If you leave, you risk delaying your departure or potentially facing legal charges, as well as being listed as an absconder in immigration records. When you leave the UAE, your bank has the authority to demand prompt and complete payment of your debts.
What happens if you leave UAE without paying off debt?
A travel ban may be imposed against you if a criminal complaint is filed against you. If you don’t pay your personal loans or credit card installments on time, you might not be able to travel outside the UAE. If you do not pay your bills after leaving the UAE, you may be imprisoned when you return.
Can I leave Dubai if I have a loan?
You are not need to live in the UAE as a borrower while your loans are not fully paid. Furthermore, you are free to leave the nation if no police cases or travel bans have been filed against you. As a result, payments can be made even if they are not in the UAE.
What happens if I leave the country with debt?
Your debt does not follow you when you leave your home to travel to another country. Although you are still in debt and the amount owed does not suddenly disappear, you do not carry it.
How long can you legally be chased for a debt in UAE?
The UAE Civil Law, it is thought, restricts the debt recovery time to 15 years. After this time limit has passed, the lender will be unable to pursue legal action against you to recover the loan.
How can I settle my debt in UAE?
Depending on the debt, the user can clear their outstanding financial responsibilities with the bank or credit card provider in a variety of methods. We’ll go through some of the most frequent methods credit card companies and banks settle outstanding bills with cardholders in this section.
Lump-Sum Payment
This is one of those credit card debt settlement strategies that banks readily accept. However, it is vital to note that this strategy only works if the debtor has the repayment amount in cash to complete the payment. You can simply contact your bank or credit card issuer and request a lump-sum payment, after which you can discuss the amount to be paid. This method is quite effective since it allows the debtor to pay off the debt quickly by making a single payment.
Agreement
This is one of the most popular and widely used debt settlement methods among both banks and debtors. The bank/credit card issuer may agree to reduce your interest, lessen your total debt, or waive the late fee in the case of an agreement, making it easier for the debtor to complete the payment. As a result, individuals will find it easier to clear their debt in installments over time.
Adversity Payment Settlement
This option may be acceptable for you if you have been unable to make payments on your credit card debts owing to hardships or adversity. For example, if you are unable to make a payment due to a loss of employment, illness, disability, or any other personal reason, you can call your credit card provider with adequate confirmation of your situation.
Given your situation, the provider may reduce the minimum payment or eliminate the interest to make it easier for the debtor to pay. Because agreement methods differ from bank to bank, it is usually a good idea to contact your credit card provider/bank.
Can I keep my bank account if I leave UAE?
When a resident leaves the UAE, they are considered a non-resident, and non-residents can open a bank account in the UAE. Most banks will let you convert an existing resident account to a non-resident account in most cases. This, however, may differ from one bank to the next. If the bank where you hold an account does not provide a non-resident account, you can always close it and start one at another bank. Keep in mind that if you’re departing the UAE, you’ll need to notify your bank and make any outstanding payments. If you want to keep your account as a non-resident account, you can seek a conversion from your bank.
Can I go to jail for not paying a personal loan in UAE?
Those who are unable to pay their obligations or fail to repay loans face harsh penalties in the UAE. Bouncing a check is a criminal violation that can result in a three-year prison sentence, a fine of up to 30,000 dirhams (US$8,200), and a travel ban until the sentence is completed. Bahar, 68, has spent roughly four months in prison since 2015 as a result of his inability to pay his obligations.
Paying a fine or serving a jail sentence in the UAE does not relieve the debtor of his or her obligation to pay the debt. For outstanding personal or business debts exceeding 10,000 Emirati dirhams ($2,700), creditors can also apply to civil courts to jail debtors or impose effectively indefinite travel bans.
The judge can order the debtor’s imprisonment for up to a month, renewable for up to 36 months, if the judge believes the debtor is capable of paying the amount or if there are concerns the debtor will seek to flee the country. A judge can revoke a travel ban after three years if the creditor does not request an extension, according to changes made to the Civil Procedure Law in 2019. If a debtor or family member is unwell and cannot be treated in the country, a judge can grant permission to go.
Bahar arrived in Dubai in 2001, opened a commercial brokerage firm, and has resided in the UAE legally for at least 13 years. According to Bahar, his company ran into major problems following the global financial crisis that began in late 2008 and affected Dubai’s economy particularly hard. Individual wealth was shrinking or disappearing at the time due to major job cutbacks and firm contraction. Banks put a lot of pressure on customers to pay off their personal loans, and they tightened previously lenient lending criteria. Many people failed to pay their rent, defaulted on checks and loans, or were arrested.
