r/DubaiLaw

Hello everyone! I’m writing to ask for your advice. My partner and I are planning to move to Dubai. We currently live between Italy and Spain, but we can't take it anymore—the bureaucracy, the taxes, the high cost of living without adequate services, and how dangerous the cities are (Milan and Barcelona) even for future children.
I’m a Senior Manager with a good salary, about 8/9k per month. She’s an Export Manager for a mid-size but worldwide famous luxury furniture company.
Her idea is to become an agent, directly managing the American and Middle Eastern markets and earning commissions rather than a fixed salary. This way, she would earn about 300/500k a year. Initially, I could ask my company for a transfer to Dubai and then, if all goes well, start working with her. We’ve read and asked locals that it’s very easy to open an agency in a free zone.
Has anyone here had a similar experience?
What do you think?
Thank you

Hi,

So I was on a resident visa with a company and then the visa expired. I guess the company didn't do a proper cancellation and I haven't been able to get a new job it's been over 8 months so the fines are very high and they contacted me saying they need to cancel the visa but the fines need to be paid.

They are well over AED10k in fines and I am barely managing to get food to eat daily. He has now threatened me with authorises and legal action because I am not paying the fine for them to cancel the visa. What exactly can he do to me as if if I am not mistaken they should have cancelled the visa after it expired and now that their are fines I can't yet pay is it really something they can legally put like absconding or a police case on me for?

​

Hello everyone!

Im 20 years old and I happened to got terminated from my job on 7th of Aug 2026 becuase company was forcing me to sign a letter which if Im not able to achieve this month, I wont get my salary. I was straightforward with them and told them, im not gonna sign something which is totally against me and they fired me on spot. I received an email from them that my accounts will be cleared by the same day (7th Aug) but its been 19th of Aug and I didn't got paid till now. Salary transfers are on 1st of each month

Im calling them every day, sending texts and emails but they are ignoring me. I got to know that I cant even get any help from authorities becuase they never processed my work permit and I got to know about this today when I called MOHRE.

What can I do now, any suggestions or if someone can help me out?

Hey guys,

I run a jewelry business in Dubai, and the growth and sales so far have been very promising. Until now, Dubai has mainly operated as our sales hub, while our factory in Bangkok manufactures the products and exports them to us for onward sale.

The main issue with this setup has been logistics and delivery times, which is why I’m now seriously considering opening a manufacturing facility locally in Dubai. Financially, the numbers make sense.

My concern:

A factory would require a fairly significant investment in machinery and setup. My biggest concern is what happens in a worst-case scenario where, for whatever reason, I’m unable to continue operating in the UAE — for example, an issue with residency renewal, the company bank account being closed, licensing problems, or any other situation that forces me to wind down the company or leave the country.

My questions are:

If something like this happens, would I normally have enough time to wind down operations and relocate the machinery to another country?

If the company’s bank account were closed (it shouldn't, everything we do, is by the books but incase), how would I practically liquidate the company’s assets, receive the proceeds, and transfer the funds abroad?

Alternatively, would I be able to export the machinery itself back to Thailand or another country during the winding-up process?

Are there any legal protections, grace periods, or procedures in the UAE that prevent the factory and equipment from simply becoming stranded?

Is there anything I should structure differently from the beginning to protect the machinery/investment in case the company ever has to shut down?

Basically, I’m comfortable with the business risk of opening the factory. I’m trying to understand the country/company-structure risk and what my exit options would realistically look like in a worst-case scenario.

Would really appreciate input from anyone who has operated or closed down a manufacturing business in the UAE.

Hi everyone, I’m looking for some advice regarding my UAE immigration status.
On June 10, 2026, I exited the UAE with an outpass. I had an overstaying fine of around AED 4,000, which I couldn’t pay before leaving.
The situation happened because my company had changed my visa/status, but they didn’t complete the visa stamping process. Because of this, my status remained incomplete and I ended up accumulating an overstay fine.
I eventually had to leave the country using an outpass without paying the fine.
Now I’m trying to understand:
Does exiting with an outpass automatically mean I have a UAE entry ban?
If I do have a ban, how long is it usually for?
Is there any way to check my current ban/immigration status from India?
Would the unpaid AED 4,000 fine affect my ability to get a new UAE visa in the future?
If anyone has gone through a similar situation, especially after leaving with an outpass, I’d really appreciate hearing about your experience.
Thanks in advance.

