Guide · updated 16.08.2026 · 13 min read · Lucent Legal team

What Changed in UAE Law in 2026: The Full Roundup

Over the past 12–18 months the UAE rewrote the rules on family, rent, salary, visas, and tax — the areas that touch almost every expat. The trouble is the news sits scattered across dozens of law-firm blogs that repeat each other and disagree on the details. This roundup pulls together only the 2025–2026 changes backed by official portals or major law firms, flags where sources conflict, and links each topic to its full guide.

Family Law: Law No. 41/2024 in Full Effect

Since 15 April 2025, custody (hadana) runs to age 18 for children of either sex. Federal Decree-Law No. 41 of 2024 on Personal Status took effect that day, replacing the old rules for Muslim families and anyone who hasn't opted into the separate civil regime for non-Muslims, which has run in parallel since 2023. The previous cutoffs differed, roughly 11 for boys and 13 for girls. From age 15, a child can tell the court which parent they'd prefer to live with.

This covers divorces and disputes over custody and guardianship (wilaya — the legal authority over schooling, travel abroad, and medical decisions), which for many expat families fall under this law unless a foreign law has been invoked instead. For who gets custody and until what age, how custody differs from guardianship, and what the court weighs, see "Child Custody in the UAE".

Golden Visa: What Changed in February 2026 — and Where Sources Disagree

The main 2026 Golden Visa track is real estate worth AED 2,000,000 or more in certified value, granting a 10-year visa — but the February 2026 update carries a genuine conflict worth naming. Some credible sources say the previous requirement to pay at least 50% of the property's value (based on the full certified contract or DLD valuation, including mortgaged and off-plan property) was scrapped. Others report the opposite: that a mandatory 50% payment was newly introduced specifically for off-plan property, as a condition for a visa tied to that unit.

A direct contradiction over the same update means you should confirm the detail right before you file, through the official ICP/GDRFA portal or with the lawyer handling your case, not a general blog post. For categories, amounts, and the most common reasons applications get rejected across all Golden Visa tracks, see "UAE Golden Visa 2026".

Smart Rental Index: Dubai's New Logic for Rent Caps

Since January 2025, each Dubai building gets its own 1-to-5-star rating, and that rating sets the rent cap. The Dubai Land Department (DLD) has been rolling out the Smart Rental Index, which replaces the old averaged rate per district with a per-building score based on more than 60 criteria: the building's age, condition, amenities, location. This building-specific rating, not the neighbourhood figure, now sets how much a landlord may raise rent under the Decree No. 43 of 2013 formula (0/5/10/15/20%, depending on how far the current rent lags the market).

For tenants, checking whether a specific increase is legal now means running your own building's rating through the current RERA rental index calculator on dubailand.gov.ae or the Dubai REST app. The landlord's duty to give at least 90 days' written notice of any increase still stands. For the full scale, worked examples, and what to do in a dispute, see "Rent Increases in Dubai".

WPS: New Salary Regulation From 1 June 2026

Since 1 June 2026, wages must reach employees by the 1st of the following month, and the WPS compliance threshold rose from 80% to 85%. Ministerial Resolution No. 340 of 2026 replaced the previous Resolution No. 598 of 2022 and tightened the Wages Protection System (WPS). Anything paid after the 1st already counts as a delay, and the 85% threshold applies to the amounts owed to all employees by that date.

The rule adds a staged penalty scale tied to how late a company runs: on day 2, notices and warnings; on day 5, new work-permit applications get blocked; on day 11, administrative fines (reportedly from AED 1,000 per affected employee) and a category downgrade; on day 16, an automatic labor-dispute filing and a permit freeze for companies with 25 or more unpaid employees in certain sectors; on day 21, asset freezes, a travel ban on the person responsible, and referral to the public prosecutor. The old 30-day grace period for new hires is gone too. This applies to all private companies licensed by MOHRE; free zones may adopt the rule separately.

Corporate Tax: A 2026 Deadline That's Easy to Miss

Corporate tax has applied since 1 June 2023: 0% on profit up to AED 375,000 and 9% above that, with Federal Tax Authority (FTA) registration mandatory even for free-zone companies taxed at 0%. One deadline lands specifically in 2026: under the current decision, Small Business Relief (an effective 0% rate for revenue up to AED 3 million) only covers tax periods ending on or before 31 December 2026. So 2026 could be the last year small businesses and some licensed freelancers automatically qualify.

Late FTA registration draws a flat AED 10,000, whether or not any tax was owed. A late return costs AED 500 a month for the first 12 months, then AED 1,000 a month. For who the 9% rate applies to, what QFZP status means for free zones, and the full penalty table, see "UAE Corporate Tax 9% in 2026".

New Civil Code: Adulthood at 18

Since 1 June 2026, the age of majority drops from 21 to 18. Federal Law No. 25 of 2025 on the Civil Transactions Law — a new Civil Code replacing the 1985 law — is now in force, which law firms call the biggest change to civil law in 40 years. From 18, a person can sign contracts, manage their own finances, start a business, and take part in court proceedings without a parent's or guardian's consent. The law also tightens good-faith disclosure in negotiations and clarifies how courts calculate damages.

Labor, family, banking, and insurance relationships stay outside the new code and run under their own separate laws (on wrongful termination specifically, see "Wrongful Termination in the UAE", which also covers the two-year window to file a labor claim).

Smaller Visa and Penalty Changes

Beyond the major reforms, 2025–2026 brought several narrower changes worth knowing even if they don't apply to everyone:

• Salary threshold for family sponsorship: some sources report the minimum salary for family sponsorship rose from AED 3,000 to AED 4,000 a month — double-check it when you apply, since requirements vary by emirate and visa category.
• One-off overstay amnesties: authorities periodically open short windows to fix status without a fine — for example, a 30-day grace period from 10 June to 9 July 2026 for people unable to leave because of a flight suspension in late February 2026. These are one-time events, not a standing rule, so don't count on the same dates repeating.
• Expanded visa-on-arrival: per some sources, new nationalities joined the visa-on-arrival list, and holders of certain third-country visas (Singapore, Japan, South Korea, among others) gained visa-on-arrival eligibility similar to existing rules for US/UK/EU visa holders.

These points shift more often than the major reforms and are less widely confirmed. If a specific situation hinges on one of them, verify it with ICP/GDRFA or a lawyer right before you act.

Topic: UAE Legal Guides & Lawyer Ratings 2026

This material is for information only and is not legal advice. UAE law changes — a lawyer will assess how it applies to your situation.