Questions & Answers - Legal Advice Middle East

Blocking an employee's visa in case of resignation before the end of his limited contract

Q: I was working in a company for 1 year and 10 months. My visa is about to expire; in July. My contract is limited. I got a job offer in another Emirate. I requested my employer for resignation. In the beginning, he accepted and hired another employee, but lastly, he did not accept my resignation. I told him that I will serve 1 month notice period and I am willing to pay 45 days salary. Now, he is threatening me that he will block my visa. I want to know if there is a possibility of blocking my visa. Please clarify this situation and I want to know the rights.

The possibility to file a civil case after filing a criminal case for a credit card default

Q: I have 2 credit cards. One of them started in 2016 and was not paid from Dec. 2016. Can the bank file a civil case against me after already filing a criminal case in court now? The other credit card was started 5 years before. Can the bank file a civil case against me? They are calling me every week. The limit was 75k and the bank said they are now calculating interest and reached approx. 110k.

What to do in case of defaulting on property SPA obligations due to COVID-19?

Q: Hi, I have a contract with a developer for two properties. But since Coronavirus periods started, I was not able to pay the quarterly instalments. There are some penalties as per the agreement too on defaulted payments. Now if I want to cancel the contract and get refunded, how much should I expect? And also, if I cancel only one contract and the payment on it as it is could be transferred to the other contract to continue with that.

سداد أصل المبلغ فقط في حالة فقدان العمل

س: غادرت الدولة بعد سداد ٣٦ قسط للبنك بسبب فقدي لعملي دون أدنى سبب لإنهاء العقد. البنك يطالبني بالسداد عن طريق محامي واتصل بأفراد عائلتي. هل يكفيني سداد أصل المبلغ دون فوائد؟ يُرجى الإفادة!

The fine of a loan less than AED 200,000

Q: Madam, If the amount is 15,000, what is the fine to solve the issue?

Terminating an employee in case of working for a competitor without permission

Q: An employee was found to be working on his weekly day off for a competitor. I (the employer) cannot prove that the employee received any monetary consideration for his work but the fact that he offered his services to a competitor itself is deeply disturbing to the environment of trust and integrity in the company. Needless to say, this employee cannot be trusted in the future. The incident in question was witnessed by someone who knows me personally and the said person called me from the site and reported it to me. It is possible that the employee has been doing this regularly over time but happened to get noticed this time. Can this employee be terminated under Article 120 of the UAE Labour Law? If not, what remedies are available to the employer?

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Deducting visa costs when resigning after more than a year of work

Q: Hello sir, I have been working for 1 year and 6 months in a restaurant without a vacation. Due to my health, I had resigned, and when receiving my payment, they had deducted 4200 for the visa. Please I want to know if it is allowed to pay for the visa. Thank you!

A bounced cheque case does still appear on the police website despite making a settlement

Q: Hi, I have a bounced cheque case filed by a bank for my personal loan in July 2020. After discussion with the bank and paying the pending EMI and currently paying my monthly EMI normally. the bank said that they have withdrawn the case against me and I have issued a new cheque. But it is still showing a case on the police website. Please advise how to lift the travel ban!

Applicable law to submit a substitute of a death certificate for inheritance

Q: The governing law for succession in the country is UAE Federal Law No. 5 of 1985 or the Civil Transactions Code which states in Article 17 (1) that "Inheritance shall be governed by the law of the deceased at the time of his death." Does it mean that something would substitute as a death certificate since the question would probably be governed by the law of that state? Please explain in detail.

The purchaser paid only 20% of the property price while it is 80% complete

Q: My question is from the developer side. A developer completed 80% construction certified by RERA Report. A customer paid only 20% of the selling price. We sent DLD Notice to the customer but no answer. We started the cancellation procedure through DLD, then the customer responded. Actually, the customer purchased 5 units, and all he paid is 20% of selling up to now. I want to know how much money I can forfeit if the customer is not able to pay by law. Also please give me the law reference of DLD!

Determining the proper rental for a villa

Q: Hello, This is an inquiry related to rental renewal. I currently rent a 5 bedroom villa from a real estate company where I pay AED 192,500 and it is up for renewal on April 30. As per RERA calculator, the range for 5 bedroom townhouse/Villa is 140k to 170K, thus it indicates no increase. As per search portals, there is a big price range for similar villas, 220K to 300k+. I have given my legal notice for my intention to renew as per RERA calculator and my landlord has also given notice for renewal but indicating that it will be at a much higher rent, roughly above 250k; a 30%+ increase. I would like to resolve this amicably, but there is a big gap between our own expectations. As per law, what are my next steps? Sincerely,

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Investigation about case details in the UAE and strategy to claim the debt

Q: 1. Is there any website that can search for an expert investigation report for a case in Dubai? 2. Is there any way to search for an ongoing case by the defendant name? 3. In Dubai, if we claim a civil case, we should pay a 6% court fee according to the claim amount and is there anything the defendant should pay? 4. If we win the case, are the court fees and other court administrative fees liability of the defendant? 5. We have a case in which we will claim an amount of more than 630,000 US dollars, the defendant was in Dubai, we have 5-6 victims and still grow up. But we would like to use a pay afterwards strategy to claim the lawsuit which means we pay according to what we got, any lawyer who would like to talk about this please send a mail to us, thanks.

Who is responsible for the company bounced cheques if the signatory leaves?

Q: Hello Madam, My question is on a company cheque issued by the previous signatory (last 3 years new signatory, the previous signatory is absconding, not now in license). If this cheque is returned, is it the responsibility of the new signatory or the company?

How to enforce a mutual divorce from a UAE court in India

Q: I got divorced in Dubai with mutual consent between me and my ex-wife in 2019. My ex-wife has now engaged a lawyer and is seeking to file a new divorce in India, since as per her lawyer the divorce decree granted by the Dubai court is not valid and binding as we were married in Mumbai, India. Hence the document doesn`t seem to be a valid document and I am legally married to her according to her lawyer. Additionally, since I recently got married again here, they are claiming that a criminal case can be filed since bigamy is not permitted in India. I was advised that a divorce by mutual consent from Dubai is valid and binding in India as well. Please advise.

The minimum age for being a company shareholder

Q: My son is 16 years old. Can I execute my trading company to him or make him a sponsor?

The procedures of closing a company loan in the UAE while being away

Q: I posted a question about closing a large business ($400.000) loan for our Florida start-up company to be manufacturing. We were told: "... partners who reside in countries with travel restrictions or medical conditions will be represented by the UAE central bank legalization officer who shall oversee the entire process in their absence in line with UAE COVID-19 safety measures. Furthermore, you the beneficiary is expected to take full responsibility for the legalization cost of all documentation to be used in this transaction at the Dubai magistrate court with the assistance of the UAE central bank official who shall represent you in the entire process of this transaction." The quoted fee was $6,800 to be paid in advance or at closing if we attend personally. Does this sound like a legitimate procedure for using an agent to sign loan documents? How can we conduct due diligence on this investment firm based in Kuwait to be sure we are dealing with the actual company? Thanks.