I’m Bangladeshi and paid **AED 9,000** to a PRO for my own visa renewal. My labour contract and labour card were issued, but my Dubai residence renewal was rejected with **no reason given**.

I called immigration myself and they told me **only the sponsor/PRO can get the rejection reason**. My sponsor has 7 companies under his name and is unwilling to go to immigration to find out the reason.

He’s also stopped answering my calls/messages.
The PRO says visas are currently on hold and we need to reapply, but won’t tell me when or what the process is.

I’m now accumulating overstay fines and don’t even have their physical office address.
I’ve contacted AMER and submitted a GDRFA complaint. **What should I do next?**

Person working in Dubai telecom sales got caught up in an ID fraud case.

A colleague passed them a "sales lead" that turned out to involve a customer whose documents were misused without his knowledge. They forwarded the lead to a friend, not knowing it was fraudulent. The colleague who gave them the lead has since fled to Pakistan and blocked them. Now there are 2 police cases against them and the victim is demanding 39,000 AED to settle out of court.

They claim they were an unwitting middleman.

Looking for external help to investigate an issue with one of the freezones in Sharjah.

The investor’s name was entered incorrectly by someone in their team, and the investors visa and emirates ID were issued incorrectly. Now it’s all on us. Loss of money and time.

We believe a separate, independent authority is needed to investigate this matter properly. At this stage, we are also being forced to spend additional money just to have the issue rectified.

If anyone has dealt with something similar or can recommend an external body that can review this independently, any guidance would be greatly appreciated.

I came to Dubai in 2022 and have been residing and working in Dubai since then.

I have been working in the telecom sales industry for several years. Initially, I worked for a dsa associated with du for approximately three years and six months as a sales performer. The company subsequently closed, after which I moved to another company that is also associated with du. I have been working with the new company for approximately eight months.

My current work is mainly related to business sales. du has separate business and consumer departments, and I work in the business department. My responsibilities involve dealing with business customers and generating sales through references, field work, telephone calls and contacts within the market.

As part of normal sales activities, sales leads are sometimes exchanged between salespersons, freelancers and people working in different departments. This was also the nature of my professional interaction with girl, who was working in the consumer department of du.

We exchanged contact numbers and remained in professional contact. From time to time, we helped each other with sales leads. She would sometimes provide me with leads, and I would also assist her with leads when possible.

The Customer Lead

In approximately February, she provided me with some customer-related sales leads. I understood these leads to have been provided to me in the normal course of our professional dealings.

One of the leads involved a customer who was considering a du connection. Isma was communicating with a person connected with real estate who was assisting with the customer's requirements. That person contacted me and provided apartment/building details and asked me to check whether du fibre service was available in the building.

As part of my normal work, I checked the availability of du fibre at the building and informed her that the service was available.

She subsequently provided me with customer-related information and details. I forwarded the relevant information to a person known to me, my friend , who was working on the consumer side, so that the sales process could be handled through the appropriate channel.

At that time, I understood this to be a normal sales lead and believed that the information provided to me was legitimate.

I did not knowingly misuse the customer's identity documents. I did not knowingly impersonate the customer, forge the customer's signature, or knowingly participate in submitting a fraudulent application.

I also did not personally create a fraudulent application or knowingly submit false information on behalf of the customer.

The Customer Complaint

Approximately two months later, she informed me that a complaint had been made by one of the customers. I was told that the customer was alleging that his identification documents had been misused and that he had not personally applied for the connection.

I was surprised to hear about the complaint because my understanding had been that the lead and customer information had been provided to me through Isma in the normal course of our professional dealings.

Isma told me that she would speak to the concerned people and that the connection had been cancelled and processed through another channel.

After this, Isma stopped responding to me and eventually blocked me.

I tried to contact her because I wanted to understand what had happened and why I was being associated with the complaint.

Communication Regarding the Customer

After some time, she provided me with the customer's surname and asked me to speak with him.

At that time, I did not realise that the customer she was referring to was the same person involved in the complaint.

Isma told me that I should speak to the customer and explain that his documents had been provided by somebody else and that the matter was not her fault.

I do not speak Arabic, so I asked a friend who could communicate in Arabic to speak with the customer. During that communication, the customer informed my friend that he was at the police station. We did not continue the conversation.

