UAE Labour Law and Probation Period

A company that exceeds six months probation is in violation of the UAE Labour LawArticle 37 of the UAE Labour Law states the following: “A worker may be engaged on probation for a period not exceeding six months, during which his services may be terminated by the employer without notice or severance pay; provided that a worker shall not be engaged on probation more than once in the service of any one employer. Where a worker successfully completes his period of probation and remains in his job, the said period shall be reckoned towards his period of service.”

US Consulate General moving to Bur Dubai-No US visas services from Aug 2-4

The US Consulate General in Dubai will move from its current premises at the World Trade Centre to a new facility in Bur Dubai, adjacent to Dubai Creek.

The new Consulate has been built on land donated to the US by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.

Interviews and other services for US visas and routine consular services for American citizens will be suspended from August 2 to August 4.

All services will resume on Sunday, August 7 at the new building. Emergency services for American citizens will not be affected by the move.

American citizens seeking consular services during this period can make arrangements at the US Embassy in Abu Dhabi.

Jennifer Rasamimanana, Charge d'Affaires of the US Mission to the UAE, said: "We have here around 40,000 Americans residing in the UAE while we have around 1,000 companies operating here."

The new facility will allow the Consulate General to increase the efficiency and accessibility of its services to the public. It receives around 50,000 visa application a year for people from 125 different nationalities, mainly Iran.

Wife can sponsor Husband and Family in UAE

Sposering Husband in UAE,The Department of Naturalisation and Residency requires the following:

The wife shall be an engineer, doctor or teacher.

The salary shall be either Dh4,000 or Dh3,000 and accommodation.

If the wife job is other than the above listed professions, she shall make a petition to the Department of Naturalisation and Residency to exempt her from this requirement. The said department will decide on this request and pass its resolution of acceptance or rejection.

Public Sector Procurement -Public Tender Law in UAE

The Federal Regulation of Conditions of Purchases, Tenders and Contracts, Financial Order No. 16 of 1975 (the Public Tenders Law) regulates bidding for public sector tenders. With certain exceptions, only UAE nationals, foreign entities represented by a UAE agent, or foreign entities with UAE partners (i.e., a UAE entity with at least 51 per cent UAE ownership (‘national entities’) may bid for public sector tenders for the supply of goods and public works projects that are governed by the Public Tenders Law. As a result, foreign entities wishing to perform public sector contracts are generally required to have some level of UAE national participation. Such participation typically takes the form of either:

(i) A registered commercial agency

(ii) A ‘service agent’ of the foreign entity’s UAE branch office

(iii) The majority owner of a joint venture in which the foreign entity owns 49 per cent or less of a UAE limited liability company (i.e. a national entity).

The following are three major exceptions to the application of the Public Tenders Law: 

1) The Public Tenders Law does not apply to purchases and contracts conducted by the federal defence forces – procurements for the federal defence forces are conducted pursuant to Decree 12 of 1986 of the Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces (the ‘Armed Forces Procurement Regulations’.

2)The Public Tenders Law relates to federal government procurement and not procurement by the governments of the individual emirates. For example, Abu Dhabi has a procurement system, which generally tracks that of the Federal Public Tenders Law by requiring suppliers to have commercial agents or national companies that are registered with the Abu Dhabi municipality. 

3) The general requirement for UAE national participation is not uniformly observed by all government agencies in the context of certain direct sales to the public sector or private tenders in which the government solicits bids directly from relevant manufacturers, particularly in cases in which the goods or services are quite specialized or not widely available. These ‘exceptions’ arise on a case-by-case basis

Customs Regulations in UAE

On entering UAE at the airport or elsewhere, visitors may be subject to a check by customs officers. Tourists should take careful note of the following customs regulations:

Visitors to Dubai can bring the following items free of duty:

 » Gifts with a value not exceeding AED 3,000

» 400 cigarettes, 50 cigars, 500g of loose tobacco

» 4 litres of alcohol, or 2 cartons of beer (1 carton = 24 cans, each not exceeding 355 ml)

The following items of personal luggage are also exempt from duty, provided it is of a personal and not commercial nature:

 » Personal belongings, cameras, radios, CD and DVD players, projectors, telescopes, mobile phones, computers, baby strollers, portable music equipment, sports equipment

» Up to AED 40,000 in cash and travellers cheques provided the passenger is 18 or over

Items prohibited in Dubai include narcotic drugs, goods from Israel or with an Israeli logo/trademark, crude ivory and rhinoceros horn, gambling equipment, tires, radioactive material, forged currency, cooked and home-made food, and prints, sculptures, and lithographs.

There are several types of items that must be declared to Dubai Customs on arrival. Non-declaration of these is an offence. Such items include:

•  Cash (or equivalents) above AED 40,000 or $US 10,000
•  Pets
•  Skins of endangered animals subject to the CITES Convention
•  Books, films, DVDs, CDs, photographs
•  Gifts with a value of more than AED 3,000
•  Medicines – even if for personal use
•  Fireworks, explosives, weapons, ammunition, knives, swords, self-defence equipment
• Plants, trees, soil
• Narcotics
• Medicines

Note: Due to increasing concerns from readers concerning medicines we reference the following information. We take no responsibility whatsoever for its accuracy or whether it is currently up to date.

Statement on medication

Individuals may bring medicine into the country for their personal use. Up to three months’ supply of a prescription item can be brought into the country by a visitor and 12 months’ supply by a resident if they can produce a doctor’s letter or a copy of the original prescription. Narcotic items can only be brought into the UAE in exceptional cases with prior permission from the director of medicine and pharmacy control. These guidelines relate to medicines brought in by an individual through an airport or border crossing and medicines arriving by post. 

Visitors must take care to ensure that medicines and medications prescribed in their home countries are not restricted before travelling to the UAE. The UAE Ministry of Health’s Drug Control Department publishes a list of controlled medicines and medications. Visitors should contact the Ministry of Health drug control department to check whether their medication is on the controlled list, and needs prior permission for importation. The Customer Service Centre of the drug control department can be contacted by emailing drugcl.csc@moh.gov.ae, by telephone on +971 2 611 7240 or by fax +971 2 632 7644.

The following PDF documents are on the UAE Ministry of Health website:

 » Guidelines for Import of Personal Medicines

» List of Restricted and Controlled Drugs