Sharjah is not a freehold emirate in the way Dubai is, and it is no longer a usufruct-only emirate either. Since Law No. 2 of 2022 amended the emirate’s real estate registration law, ownership is reserved to UAE and GCC citizens, with four express exceptions, and the fourth of those lets all nationalities own property outright inside designated real estate development areas and projects.

That change is two and a half years old and is still missing from most of what is published about Sharjah, including the federal government’s own guidance. This guide sets out who can own what, where the 100-year usufruct still applies, what the 2022 reform actually changed, and the practical questions that decide whether a Sharjah purchase works for you: mortgages, inheritance, residence visas and the checks to run before you sign.

The Rule: Ownership Is Restricted, With Four Exceptions

Under Article 4 of Sharjah Law No. 5 of 2010 on real estate registration, as amended by Law No. 2 of 2022, the right to own real estate in the emirate belongs to UAE citizens and citizens of the Gulf Cooperation Council. Everyone else needs to fall inside one of four exceptions.

The amending law was issued on 31 October 2022 by His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Ruler of Sharjah. The four exceptions it sets out are the whole map for a non-GCC buyer.

  • Ownership approved by the Ruler. A discretionary route, granted case by case rather than applied for through a counter.
  • Inheritance transferred by legal notification. Property that passes on death is not blocked by the nationality restriction.
  • Assignment to first-degree relatives, on the terms set by the executive regulations.
  • Ownership inside designated real estate development areas and projects, on the terms set by the Executive Council. This is the route almost every expatriate buyer will use.

The same amendment tightened Article 7 for companies. A legal entity that owns Sharjah real estate must notify the Real Estate Registration Department of any change in partners’ shares, any transfer, and any change of legal form or trade name, and must correct any situation in which a new or incoming partner is not eligible to own under Article 4.

What the November 2022 Executive Council Decision Did

On 1 November 2022, the day after the amending law was issued, the Sharjah Executive Council used the power in Law No. 2 of 2022 to permit all nationalities to own real estate of all kinds without limitation of time in real estate development areas and projects. The session was chaired by Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed bin Sultan Al Qasimi, Crown Prince and Deputy Ruler of Sharjah.

Two phrases in that decision carry the weight. “Real estate of all kinds” is broader than the residential-unit language used in some other emirates, and “without limitation of time” is the point at which Sharjah stopped being a fixed-term jurisdiction for foreign buyers.

The same session issued a second decision regulating mortgages over Sharjah real estate, including the conditions and procedures for registering a mortgage. A tradeable, unlimited-duration interest is only useful if a bank will lend against it, and the two decisions were deliberately taken together.

How This Compares With the Other Emirates

Emirate What a non-GCC expat can hold Where Instrument
Dubai Freehold, usufruct, or leasehold up to 99 years Designated freehold areas Regulation No. 3 of 2006
Abu Dhabi Ownership of residential units for 99 years, plus musataha and usufruct Nine investment areas Law No. 19 of 2005
Sharjah, before 2022 Usufruct up to 100 years, no ownership right Areas specified by the Government, with the Ruler’s approval Executive Council Resolution No. 26 of 2014
Sharjah, from November 2022 Ownership of real estate of all kinds, with no time limit Designated real estate development areas and projects Law No. 2 of 2022 plus the Executive Council decision of 1 November 2022

The Dubai and Abu Dhabi rows are stated by the federal portal on the u.ae page on expatriates buying property in the UAE. If you are weighing the emirates against each other, the mechanics of freehold and leasehold ownership in Dubai and of Abu Dhabi’s freehold zones for expats are set out separately.

The Federal Portal Still Describes the Old Regime

The u.ae page on buying property in Sharjah, last updated 18 December 2023, states that “foreign nationals and companies owned by foreign nationals in the UAE do not have the right to own, but they have the right of usufruct for 100 years maximum”. It cites Executive Council Resolution No. 26 of 2014 and does not mention Law No. 2 of 2022 or the November 2022 Executive Council decision.

That page also records the two conditions attached to the 2014 usufruct route: the right “must be within the areas specified by the Government of Sharjah for this purpose, and it is given only after a special approval is obtained from the Ruler of Sharjah”. Both conditions are real, and the 2014 resolution has not been reported as repealed.

The honest reading is that two regimes coexist. A usufruct granted under the 2014 resolution remains a usufruct with its 100-year ceiling, while a purchase inside a designated development area after November 2022 is an unlimited-duration ownership interest, and the difference is decided by the instrument you actually sign rather than by the emirate.

A Documentation Warning

We were unable to read the primary Sharjah texts directly. The link on the u.ae page labeled as Executive Council Resolution No. 26 of 2014 resolves to an unrelated national research and development manual, the linked Emiri Decree No. 47 on land registration is a scanned image with no text layer, and shjrerd.gov.ae refused connections throughout this research.