I subsequently became aware that Dubai Police was investigating the matter and that I was being contacted in relation to it.

My Actual Involvement

I would like to clearly explain that my involvement was limited to receiving and forwarding a sales lead in the course of my professional work.

I did not knowingly participate in the misuse of the customer's identity documents.

I did not knowingly create or submit a false application, forge the customer's signature, or impersonate the customer.

I was not aware at the time that the customer would later claim that his documents had been misused.

I understand that the authorities need to investigate the complete chain of events. I respectfully request that the investigation consider the entire sequence, including who originally obtained the customer's documents, who provided the documents and customer information, who processed and submitted the application, who activated the connections, and what each person knew at the relevant time.

WhatsApp Communications and Available Evidence

I would also like to clarify that I do not have the complete WhatsApp conversation history with Isma Ali.

Some of our communication took place through WhatsApp while the disappearing messages feature was enabled. Because of this, some older messages are no longer available to me.

I have retained some of the WhatsApp messages that are still available.

I also have photos of her and some of the phone numbers that I have associated with her. I have also retained information showing my attempts to contact her after I became aware of the complaint.

I do not have complete call logs or a complete record of all communications with her, and I do not want to claim that I have evidence that I do not actually possess.

I am willing to provide all available WhatsApp messages, photographs, phone numbers and other information in my possession to my lawyer or the appropriate authorities.

I am not intentionally withholding or deleting any communication. Some of the older WhatsApp messages are no longer available because of the disappearing-message feature.

Her Current Situation

After the complaint became known to me, I tried to contact her because I wanted to understand what had happened and clarify my involvement.

I subsequently understood that she was in Pakistan, and she has blocked me, which has made it difficult for me to contact her directly.

I do not want to make unsupported accusations against her. I only wish to explain the facts of my involvement and the communications that I personally experienced.

I request that the authorities independently investigate the complete chain of events and determine the role of every person involved.

Cooperation With the Authorities

I have been contacted by Dubai Police regarding this matter and understand that there are currently two matters/cases appearing in the Dubai Police system in relation to the incident.

I am willing to cooperate with the investigation and provide all information and evidence that is actually available to me.

I respectfully request that my actual role and knowledge at the relevant time be considered separately from the actions of other persons involved in the sales process.

I had no intention of causing any loss or harm to the customer, and I did not knowingly participate in any misuse of the customer's identity documents.

I am prepared to provide the available WhatsApp messages, photographs, phone numbers and other relevant information in my possession and to answer questions truthfully to the best of my knowledge and recollection.

I respectfully request that the complete circumstances and chain of communication be considered before any conclusion is reached regarding my involvement.

The complainant is asking me a settlement of 39k aed which is not possible or else he will go to court

So I completed my full 2-year contract and resigned after it ended, didn’t quit early or anything. But my contract has a clause saying I can’t work for a competing company in UAE for the next 2 years.

Feels weird since I did my full time and now I’m stuck. Does this actually get enforced or is it just scare tactics? Heard the labour law changed in 2021 (Decree-Law 33) and courts don’t just uphold anything written.

Anyone dealt with this before? Would appreciate real experiences, not just “ask a lawyer” (I will, just want to know what to expect).

The story is going to be long, might feel like a cinema story, that only one guy was easily be able to fool 20+ guys.

My colleague had done a scam to 20 guys most of them work with me in our company and other work a good reputed company.

Initially my friend ( scammer ), he used to take money from us as investments, to invest on gold and used to give back the money with profit. He used to offer us 1gram profit for every 8 gram gold purchase and additional price increase profit.

Everyone one working with me ( scammer work with us as well ) started with small amounts and good returns.

Later with time it went to huge amount, everyone starting investing 50k-100k, that total combined amount went to 4million aed.

He used to buy gold from the colleagues credit card and used to give gold biscuits at discount. He repayed the credit cards for few months, untill he went out of money.

When the delay happened in giving profit amount, everyone started to ask him money, he started to circulate the amount within us without us knowing. Borrowing from one person and giving to another, until he was out of any incoming money

Recently we caught him and asked him, if he really did any investment that would give us 1gram free for 8 gram purchase, but all this was a lie. He used our money to enjoy and gave some little profits back, retaining the initial capital amount saying that , he has reinvested.

Fools us thought things are going good, we are getting profits, he is a good colleague, seeing his lavish life though everything is legit got scammed at the end.

