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[dbxsoul]

especially for arnie!


article 37 of the federal law no. 8 of 1980 (amended in 1986) states:

"An employee may be appointed under probation for a period not exceeding six months. However, the employer may terminate the service of the employee during this period without notice and without end of service benefits and no employee may be appointed under probation more than once with the same employer. If the emploee passes the probation period sucessfully and continues to work, the period shall be considered part of the service period"

the gramatical errors are not mine, but the crappy spelling ... well i appologies to the dept. of labour

this means that benefits such as leave accrual, gratuity etc.... do not accurue in the first 6 months (or duration of the probation), but after "sucessfull" completion of the probation these are "credited" to you!

[Wafaey]

dbxsoul U r the man.
I was wondering how do u know all of this info do u work for the gov or something lol

[arniegang]

thx dxbsoul your knowledge and time is appreciated

[dbxsoul]

dbxsoul U r the man.
I was wondering how do u know all of this info do u work for the gov or something lol

ha-ha. please don't wish things like that on me. you can only drink so many cups of coffe (or tea) in the day.... and ... well once youv'e read the paper for the day, reading it a second or third time is just no fun

[sleepless.in.dubai]

dbxsoul, I think you're the only one who can help me out with my current predicament!

After 4 months with my company (having passed the 3 month probation period), my boss and I came with a mutual decision that it was best to leave the company. I won't go into details, but it was a decision I had been wanting to take before my probation period had ended.

During the 4 months, I was given a residence visa (on my U.K passport) and a labour card. I also managed to get my drivers license during this period, AND took a large loan from the bank after giving confirmation that I was "set" with my employer.

Now, the company wants to cancel my visa. According to what I understood from them:

1) The labour department will NOT reissue a visa under my name until one year after the issuance date of my soon-to-be-canceled visa (unless I find a job in Jebel Ali)
2) I will be able to leave and re-enter Dubai freely every two months, getting a visit visa stamped at the airport since I have a U.K passport.
3) My bank MIGHT have the authority to "arrest" me if I leave Dubai, even if I am continuing to make monthly payments on the loan??

What do you suggest I do? Is my situation really that dire? Do I HAVE to find work in Jebel Ali?? Are there any problems driving my car here with my license if I am no longer a "resident" of Dubai? Can I cancel my visa now, drive to Oman and u-turn back into Dubai and have a visit visa stamped??

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[arniegang]

DXBsoul will know the details i'm sure.

All i do know is that you are correct about the 60 day re-entry rule being a Brit, and if you work in a "free zone" the labour rules do not apply.

You state Jebel Ali as a free zone and you are correct, but... the area around the Marina is also considered a "free zone". Obviously this includes DIC, Knowledge City, Media City etc.

Soul will be able to tell you the other technicallities.

[constantine]

Dubai media city is a freezone most definately...i work there...and had a guy cross over from a rival tv station...without facing any bans or any problems whatsoever....!!...i guess being in the middle of nowhere does hae some advantages!!

[sleepless.in.dubai]

Arnie, constantine.. thanks for the quick replies! I didn't know Media City, Internet City were also free zones...
Thanks for the heads up!

[sharewadi]

I am gobsmacked at the probation period not cutting both ways.

So am I. My understanding was that an employee could walk out with no fallout while under probation and I'm aware of people who've done that. Maybe they were with companies who didn't know better (fortunately for the people concerned).

[arniegang]

Sleepless

Basically anything in between interchange 4 + 5 on the SZR and onto Jebel Ali is now considered the "free zone"

[sharewadi]

2) I will be able to leave and re-enter Dubai freely every two months, getting a visit visa stamped at the airport since I have a U.K passport.
3) My bank MIGHT have the authority to "arrest" me if I leave Dubai, even if I am continuing to make monthly payments on the loan??

What do you suggest I do? Is my situation really that dire? Do I HAVE to find work in Jebel Ali?? Are there any problems driving my car here with my license if I am no longer a "resident" of Dubai? Can I cancel my visa now, drive to Oman and u-turn back into Dubai and have a visit visa stamped??

2. Yes AFAIK. For 33 nationalities who don't need to pre-arrange visas.
3. Possibly? But they're unlikely to know or care as long as you make your payments, and as long as the company hasn't notified them your visa has been cancelled. Some companies require a clearance letter from the bank before your visa gets cancelled. That usually means you have to pay off outstanding loans.

If you have a car and licence, I don't think you'd have a problem until renewal of licence and registration (when you'll need to show a residency visa - last time I registered a car, they just wanted a photocopy of residency visa). If you're stopped by police, I don't think they'll ask for passport. If you're arrested, they probably will but no idea of the consequences if there's no residency visa in it.

Yes, you can do the Oman U-turn business. I heard from someone who'd done that that the Omani authorities frown on it a bit and you may not be able to do it repeatedly. Some useful information on that method here. Also has other visa information.

[dbxsoul]

hi there, sorry about the late reply, but it would see that the other members have managed to get through most of your queries.

the most important one for you is. yes, on termination and cancellation of your labour card you will be banned (labour) for six months. as you have not worked out a full year under your current employers sponsorship you cannot transfer either.

you are correct in assuming that one of the freezones will be able to offer you an oppertunity without the ban being implimented. off the top of my head there are about 15 "freezones" in the uae - a number of which have already been mentioned in the postings above. have a look at this link: http://www.theemiratesnetwork.com/dir/G ... ree_Zones/

there are a few more zones currently under construction including the dubai flower centre, the business bay development and silicon oasis... although i would think you have to act now. pleanty of people working in the freezones make the 60 day tour to the border and back.

on cancellation of your residency visa you have 30 days to exit the country before you are considered illegal - trying to exit after this will result in you being taken into custody and fined for every day over your cut-off point. this means, once cancelled - take a trip to oman, do the in and out thing, that will give you two months to try and sort things out in one of the fz's.

i can't comment about the banking issue, but would assume that numerous other people have crossed from a normal dubai labour contract to a fz contract - i hardly see the jails bursting at the seams. it may be worth contacting the bank and telling them that you are considering changing jobs to the fz, and see what thier response is. i have a meeting with a rep from one of the banks tomorrow and will try and find out from her.

working in a fz still gives you residency status - if they do the paperwork for you, hence you'd be able to drive you car around and have it re-registered. the only problem i could see is that you are able to find a job in one of the fz's, but they won't provide you with residency and require you do do regular visa runs (this happens a lot as well); this would cause an issue with registration.

trust this helps ...

[silhouette]

6. people working in a FreeZone are excluded from the ban when transfering between companies - only because they are not subject to the Federal and Emirate labour law

A slight doubt . There is a situation where a person is on a dubai visa, the company is moving all their employees under the Free zone visa - Dubai Outsource Zone ( I guess it falls under the DMC ). The person has now completed 8 months under the dubai visa but soon would be shifting to this new free zone visa. Does he get a ban after he quits from the co after the visa change?.. Or would he have to do anthr 6 months or 1 year to not get the default ministry ban???

[dbxsoul]

once he has moved on to a free zone company he will not be banned if he moves.

i would just check that the company IS in actual fact moving the employees to a FZ visa and not just re-locating the business to the FZ without changing the employees current visa status i.e. the person goes to work in the FZ, but is still on a Dubai visa. if the latter is the case they would still have to work out 1 year before they can transfer.

i should also point out here that after 1 year of service - it is still up to the employer whether they will allow you to transfer or not, it is not a matter of the employee saying "well i've worked here a year, transfer me". if the employer refuses or denys the transfer you can still be banned. even worse you have then indicated to your employer that you no longer want to work for him - which normally results in a stressful work environment!