Visa Ban

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Visa ban Aug 31, 2007
Can someone explain me in which case you have a ban if you leave your company for another ? is it before one year or is it an automatic ban which comes if you break any contract no matters how many months you stayed in the company? thanks.

Mi Ange mi Demon
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Aug 31, 2007
The rule about the ban is changed everyday, most of the time, you dont get a ban unless you did something wrong, or if you are joining a competitor (if it is mentioned that you cant in the contract)

Sometimes, the sponsor (company) would accuse you of something just for you to get a ban...
hamadl
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Sep 02, 2007
sorry, i don't agree with the explaination above.

the rules do change, and are fairly frequent although not daily or even monthly.

the labour ban issue has been discussed on a number of occasions (in depth) on this forum (see SEARCH function); obviously as they do change some of the information may be a little dated, but i don't think there have been any dramatic changes in the past 18 months.

an employer cannot simply "accuse you of something just for you to get a ban"; in order for this to happen the employer has to actually open a complaint with the police department, this has to be investigated and the results of the investigation submitted to the labour department. obviously if the case has merit the employee is not simply banned, by jailed first and then banned (permanently black-listed) on completion of the sentence.

to complicate matters the implimentation of the ban, and subsequent enforcement is also dependant on the type of contract you entered into with the employer (limited or unlimited), in a lot of cases employees don't know which they have signed and are not aware of the differences at time of signing...


below is a response i sent to a forum member two months back...

The "labour ban" is just that, a mandatory ban enforced through the department of labour on an employee who has just finished, or who has just terminated his/ her contract.

It is a little more complicated that that as it is subject to a number of exclusions and inclusions.

At the moment the labour ban (period) is calculated as 6 months from the date of the cancellation of your contract.

1. a labour ban is not enforceable on any uae national changing positions
2. a one year ban is enforced on expatriate employees of the state/ municipal or government services – no exceptions
3. “Article 128, A non-National worker, who abandons his work without a valid reason before the expiry of his definite term contract, may not, even with the employer's consent, take up other employment until the lapse of one year from the date on which he abandons his work. No other employer may knowingly recruit such worker or keep him in his service before the lapse of such period.”
4. “Article 129, A non-National, who notifies the employer of his desire to terminate his indefinite term contract but abandons his work before the expiry of the statutory period of notice, may not, even with the employer's consent, take up other employment until the lapse of one year from the date on which he abandons his work. No other employer may knowingly recruit such worker or keep him in his service before the lapse of such period.”
5. points 3 and 4 are the crux of the “labour ban” and can above can be waived only if prior authorisation was obtained from the minister of labour based on the consent of the current employer
6. if the employment contract was breached by the employer on the grounds of non-payment or physical assault (article 121) and a formal complaint was lodged by the employee at both the department of labour and the police department (although this is on a case-by-case basis not is not guaranteed)
7. Free Zone employees are not subject to the ban

As you can see it’s a little “grey” as – what you need to remember is that this is the Federal Law, Dubai as well as some of the other emirates, tweak and change it to suit their particular needs. If memory serves me correctly there have been about 5 or 6 changes to this law (by the emirate of Dubai) over the past 6 years. Essentially what is enforced today can be changed overnight! For example, the Federal law currently provides for a one year ban, where in effect Dubai only implements a 6 month ban.

It is also not uncommon to simply pay a “waiver fee” to the department of labour to have the ban overturned – in effect negating the above regulations!!!!!
dbxsoul
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Sep 02, 2007
I've never heard of police EVER being involved in people getting banned. I even know a guy whose father frequently bans his fired workers just because he can.
gtmash
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Sep 02, 2007
gtmash wrote:I've never heard of police EVER being involved in people getting banned. I even know a guy whose father frequently bans his fired workers just because he can.


I agree, lots of people are banned for no reason, just because the employer doesnt want them joining another company or leaving the current company, they probably pay low salaries and would ban you if you wanna leave..
hamadl
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Sep 03, 2007
as i explained above there is a mandatory (temporary) ban according to federal labour law; this means that everyone is effected by it. again as i explained, the emirate of dubai has exceptions to the federal (mandatory ban) legislation - this is conditional, and depends on a number of circumstances.

banning (and exemptions to the ban) is done and processed through the labour department, an employer cannot simply phone the labour department and say "i don't like this labourer, ban him!". the dubai labour department tends to side with the employee (and not the employer) in disputes. in effect there are three types of ban, one is the temporary (6 month) labour ban, the other is a permanent labour ban (black-listing)and the third is an immigration ban (black-listing); to incure either of the last two... you have to have really been a bad boy/ girl.

the permanent labour ban would apply to cases where a person has absconed from his/ her employer or was caught working illegally in the country

the permanent immigration ban is reserved (or given in conjunction with a permanent labour ban) in cases such as convicted criminals or persons failing their medical examinations - this means that they cannot enter the country legally

some local employers seem to think that they have the "power" to be able to phone the labour or immigration departments and simply demand an employee is banned. and yes, they may even tell the employee that they have done so - most employees would simply take this as fact and not take the matter up at the labour/ immigration department.

perception vs. reallity
dbxsoul
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Sep 04, 2007
Bans are a money making scheme. You simply wander over to immigration with 3,000 Dhs and pay them to remove it.
Chocoholic
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Sep 04, 2007
i agree 100% with choc's!
with the exception of the permanent ban of course ...
dbxsoul
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Sep 11, 2007
Chocoholic wrote:Bans are a money making scheme. You simply wander over to immigration with 3,000 Dhs and pay them to remove it.


or just get a new job in a freezone!
Rosbif71
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