Everything cited above therefore comes from the Sharjah Government Media Bureau’s own reporting of the law and the Executive Council decision, and from the federal portal. Treat any figure you read elsewhere about Sharjah registration percentages with suspicion until the Real Estate Registration Department confirms it in writing, because no official fee schedule was retrievable.

Which Areas and Projects Qualify

Sharjah does not publish a public list of designated real estate development areas and projects the way Dubai publishes its freehold areas. The Executive Council decision defines the category, and the designation of any individual project sits with the Council rather than in a map you can consult.

This is the single biggest practical gap for a buyer. The correct check is not to ask the developer’s sales agent whether the project is open to your nationality, but to ask the Sharjah Real Estate Registration Department to confirm the project’s designation and the exact interest that will be registered in your name.

Put the question in writing and keep the answer. “Ownership without time limit under the Executive Council decision” and “usufruct for 100 years under Resolution 26 of 2014” are different assets with different resale, financing and inheritance profiles, and marketing material frequently calls both of them freehold.

Mortgages Against a Sharjah Property

The Executive Council’s November 2022 mortgage decision set the conditions and procedures for registering a mortgage over Sharjah real estate, which is what makes bank finance workable against the new ownership interest.

Federal lending limits still apply on top. The Central Bank’s mortgage regulations set the loan-to-value and debt-burden caps regardless of which emirate the property sits in, and the practical effect for a non-resident or first-time buyer is covered in the guide to mortgage down payment requirements for foreign buyers.

Ask any lender two Sharjah-specific questions before you rely on an approval in principle. Whether the bank lends in that specific project, and whether it lends against the interest you are actually acquiring, because a 100-year usufruct and an unlimited ownership right are not interchangeable collateral.

Inheritance and What Happens on Death

Inheritance is one of the four Article 4 exceptions, so Sharjah property passing on death is not blocked by the nationality restriction. What is decided elsewhere is who inherits it.

The distribution rules are federal, not emirate-level, and for Muslim owners the default is Sharia distribution. Non-Muslim owners have been able to opt out since Federal Decree-Law 41 of 2022, and the mechanics are set out in the guides to the non-Muslim inheritance law and to Sharia distribution of UAE property.

A registered will is worth more in Sharjah than in Dubai, not less. A Sharjah interest cannot be dealt with by the Dubai Land Department, and an estate that has to prove entitlement to a Sharjah registrar without a will attracts delay that a will removes.

Does a Sharjah Property Get You a Residence Visa?

The federal property route to residency is built on ownership. The u.ae Golden Visa guidance requires the applicant to purchase a property worth no less than AED 2 million, which is a federal threshold applied by ICP regardless of emirate.

Because the 2022 reform gives buyers in designated Sharjah development areas an ownership interest rather than a fixed-term right, a Sharjah purchase of sufficient value should engage the same federal rules as a purchase anywhere else. The thresholds and the evidence required are set out in the guide to the minimum property value for UAE residency.

We could not find any official statement addressing whether a 100-year usufruct registered under the 2014 resolution satisfies the ownership condition, and we are not going to guess at it. If your visa plan depends on the property, confirm the position with ICP before exchanging, and get the registered interest described precisely in the confirmation you ask for.

What Actually Happens at Registration

Sharjah transactions register with the Sharjah Real Estate Registration Department, not with the Dubai Land Department, and there is no Sharjah equivalent of the Dubai REST app for verifying a title from your phone. Verification is a counter or an email, not a lookup.

Expect the practical rhythm to be slower than Dubai and more document-driven. Buyers routinely report that the developer’s paperwork and the registrar’s requirements are handled sequentially rather than in a single appointment, and that the ownership category is confirmed late in the process, which is exactly why it should be confirmed first.

If you are also renting in the emirate while you buy, the tenancy side runs through Sharjah Municipality rather than the registration department, and the rules differ sharply from Dubai’s. Those are covered in the guide to renting in Sharjah and the rent increase rules.

Checks to Run Before You Sign

Five confirmations decide whether a Sharjah purchase is what the brochure says it is. Get all five in writing from the registration department or the developer’s legal team, not from a sales conversation.

  • The designation. Confirm the project is a designated real estate development area or project under the Executive Council decision, and get that stated explicitly.
  • The interest. Confirm whether you will be registered as owner without time limit, or as usufructuary for a term, and get the term stated if there is one.
  • Nationality eligibility. Confirm your nationality is admitted to that project, since the Council decision opens the category rather than guaranteeing every project inside it.
  • The corporate route. If you plan to buy through a company, check Article 7 first, because the entity carries an ongoing duty to notify changes in partners and to correct ineligible holdings.
  • The fees. Ask for the registration fee in writing as a figure, not a percentage quoted from a blog, since no official Sharjah fee schedule was publicly retrievable during this research.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can foreigners buy property in Sharjah?

