Residents scramble to settle debts and court cases before visa amnesty ends
Residents who overstayed their visa have been scrambling to settle court orders and other police matters before applying for amnesty.
People with ongoing legal cases are not eligible to apply under the scheme, which was extended until the end of the year.
Since the visa amnesty programme began in August, lawyers and consular officials have been busy helping applicants retrieve passports from employers and money lenders, and negotiating settlements with banks.
“We have had several people come to us because their passports were with loan sharks,” said Barney Almazar, head of legal aid at the Philippine embassy in Abu Dhabi. “They were not the ones who had borrowed the money. They had simply acted as guarantors.”
Social workers and volunteers highlighted cases of people maxing out credit cards and being forced to turn to illegal money lenders who charged exorbitant interest rates.
“A loan shark will not return a passport until the full loan is repaid,” Mr Almazar said. “So if the person who is in debt has to travel for work or an emergency, they often ask a friend or family member to swap their passport with the loan shark.”
If that person fails to return to the UAE, “it creates a lot of trouble for the guarantors”, he said.
Passports were also held by employers who filed absconding cases against employees who changed jobs.
In these cases, embassy officials acting under the amnesty were able to issue court orders requiring the documents be returned.
“The court issues an order to return the passport and if the person still does not do so, then the police will step in,” Mr Almazar said.
In one case, an employer returned to Europe with an staff member’s passport after the company shut down its operations. When contacted, he agreed to return the document.
“He thought he would have to pay the overstay fines of the employee and when we explained that he would not have to pay because of the amnesty, he agreed to help,” Mr Almazar said.
Social workers also supported amnesty applicants by talking to finance companies and banks to reduce interest charges on any money owed.
In one instance, a resident took out eight loans, racking up a total debt of Dh700,000 after he lost his job.
“The amnesty is an incentive for people to settle,” Mr Almazar said. “If they miss the amnesty then they will have to pay the fines for overstaying and the bank loans. The money they would have had to pay for the overstay fines can be used to pay the bank.
“If the finance company charges a lot of interest, we go back to negotiation. The banks can be concerned that they will not get any of the money so we work on a payment on instalments or a discounted, onetime payment.”
Rent disputes between tenants and landlords over bounced cheques have also been resolved.
“Some people leased an apartment but were not able to pay,” Mr Almazar said. “When a case is filed against a tenant, this [payment] must be settled or they cannot leave the country.”
The legal aid section also successfully appealed to commute the sentence of a woman who had children out of wedlock.
When it was proved that the woman was married but did not have the legal papers in Dubai, the case was dropped.
Yesterday, volunteers said more awareness was needed so people could understand how to avoid legal problems.
“We need more campaigns so they know what the law is and that their passports should not be handed over to their employer,” said Eileen Puno, a Filipino volunteer. “They have to trust officials and consulates and contact them for help when in trouble.”
We have had several people come to us because their passports were taken by loan sharks BARNEY ALMAZAR Lawyer