1. We dont have any cheques to file a case

2. we are not exactly clear if he has used our money to onky legitimate purposes.

3. All our colleagues are in debt - me alone has lent him 350k ( 150k cash advance from credit card, 150k salary amount , 50k borrowed money in a span of 5 months )

4. Everyone is afraid to file a case, thinking moght lose the job.

5. Moat of them have done cash transactions.

Everyone is depressed, have to work for another 4 years just to repay the debt.

Anyone know what can be done or been in this situation,

Only me alone is daring to file a case in police station., filing a case is right decision or to let go my money and earn back it without risking my life in this legal matters.

We’re hosting an AMA right here on r/HAQQCommunity with HAQQ founder Antoine .

This is your chance to ask directly about HAQQ: where we are today, what we’re building, what’s coming next, the decisions we’ve made along the way, and the bigger vision behind it.

Product, ecosystem, roadmap, challenges, community, tough questions. Everything is on the table.

📅 20/08/2026
⏰ 10:00 AM

Drop your questions in the comments below. You can submit them ahead of time, and our CEO will join us here to answer them.

Ask away 👇

I have a co-worker here in UAE, who made a fake google map review using a fake google map account(newly created) just to ruin my reputation. What should I do? I what him to teach a lesson. I know for a fact that posting negative reviews in uae is illegal. Aside from complaining to HR(coz I know HR cant do anything) where else I can complain? Please help and give advice

Hi everyone,
I’m a Filipino expat currently living and working in the UAE, and I’m trying to understand what my options are for getting legally divorced/ending my marriage.
I’m looking for advice from anyone who has gone through a similar situation in the UAE, particularly Filipino expats or people who have dealt with UAE family courts.

Here’s my situation:
I’m a Filipino citizen and currently a UAE resident.
I have been legally married for around 12 years (marriage cert issued in Ph), but my spouse and I have been separated for approximately 12 years and have not been living together as husband and wife.
We have three children together.

The children are with my mom (1) and her (2), and I want to make sure their custody, support, and other legal issues are handled properly.

I currently work and reside in Dubai.

I am also in a long-term relationship with someone else, and we have been together for many years. I would eventually like to be able to legally marry my current partner.

The main obstacle is that my existing marriage has never been legally dissolved.
There is an annulment case in the Philippines, but it has been taking a very long time, so I am trying to understand whether there is any realistic way to obtain a divorce or otherwise legally dissolve the marriage through the UAE instead.

I am particularly interested in whether UAE courts can handle the case because I am a UAE resident, even though both spouses are Filipino citizens.

My questions are:
1.Can a Filipino expat who is a UAE resident file for divorce in the UAE?
2. Does the fact that we have been separated for around 12 years make any difference?
3. Can i still file with UAE court if I’m the only one living in the UAE?

4.What happens regarding the three children — custody, financial support, and parental rights?
5.Are there particular UAE family-law firms that specialize in expat/Filipino divorce cases that people have personally dealt with?
6.What documents should I start preparing?

I’m mainly trying to understand the actual legal route, expected timeline, approximate costs, and whether doing this in the UAE is realistically possible.
If anyone has been through something similar, I’d really appreciate hearing about your experience.
Thanks in advance

[removed]

​

My husband was arrested on 25 June due to a car accident and was taken to Al Awir Jail because of a traffic case from 2024.

His bail was granted on 5 August, with a condition to appear in court today, 10 August, with his lawyer. However, my husband was not released and he remained in jail. Early morning today he was told that his name was not on the court hearing list.

I received an SMS later from the Prosecution today stating that a judgment was issued and an arrest warrant was placed because he did not attend the hearing.

When I contacted his lawyer, he was surprised and said he was under the impression that my husband would attend the hearing from inside the jail/online.

Wasn't the lawyer also required to attend the hearing today? What can we do now to inform the court that my husband was unable to attend because the jail did not release him, despite bail being granted?

What is the immediate solution to have the judgment and arrest warrant reconsidered? Thank you desperately needs advise. Thank you

Hi everyone,

I am the execution applicant/plaintiff in a cheque execution case in Dubai. The case was originally filed and handled through a lawyer, but due to significant communication gaps and lack of follow-up/information, I mutually parted ways with my previous lawyer and have now removed him from the case.

