Q: Hello Sir, A friend of mine was offered a job in Dubai on a visit visa, and he is working at the company for almost past 4 months on the same visa. Last month, his visit visa was expired and overstayed. The company had cleared his overstay and has issued him yet another visit visa for a month. Now, whenever he asks the HR for work visa status, he is not getting a proper reply. My friend says he does not want to continue, but the company has the passport and they are not giving him the passport. He knows that working on a visit visa is illegal in the UAE, and he wants to quit. What are his options? Should he contact the labour department or MOL? Will he be deported, fined and/ or jailed?

Q: I have unpaid Etisalat bills for 500 AED and a cash advance in DIB, and my visa is already cancelled. Is there any possibility to exit the UAE without paying for both and for overstay?

Q: I have been on a visit visa. I found a job with a company. My visa expired. The company is telling me to lie to immigration that they just hired me. They told me that I should cry so immigration has mercy and forgive the overstay. The manager said that I should go to the airport and cry there. I am Ugandan. Please advise me!

Q: Dear Sir/Madam, I gave my passport to the company. I am working on a visit visa and the company has not given me an employment visa. I need my passport back. The company has now asked me to transfer my credit to a new sales representative. My salary for last month is pending.

An interview-format article covering the topic of overstaying your tourist or resident visa in the UAE. This is from the legal podcast of lawyer Ludmila Yamalova, the founder of Lawgical with LYLAW. Ludmila discusses the aspects of overstaying, like fines, grace periods, exemptions...etc.

Three new ministerial decrees containing a new set of rules for the labour market were issued by the UAE Ministry of Labour last year and came into force on the 1st of January this year. The decrees are expected to alter the contractual relationship between employers and workers in the UAE.

The UAE has adopted a major reform in its legislative system that brought about 40 new laws and amendments to the company law, criminal law, personal status, among others. The amendments aim to develop the legislative structure in various sectors, the labor law being one of these, was the most recent. We try in this article to shed light on the changes introduced with the new labor law and their significance on both, the employer and employee.

According to this Decree, tentative approval to admit a foreign worker for the purpose of employment in the UAE cannot be granted until an Employment Offer that conforms with the Standard Employment Contract is duly signed by the employee and presented to the Ministry of Labour.

The provisions of this Law, known as "UAE Labour Law", govern the relationship between employers and employees and other labour matters in the United Arab Emirates. There are special labour related regulations applicable in some of the free zones in the UAE.

The provisions of this Decree-Law, known as "New UAE Labor Law", govern labour relations in the private sector of the United Arab Emirates. The New Labor Law repeals the previous UAE Labor Law (Federal Law No. (8) of 1980).