Questions & Answers
What to do if the passport is kept by the employer
My employer cancelled my visa last month and said that I should look for work, after that, I can take my passport. So my concerns are that I may not find work and I want to get back to my country.
What will he do?
The employer does not have the right to keep your passport and it is best to take it from him as soon as possible.
In 2002, the UAE Ministry of the Interior issued a decree confirming that the passport is a personal document that must be kept by the owner and presented to official government bodies upon request.
No party may hold the passport except by judicial order and in accordance with the law. Up to 20,000 dirhams can be paid as a fine, and the employee can file a complaint against the employer at the local labour office and even file a complaint with the police.
In 2007, the Ministry of Labor decided to impose fines and administrative penalties against sponsors who refuse to hand over workers' passports, because the passport is a personal document of the worker and it is his right.
Therefore, the ministry imposed a fine of ten thousand dirhams with all facilities of the sponsor until the commitment to the decision of the ministry.
