, match the bank details on the payment request against the escrow bank on the project fact sheet and the account number in Dubai REST (Dubai Land Department, 2026). After you send it, ask for your own record: depositors or their representatives may access their accounting records and request copies (Dubai Land Department, Law 8 of 2007). The escrow agent's statement is the confirmation. A receipt on developer letterhead is not.

Money leaves the account only against construction stages the escrow agent's engineer has inspected (Dubai Land Department, 2026). After the completion certificate the agent holds back 5 per cent for one year from the registration of units in buyers' names, as cover for defects (Dubai Land Department, Law 8 of 2007).

What must the developer tell you, and what should you ask for?

Instalments are tied to completion stages rather than dates; Ellington, for example, typically takes 50 per cent during construction and 50 per cent on completion (Ellington Properties, 2026). On receiving a payment request you have the right to know the current completion percentage, evidenced by a letter from the project consultant approved by the Land Department, and until the stage in your schedule is confirmed you are not obliged to pay (Dubai Land Department, 2026).

So the reasonable ask, on every milestone, is four things: the consultant's letter, the escrow account details for that payment, the percentage the Land Department shows, and, once paid, the escrow statement. A percentage that does not move between requests is worth raising early.

What happens at handover when you are not there?

Handover begins with a completion notice; the buyer settles the final payment, inspects the unit, agrees a countersigned defects list, then collects keys and access cards (Ellington Properties, 2026). None of that requires you in person if someone holds your power of attorney. One signed abroad must be notarised, then legalised by the issuing country's foreign ministry, the UAE Embassy there and the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Dubai Land Department, 2026). Start that chain well before the notice.

Once the developer holds the completion certificate it must register the units in buyers' names, and a fully paid unit moves from the interim register to the Real Estate Registry (Dubai Land Department, Law 13 of 2008). The developer applies through Oqood; the fee is AED 250 for the deed, AED 250 for the map and AED 20 in fixed fees, and the electronic deed issues in six business days (Dubai Land Department, 2026). DEWA activation is integrated with the Land Department and arrives by email (u.ae, 10 Feb 2026).

What should you keep in one place?

The Land Department's own termination procedure turns on the contract pages showing the parties, the property and the payment schedule (Dubai Land Department, 2026). Keep those, and the rest of this file, together from the start.

Sources: Dubai Land Department, 2026; Law 8 of 2007; Ellington Properties, 2026.

For Davies+Harrison clients, payments, documents, handover progress and portfolio updates live in D+H Invest, our private investor platform, and your adviser is a message away.

Our view

In our experience the owners who sleep well abroad are those who check the public record before each payment. The completion percentage is independent of the developer, and the consultant's letter is a right, not a favour. Treat the contractual handover date as a planning assumption; the public percentage will tell you sooner than the developer whether it is realistic.

We advise two further habits. Legalise a power of attorney early and confirm what the developer will accept from a representative at handover. And keep the file in one place: most investors hold it across scattered WhatsApp messages, email chains and PDF attachments, and for our clients it lives in D+H Invest.

Davies+Harrison is DAH Real Estate Brokerage L.L.C., RERA ORN 53447.