One foreign investor who owed Bahar money filed a criminal case against him in the Dubai Criminal Court in June 2014, accusing him of bouncing a check. The court sentenced him to three months in prison, and the punishment was upheld by an appeals court. He completed his sentence.
In late 2014, a second foreign investor filed a criminal complaint against him, and the court sentenced him to a $10,000 fine in January 2015, which was later lowered to 7,000 dirhams on appeal. Another automatic travel ban was placed on him, which was only lifted after he paid the fine. Bahar’s passport was also confiscated by the court in November 2014, and it was only returned to him in August 2020.
On May 15, 2019, one of the creditors filed a new application with the courts to have Bahar arrested, however the court canceled the order and reinstated Bahar’s travel ban. Bahar repeatedly asked the court for permission to see his ailing wife in the United States in 2020. He offered to have his adult daughter, who lives in the United Arab Emirates, act as a guarantor on his behalf. He has yet to receive a response.
Bahar was sentenced to further 21 days in prison in January 2019 after his bank initiated a criminal prosecution against him for credit card debt.
The UAE has implemented a number of reforms in recent years that appear to be aimed at providing relief to debt-ridden enterprises and residents. It passed a federal bankruptcy law in 2016 to aid ailing businesses in avoiding bankruptcy and liquidation, but it does not apply to people. Dubai passed a criminal order rule in 2017 that punishes a bounced check for less than 200,000 Emirati dirhams ($54,500) with a fine rather than imprisonment.
In 2019, the UAE passed a much-touted insolvency law that, like the bankruptcy law for businesses, aims to help people who are drowning in debt. It allows a person to restructure their debt for up to three years, although they can still face legal action if they miss a payment. The UAE also announced revisions in November 2020 to abolish the prosecution of bounced checks, while a creditor would still be allowed to initiate a civil lawsuit that might result in incarceration under present regulations.
The BBC reported in October 2020 that the International Monetary Fund predicts the Middle East will experience an economic collapse considerably worse than the global financial crisis of 2008-09, owing to the coronavirus outbreak and record low oil prices.
Furthermore, the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) protects them under article 6 “Everyone has the right to earn a living by doing employment that he or she chooses or accepts freely.” The UAE’s arbitrary and disproportionate enforcement of travel bans based solely on debt is both arbitrary and unfair.
Other rights, including as the right to an appropriate level of living, the right to family life and family unity, and the enjoyment of the greatest possible standard of bodily and mental health, are also affected by the combined violation of these rights.
“Rather of leaving people imprisoned or destitute, the UAE government should modify laws and practices to ensure that everyone involved in financial disputes has a mechanism to restore their financial position,” Page added.
Can I leave UAE with traffic fines?
Before leaving the nation, all traffic penalties and offenses must be paid. To make it easier for residents and visitors departing from Abu Dhabi to pay their traffic fines, the Abu Dhabi Police Department offers a variety of options.
What is the punishment for not paying loan?
- Why does a loan defaulter need protection? Because there could be a ‘true problem’ that is causing the default. Genuine causes are given fair weight in a court of law. It is true that banks will not easily let their money go. A proper course of action will be followed. However, being unable to pay a personal loan EMI (for example) does not constitute one a criminal. Find out what to do if your loan EMI is too high.
- No one will go to jail for defaulting on a loan: A civil lawsuit arises when a borrower defaults on a debt. A person cannot be charged with a crime for defaulting on a loan. It simply means that police officers are unable to conduct arrests. As a result, a real individual who is unable to repay the EMIs should not lose hope. There are several guidelines that can assist a defaulter in negotiating with his or her lender.
If you believe your bank is acting inappropriately, you can submit a complaint with ‘The Banking Ombudsman.’ More information can be found here.
However, it is important to remember that these restrictions are in place to help people who are unable to pay their EMI due to genuine circumstances. These rules are not for the irresponsible, escapists, deliberate defaulters, or lawbreakers.
Can I cancel UAE without visa?
If you stay outside of the UAE for more than 6 months in a row, your resident visa will be immediately cancelled, and if you don’t return before the 6 months is out, you won’t be able to re-enter on the same visa. As a result, if you have no plans to return to the UAE in the future, you will not need to travel all the way back to the UAE to cancel the visa.
If you leave the country without properly canceling your employment resident visa and notifying your employer of your resignation in accordance with employment termination procedures (labor cancelation and employment permit cancellation), your employer may report you as an absconding person, and you may be barred from entering the UAE. This will result in new visa application rejections, and even if you are able to fly to the UAE, you risk being detained at the airport.
To avoid complications with future visa applications, it is always essential to follow up with formal visa cancellation of your resident visa and gather documentation of cancellation (cancelation paper and or cancelation stamp in passport visa page) before departing the United Arab Emirates.