Yes, but not everywhere and not automatically. Article 4 of Law No. 5 of 2010, as amended by Law No. 2 of 2022, reserves ownership to UAE and GCC citizens, with four exceptions, and the exception that matters to most expatriates is ownership inside designated real estate development areas and projects, opened to all nationalities by the Executive Council on 1 November 2022.

Is Sharjah property freehold or usufruct?

Both exist, and which one you get depends on the instrument you sign. A purchase inside a designated development area after November 2022 is ownership of real estate without limitation of time, while a usufruct granted under Executive Council Resolution No. 26 of 2014 is a fixed right of up to 100 years registered with the Sharjah Real Estate Registration Department.

Why does the UAE government portal still say Sharjah is usufruct only?

The u.ae page on buying property in Sharjah was last updated on 18 December 2023 and describes only the 2014 usufruct resolution. The Sharjah Government Media Bureau published both the amending law of 31 October 2022 and the Executive Council decision of 1 November 2022, so the emirate-level position is more recent than the federal summary of it.

Can GCC nationals buy freehold anywhere in Sharjah?

Article 4 places UAE citizens and GCC citizens outside the restriction, so the nationality bar does not apply to them. Individual projects can still impose their own eligibility terms, and any purchase still registers with the Sharjah Real Estate Registration Department.

Can I get a mortgage on a Sharjah property?

The Executive Council issued a decision on 1 November 2022 regulating mortgages over Sharjah real estate, including the conditions and procedures for registering a mortgage, alongside the ownership decision. Federal Central Bank lending caps still apply, and you should confirm with the lender both that it finances that specific project and that it lends against the exact interest being registered in your name.

Does buying in Sharjah qualify me for a UAE residence visa?

The federal property routes are based on ownership and value, with the u.ae Golden Visa guidance setting a purchase threshold of no less than AED 2 million. A qualifying Sharjah purchase inside a designated development area is an ownership interest, so the federal rules should apply on the same terms, but no official statement was found on whether a 100-year usufruct satisfies the ownership condition, so confirm your position with ICP before committing.

Which areas in Sharjah are open to foreign buyers?

Sharjah does not publish a public list of designated development areas and projects comparable to Dubai’s freehold map, and designation sits with the Executive Council. Ask the Sharjah Real Estate Registration Department to confirm a specific project’s status in writing rather than relying on marketing material, which frequently describes both ownership and usufruct as freehold.

What happens to my Sharjah property when I die?

Inheritance is one of the four express exceptions in Article 4, so the nationality restriction does not block a transfer on death. Who inherits is decided by federal law, with Sharia distribution as the default and an opt-out available to non-Muslims under Federal Decree-Law 41 of 2022, and a registered will materially shortens the process.

Can a company own property in Sharjah?

Yes, subject to the same Article 4 eligibility, and Article 7 as amended in 2022 adds continuing obligations. The entity must notify the Real Estate Registration Department of changes in partners’ shares, transfers, legal form and trade name, and must correct any situation where an incoming partner is not eligible to own under Article 4.

How much are Sharjah property registration fees?

No official Sharjah fee schedule was publicly retrievable during this research, and shjrerd.gov.ae refused connections throughout. Percentages circulating on property blogs are not sourced to the registration department, so ask for the fee as a written figure on your specific transaction before you commit to it.

Official Sources

Information current as of August 2026. The legal position above is taken from the Sharjah Government Media Bureau’s published reporting of Law No. 2 of 2022 and of the Executive Council decision of 1 November 2022, and from the u.ae pages on expatriate property ownership. Three limitations should be stated plainly. First, the primary Sharjah texts could not be read directly: the u.ae link labeled Executive Council Resolution No. 26 of 2014 resolves to an unrelated document, the linked Emiri Decree No. 47 is a scanned image with no text layer, and shjrerd.gov.ae refused connections on every attempt. Second, no official Sharjah registration fee schedule was retrievable, so no fee percentage is asserted anywhere in this guide. Third, no public list of designated real estate development areas and projects is published, so project eligibility must be confirmed transaction by transaction.

Disclaimer: This guide is general information, not legal or investment advice. Whether a specific Sharjah project is open to your nationality, and what interest will actually be registered in your name, are facts a general article cannot verify for you. Confirm both in writing with the Sharjah Real Estate Registration Department, and take advice from a UAE-licensed lawyer before signing a sale and purchase agreement.