Canadians travel to United Arab Emirates to pay stiff visa fees from January 2, 2011

Canadians wishing to travel to the United Arab Emirates will have to pay stiff visa fees of up to C$1,000, C$250 for a 30-day visa,C $500 for a three-month visa and a whoppingC $1,000 for a six-month, multiple-entry visa . Canada had been one of more than 30 countries whose citizens could travel to the U.A.E. on a free one-month visa. The new fees, which are unusually high by international standards, appear to represent the latest episode in a diplomatic row over landing rights for U.A.E.-based airlines in Canada. The new paid visas are mandatory effective January 2.

"The complete visa application needs to be sent to the UAE Embassy 15 working days before the departure date," the embassy said in its requirements, posted on Tuesday.

The UAE Embassy noted that a "short-term visa" will cost C$250 and would be valid for 30 days, a long-term visa for three months would cost C$500 and a six-month multiple-entry visa will set travelers back C$1,000.
Requiring an approved UAE visa in advance of arrival is a radical departure from the time when Canadians were granted visas upon arrival at Dubai and Abu Dhabi international airports.The new rules won't necessarily affect a large portion of the roughly 25,000 Canadians who live and work in the UAE because many already possess residence permits.

National ID card deadline In UAE extended to June 30, 2011

Emirates ID card deadline extended, Dr Ali Al Khoury, Director-General of Eida, has urged white-collared expats to not wait until their visa renewal, cautioning that the government will soon link the ID card with a string of services in the country, which may not be accessible without the ID.

Unlike blue-collared workers, professionals have to perform many transactions with the government and without an ID card, they will not be able to access many services, Al Khoury has been quoted as saying by Gulf News. "So they should not delay the registration," he added. The extension in the deadline will nevertheless bring relief to applicants, some of whom were seen last week camping outside ID and typing centers in a last-ditch effort to meet the December 31 deadline.

As reported by this website earlier, the authorities had announced that residents who would not have met the National ID card deadline of December 31, 2010, were not to be denied any government services as no penalties were to be imposed.

Eida announced yesterday that 1.5 million people had registered for the ID in 2010, adding that it would do its utmost to double these numbers in the upcoming period as per the new registration plan and the relevant initiatives. Emiratis have an additional six months to register for their identity cards following an extension of the original December 31 deadline.

The Emirates Identity Authority (EIDA) said that Emiratis now have until June 30 to register for their ID cards. Expatriates also do not have to rush for it to register; whenever they apply for or renew a residency visa, the registration for the ID card will take place simultaneously.

Residents can apply for their cards at any of the 25 registrations centers countrywide that are attached to or near to the preventative medicine centers that conduct medical checkups as part of the visa application process.

According to a statement by EIDA, this is part of their 2010-2013 strategy to link visa issuance and renewal with ID card registration across the UAE. This is currently the case in Umm al Quwain only.EIDA said that more than 1.5 million people registered for their national ID cards in 2010.

One-year ban for breach of Limited contract- Ministry of Labour UAE

The new regulations concerning the abolition of the six-month work ban and the removal of the need for a no-objection certificate created confusion and misunderstanding among the employees and has also resulted in workers in some sectors resigning from their jobs. The Ministry of Labour  clarified very clearly that “Workers who are contracted on fixed-term contracts cannot breach the contract and resign on grounds that they have completed a period of two years. If those workers are called to cancel their labour cards they will be subjected to a one-year ban according to terms of the contract. But if the contract is of an indefinite duration, and two years have been completed with the sponsor, they have the right to change their job without objection.”The Ministry of Labour, on Friday, issued regulations allowing workers who finish their contracts to obtain new work permits without undergoing the six-month work ban, and allowing them to move to other firms without the employer's approval from January 1, 2011.

A worker with an expired contract can obtain a new work permit and shift to another employer without the passing of the currently legitimate six-month period and consent of his sponsor, according to the new resolution issued by the Minister of Labour Saqr Gobash.

The new regulations on conditions and criteria of issuing new work permit for a worker after the expiry of his service contract and transfer of sponsorship will take effect as of January 1, 2011 in implementation of the cabinet resolution No 25 of 2010 regarding internal work permit at the Ministry of Labour.

Once operational, the new regulations will replace the current formalities of transfer of sponsorship for expatriate workers.

The resolution says that the new employment permit will only be granted to the worker after the end of his work relationship with his employer without consideration of the legitimate six month period which is usually calculated after the cancellation of the worker's labour card.

UAE Labor Law: Non-Compete Clauses Void if Employer Breaches Contract

Under the UAE’s unified labor framework, an employer cannot enforce a non-competition ban against a former employee if the employer failed to meet their own contractual or legal obligations.

The Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MoHRE) maintains that non-compete restrictions exist strictly to safeguard an employer’s lawful business interests—not to arbitrarily restrict a worker's mobility. If an employer violates the employment agreement (such as through arbitrary dismissal or failure to pay wages), any post-termination restrictions are automatically rendered invalid.

The Legal Foundation: Article 10 & Article 12

The explicit rules governing non-compete agreements are strictly regulated under two primary legislative provisions: Article 10 of Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 (the UAE Labor Law) and Article 12 of Cabinet Resolution No. 1 of 2022 (the Executive Regulations).

1. Mandatory Criteria for Enforceability

According to Article 10(1) of the Labor Law, a non-compete clause cannot be applied universally to all job categories. For the clause to hold any legal weight, it must simultaneously satisfy four strict statutory elements:

• Nature of the Work (Access): The restriction is valid only if the employee’s specific role granted them direct access to sensitive company trade secrets or a direct relationship with the company’s clients.

• Geographical Scope: The restriction must be reasonable and limited to a specific geographic territory where the employer’s actual business interest is actively disrupted.

• Time Duration (The 2-Year Cap): The duration of the non-compete restriction cannot exceed a maximum of two years from the contract's expiration date.

• Explicit Parameters: The clause must detail the exact type of work being restricted to protect a legitimate business interest.

Furthermore, Article 10(2) explicitly mandates that these restrictions do not apply to any employee under the age of 21 at the time the contract is executed.

When a Non-Compete is Automatically Waived

Even if a valid non-compete clause is written into a contract, Article 12 of the Executive Regulations outlines specific conditions where the clause is legally canceled or exempted:

• Employer Breach (Article 12(4)): The clause is automatically void if the contract's termination is attributed to the employer’s failure to fulfill their legal or contractual obligations.

• Probation Period Exit (Article 12(2)(c)): If the employment relationship is terminated during the employee's probationary period, the non-compete clause does not apply, regardless of which party initiated the exit.

• Written Agreement (Article 12(2)(a)): Both parties mutually agree in writing to cancel or waive the clause upon or after termination.

• The Financial Buyout (Article 12(2)(b)): The employee or their new employer compensates the previous employer with an amount not exceeding three months of the worker's last gross salary, provided the old employer gives written consent.

Legal Remedy and the One-Year Limitation

If a dispute arises over a breach, the legal recourse is strictly financial. UAE labor courts do not issue injunctions to physically block a worker from taking a job.

Instead, under Article 10(3) of the Labor Law, the burden of proof rests entirely on the employer, who must take the matter to court and prove that the employee's new role has caused direct, quantifiable financial harm to the business. Speculative or presumed harm is routinely dismissed.

Furthermore, employers face a strict statute of limitations under Article 10(4): a claim regarding a breach of a non-compete clause will not be considered by the court if one year has passed from the exact date the employer first discovered the violation.