Q: Good morning. My wife is Philippino national and I am a UK national working in Dubai. In March 2016, my wife was arrested and charged with the Abuse of Psychotropic Substances. She was sentenced to 1 year in jail. After 6 months she was deported back to the Philippines (September 2016) and is now on the immigration blacklist, I have had this confirmed. At that time she was single, we met later. I understand it is legally possible to get her name removed from the immigration blacklist, but my question is have the UAE courts ever lifted an immigration ban for someone jailed for a drug offense? I understand the law is rarely ‘black and white’ but would appreciate a legal view. Obviously, I would like my wife to join me here in Dubai and I’m just trying to understand if this is actually feasible or we should just accept that we will have to live apart while I work in the UAE.

Q: Dear sir/madam, I was born and brought up in the UAE and lived there for 18 years. My family owns 2 properties and a business in Sharjah and Dubai. In 2017, I was deported for a mistake I made because of a bad influence, and my future was ruined. It was a genuine mistake of using illegal substances (Marijuana) in Sharjah. While I was imprisoned in Sharjah, I did not get any proper representation or chance to speak to a lawyer or the judge and was directly deported on a special pardon in October 2017. My parents have tried removing the ban from MOI Abu Dhabi with a special pardon but have got rejected every time and now we lost hope and ask you to help in this situation. I have not done any criminal activity or illegal activity before this. My records are clean. I really wish to get back to my family. Please help me in removing the ban. I have recently heard of the new law which has been imposed since January 2022 with no mandatory deportation. Will this help my case in any way?

Q: Dear Sir/Madam, My wife was working in the UAE from 2016 to 2018 and completely finished her contract. She got the cancelation of the papers from the company then she moved to another company. But the new company visa process got late from the date of the paper cancelation. So it expired and she did not exit the country at that time for more than 1 month. She went to her home country and she faced immigration at Dubai airport. They deported her for absconding and gave her an immigration ban. I tried in 2021 to get her a visit visa but that was also rejected. My question is how to come again to Dubai? Any possibility to check that at immigration?

Q: Dear Sir/Madam, How many steps are there in the approval process for a mercy request? Is it true that there are application acceptance approval and final approval?

Q: I submitted my mercy request in October 2023. Today I received this message from Abu Dhabi: ينظر الطلب في يوم الجلسة. What does this mean? Any idea? Thanks

With the introduction of the new procedures for obtaining a power of attorney (POA) remotely in the UAE, after it was mandatory to appear in person in front of the notary public as a global rule to ensure the identity and intention of the person requesting a POA, we put between your hands this brief guide for how you get it done.

The UAE travel ban may be imposed on a person on various grounds, for instance, as the result of criminal offences, unpaid loans, breach of immigration laws or family matters. Implications of such a ban can be financially severe and daunting for the affected person. This article aims to give readers a clear understanding of what is the UAE travel ban, what are the grounds and procedures for its imposition and removal, how to check if the person is banned from travelling and other related topics.

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.

The law promulgates UAE Criminal Procedural Law (Penal Procedures Law) which governs criminal procedures in the UAE. This law applies to the procedures relating to offences whose punishments are not specified, dogma and punitive offences, and blood money, if they do not violate the Sharia rules.

The provisions of this Federal Decree-Law No. (31) of 2021 Promulgating the Crimes and Penalties Law, known as the "New UAE Penal Code", governs criminal actions in the United Arab Emirates. The New Penal Code repeals the previous UAE Penal Code (Federal Law No. (3) of 1987 Promulgating the Penal Code).