I am currently looking for a Dubai lawyer who can take over the remaining execution work. Most of the case is already progressing, so I mainly need help with the following:

1. Serving a pending financial disclosure notice

The Execution Judge has approved a request requiring the debtor to provide information regarding his salary, property, RTA/vehicle information and financial position.

The notice has already been issued, but the Dubai Courts portal shows:

"تعذر الإعلان بواسطة البريد الإلكتروني"

and the system remarks state:

"تعذر الإرسال من قبل النظام"

The debtor has successfully received previous electronic notifications, so this may simply be a technical issue. I would like to have the notice re-sent/re-served through SMS/email or another legally valid method and then follow up on the resulting enforcement procedure.

I cannot visit an Al Adheed centre in person, so I need someone who can handle this remotely on my behalf.

2. Employer/salary attachment

The debtor is currently paying/being subject to an attachment of 25% of his basic salary, but a significant portion of his income reportedly comes from incentives/commissions.

I would like to explore whether it is possible to have the employer attachment/enforcement extended appropriately to the debtor's commission/incentive income as it's part of his TOTAL INCOME, in accordance with UAE law and the applicable execution procedures.

I am not necessarily looking for someone to redo the entire case. Most of the groundwork has already been completed, and I am already receiving partial recovery through the execution process. I mainly need a lawyer who can handle these remaining procedural/enforcement steps and communicate with me clearly.

If you are a Dubai/UAE lawyer experienced in execution/cheque execution cases, please DM me and reasonable fee.

Alternatively, if you have personally used a good lawyer for a similar execution matter and can recommend someone reliable and reasonably priced, I would appreciate the recommendation.

Thanks in advance.

I started working in this company in UAE from January 20 this year and what to say I never had such an ugly experience working anywhere.Ignoring the horrible behaviour of the boss and unjustified work that they made me do despite not mentioning in contract,I would directly tell my issue.

First they hired me based on an interview and kept delaying my joining date.When finally I joined they said first two months I have to work on visit visa and then I will be given Residence visa.They kept extending my visit visa for two more months (due to some fault of theirs) and paid my salary in cash.After my residence visa was given..they asked me to work at two different offices which were not mentioned in the contract and so I decided to resign.

After resigning,they didn't pay me my last months salary despite me asking from them many times and when I left taking a video of my last day they didn't say anything and simply removed me from WhatsApp group.

Now they sent me a mail saying I owe them 27000 AED and they want to recover that..I just filed a police complaint but I request you all to suggest me what all steps I can take to make them pay me dues..!

TIA

https://preview.redd.it/7skkqssnmxih1.jpg?width=540&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1a2db8a629ec769e1ab6e0aec9ad8bb3e3997e57

Loan ..Just don't understand from where I owe them any loan!??

My boyfriend is currently detained in Dubai in connection with a criminal case involving allegations of financial wrongdoing.He has denied the allegations and has pleaded not guilty.
There are several people connected to the case, and my boyfriend maintains that he was not involved in the alleged wrongdoing and did not knowingly participate in it.
His first court hearing has now taken place. His lawyer requested bail, including on the basis of his personal circumstances, but bail was not granted at this stage. The case is continuing.
I am trying to understand how the UAE/Dubai criminal process generally works from this point.
For anyone familiar with UAE criminal cases:
How does the process usually proceed after the first hearing?
Can bail be requested again at a later stage?
What factors generally influence whether bail is granted?
If the accused maintains that he had no knowledge of or involvement in the alleged offence, what type of evidence is usually important for the defence?
If the complainant later decides that they no longer wish to pursue the matter, does that necessarily end a criminal case in the UAE?
How long can cases like this typically take?
If someone has no previous criminal history, does that generally make a difference to the outcome or sentencing?

Anyone been in a similar situation?

I invested AED 150,000 in Al Raheek General Trading. Ameeruddeen took the money and made a mutual agreement with me in his wife's name. His wife is also a shareholder in the company. The agreement was notarized through the Dubai Courts.

For the first three months, I received around AED 25,000 in profit, but then the payments stopped. Later, Ameeruddeen was arrested and imprisoned for fraud involving another person, while his wife went to India.

A lawyer advised me to file a case in India, but I am Pakistani and don't know how to proceed there.

Please advise me on the best legal way to recover my AED 150,000 investment and outstanding profit, considering that I have a notarized Dubai agreement and supporting documents.