Questions & Answers
Can the successors of my employer fire me and hold my passport after his death?
My employer is already dead.
The daughter sent me away from their house. I want to get my passport and cancel my visa but they want me to pay 15k dirhams in exchange for my passport.
I want to know if the wife has the rights to hold my passport and file a complaint against me if my employer is already dead?
Dear Questioner,
As per the UAE law, it is not permissible for any creditor, sponsor or employer to seize the passport of a debtor/employee or a sponsored person and keep it in one’s possession with the intention of restricting someone’s freedom of movement — even with the consent of the person concerned.
The legislator has organized in Article 188, as replaced by Cabinet Resolution No 33 of 2020 of the Civil Procedures Code cases, which says that the competent judge may prevent the debtor/employee from traveling according to the procedures specified in the law and the judge may order that the debtor’s/employees passport be deposited in the court’s treasury and not hand it over to the creditor/employer to keep it in his or her possession.
It has been decided by Dubai Courts “that it is not permissible for the employer to seize the worker’s passport and deny his natural right of travel and movement, regardless of the nature of the relationship that binds them together.
The seizure of the passport from its owner is nothing but preventing a person from traveling. This is governed by the text of Article 329 of the Civil Procedures Law, which lists the cases in which a travel ban is permissible and it is stipulated that the order is issued by the judge in accordance with the formal and substantive procedures specified in the law (In cassation No 268/2001, Rights).
In view of these legal provisions, your employer doesn’t have the right to seize your passport for any reason, even if you owe him money.
You may raise a complaint in Dubai Police.
Regards.
