Job Discussion Forums

[smedini]

Do employers in the UAE take your passports to arrange the work visa? If so, how long does this take? Are there employers who want to keep your passport? I understand that my passport actually belongs to the Government of Canada...is that leverage enough to make an employer return the document? I'm a little concerned about not having my passport, even long enough for the employer to arrange the visa...

Any words of wisdom out there?

[veiledsentiments]

Depends on the employer. If it is the government (HCT, ZU, UAEU), they won't try to hold your passport. And naturally they will take it for as long as it takes to get your work visa. This would only be a problem if you had a sudden family emergency and had to leave the country. It might take them a day to get it to you. Other than that, it is no big deal and standard in the Middle East.

It is private employers who normally hold passports because they are responsible for your activities in the Gulf. If you leave in dark of night with huge debts, they can have to pay. If their policy is to hold passports, you have little choice in the matter. What your government thinks about it is irrelevant to them. Few employers in the UAE seem to do it with teachers or at least we hear little about it here on the board. This is standard in Saudi Arabia, and common in Oman.

VS

[stoth1972]

My husband worked for the Wafi group and his passport was held. Getting your passport from HR was like taking out a library book-you had to justify it. They were given labour cards in place-still illegal. If you think about who owns Wafi, it's as though the govt. is self-contradicting. Imagine that!

My employer did take the passport to process paperwork. I think it was gone for a week or less. In my first contract, I was hired very late and arrived on a tourist visa. Because the first batch of passports had already gone on, they took my passport and then sat on it, before sending it out in the 2nd batch.