Q: Dear sir/madam, I had 2 cheque bounce cases in the UAE; one in Sharjah and another in Abu Dhabi. The Sharjah case went to court and the judge gave me a 10k AED fine. I paid the fine and the case was closed. The Abu Dhabi case was pending and now due to the new amendment in law, this case is also closed without any fine. Now I want to travel to the UAE on a visit visa, to see if I can find a job or set up a small business and start my life altogether. I have heard that once I enter the UAE, the bank will get to know the same and they will file a civil case and impose a travel ban. Once entered, I will not be able to get out till I clear the payment with the bank. I am ready to have a negotiation with the bank and make the repayment in installment but I don't want to be stuck in the UAE with a travel ban. Please advise on this. Also, I want to check my immigration status - if my travel bans by the cheque bounce cases issued earlier are cleared.

Q: Hello I was working between 2016 and 2020 in a company. The owners ran away without any notice during the Covid lockdown. Due to the lockdown, I couldn't get a new job, so I decided to leave the UAE with my family. I have no intention to cheat anyone, but unfortunately, I could not pay any credit card dues until now. I got a good job again in the UAE. After the cheque bounce case was decriminalized - is there a chance to stop me at the airport? Now, I am working in business development so I need to travel to other countries as well. How can we check any travel ban, criminal case, and civil case? I can be ready to pay in installments one by one. The total amount is around AED 120,000 for 5 credit cards. One more question: In my new company, I need to visit various countries for work purposes at the time if I pay a fine in court/if no civil case against me. Can I get a police clearance certificate to travel to other countries or apply for a visa to other countries? Advanced thanks to all and looking forward to hiring a lawyer to solve this problem.

Q: So there is this new law applicable on Jan 2, 2022, where convicts of bounced cheques will all be cleared and found innocent. Question 1: Will this apply to civil cases that have passed all stages and are under execution? Question 2: Will all this be cleared automatically or are there procedures to be done by the convict to fix and if so what are they? Thank you.

In the UAE, cheque bounce is a very frequent problem faced by people during their span in the country. It is covered under the purview of Commercial Transactions Law, and legal implications/penalties can be financially severe and daunting for more “serious” offenses. Bounced cheque issues may arise in a variety of commercial transactions, including but not limited to, companies’ exchanges, bank loans, property rents or purchases, and individual transactions.

An interview-format article covering the topic of loans and bounced cheques in the UAE. This is from the legal podcast of lawyer Ludmila Yamalova, the founder of Lawgical with LYLAW.

What shall I do if I have a bounced cheque? You need to contact your lawyer as soon as possible to issue a travel ban against the person who issued the bounced cheque. It should be noted that time plays a very important role in bounced cheque cases.

The provisions of this Decree by Law amend the Federal Law No. (18) of 1993 by replacing Clause (4) of Article (379) as well as Articles (600), (617), (641), (642), (643), (644), and adding new articles numbered (635) Bis, (641) Bis (1), (641) Bis (2), (641) Bis (3), (641) Bis (4), (643) Bis (1), (643) Bis (2), (644) Bis (1) and (644) Bis (2). The Decree-Law also repeals Articles (401), (402) and (403) of the Federal Law No. (3) of 1987.

This Law promulgates the Federal Penal Code (Criminal Law) of the United Arab Emirates. Crimes and chastisement punishments shall be determined in accordance with the provisions of this Law and other penal codes.