Q: Hi. Kindly advise regarding: (1) Closing a professional civil company (management consultancy) in Dubai with 4 partners + 1 local agent. There are 4 partners (all family members) who are out of the UAE. 2 partners have investor visas & 2 have partner visas. 3 visas have expired during July-Sept 18 and 1 Investor visa expiring 17/11 as being out of the country for 6 months+. Online at www.gdrfa.ae on logging in, the 3 expired visas are showing 'Inactive'. Does it mean visas are automatically cancelled & they can come on visit OR visas have to be physically cancelled at the immigration dept? The company has no assets/liability. We want to close the company. The company's labour est card is already cancelled. (2) Effect of a partner's personal credit cards' liability on the company as a he is a partner. In the above company, 2 partners have credit card dues. Is there an impact on 2 aged partners coming back to the UAE if the banks file cases & secure order on attaching the defaulting partners share in above company? (There is no business/assets). Can the 2 partners be harassed in UAE?

Q: My FZ company has lost its major clients and is no longer able to trade. It has one creditor with an outstanding balance of AED 120,000. What are my options to close the company down and what are my liabilities regarding the debt?

Q: My company filed a theft criminal case against me in Abu Dhabi. I did not do anything. The police arrested me and kept me in custody for two days. After that, they held my passport then released me. Then after two months, my company closed the case, and 1 week before I got my passport back. Now, I want to cancel my visa. Does the cancellation process need any police clearance certificate or no need?

Q: My friend passed away on Monday and his wife and daughter are on his sponsorship. Can the dependent visas be held for some months as the daughter is studying in the UAE?

Q: I hold a professional trade license with a 15% local partner. However, I have closed the company in early 2019 and have not renewed the trade license for the past two years. The business was not good and hence I did not pay the sponsor fees for two and a half years. I want to close the company officially and also cancel all the visas linked to the company. The local sponsor is not cooperating and he is asking for the past three years' sponsor fees, which I don't have. Please guide me on how to cancel and return to India without any legal hassle with the local sponsor. Please advise!

Q: Hi Sir/Madam, My family and I lived in the UAE but due to my father's death, we had to leave last year since he was our sponsor for our residency. We didn't cancel the residency ourselves and I have returned to the UAE twice after that for visit. Now, my residency has expired; it has been expired for 3 months now and I am planning on visiting the UAE soon. Can I just get a tourist visa and get in or do I need to do something about my expired residency since we didn't manually cancel it? Thank you.

Q: How can I hold my family visa when I am changing my job from a Dubai employment visa to a Free zone visa?

Q: Dear sir/madam, Can I hold my family visa if I change my job to a different Emirate?

The provisions of this Law apply to the commercial companies established in the UAE and the foreign companies that have established in the UAE a base to conduct any activity therein or established a branch or representative office. The Law abrogates Federal Law No. (8) of 1984 Concerning Commercial Companies.

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).