An employee is resigning during probation. Can I reimburse the money I spent on his visa and employment expenses?

Dear user

Greetings from Khalifa bin Huwaiden Advocates and Legal Consultations.

According to the current UAE Labor Law, an employee has the right to resign at any time during the probationary period without a long notice requirement (usually 1–7 days depending on the contract).

The employer cannot force an employee to stay or impose a resignation fee during the probationary period unless the contract explicitly stipulates a clear legal clause regarding compensation for costs, and this clause must be reasonable and written in advance.

Expenses incurred by the company related to the employee's visa, training, or administrative guidance cannot be deducted or refunded from the employee unless the contract explicitly states this.

Any provision providing for the recovery of these costs must be specific, reasonable, and signed by the employee before any service is performed; otherwise, it is not legally enforceable.

Dear user, if there is no clause in the employee's contract that allows for a refund of visa or training costs, you do not have the right to legally claim a refund of these funds.

You can always include this clause in future contracts to cover such cases in a legal manner.

Note: This is a free consultation, and the office does not bear any responsibility for this consultation.

For more details, we hope you can contact us via call or WhatsApp.

Yes, you are legally entitled to reimbursement for the costs incurred on an expatriate employee's visa and documents during the probationary period if they resign, but under certain conditions.

A written employment contract must be in place that outlines these conditions, and the new employer must be notified of the resignation at least 14 days in advance if the employee wants to transfer to another job in the UAE.

Thank you for reaching out to us via Legal Advice Middle East.

Your question touches on an important area of UAE labour relations. There are several possible interpretations depending on the exact wording of the employment contract, the offer letter, and the onboarding documents signed by your employee.

In a similar case that we handled recently, the employer attempted to reclaim visa and onboarding costs during the probation period, but the court confirmed that such expenses are considered the employer’s responsibility, unless there was a clear contractual clause placing specific costs on the employee.

Because we had structured the employment contract carefully for our client, the employer was able to recover part of the costs legally.

The key point here is that visa, medical test, and related onboarding expenses are generally regarded as the employer’s obligation and cannot automatically be deducted or reclaimed, unless there is an explicit, enforceable agreement signed by the employee and approved within the framework of UAE labour law.

Attempting to recover them without a proper legal basis can expose the company to claims of unlawful deduction.

The most strategic route is to review your employment contract and probation terms to identify if any clause allows recovery of specific costs.

If absent, there may still be tailored legal strategies to minimize your financial exposure, but each path depends on the documented terms.

To provide you with precise advice, we need to review the full contract, visa application documents, and onboarding forms.

Our multilingual consultants (Arabic, English, Russian, Hindi, and Chinese) are available to support you with a tailored solution that safeguards your company’s interests.

This response is provided by RASHID ALKAITOOB ADVOCATES & LEGAL CONSULTANTS based solely on the information you have shared, and does not constitute a final legal opinion.

A binding assessment can only be given after reviewing the complete documents of the case. We would be grateful if you could leave a positive review of our office after receiving our assistance.