I left Dubai in June 2011 to return to the UK and have been informed I may be blacklisted by an old employer who "apparently" has banked a couple of fall-back commission cheques from when I worked for his financial company. I have no intention of returning to Dubai but am passing through Doha at Christmas and am worried I could experience problems. Who can I contact to see whether I have a black listing at all? SM, UK
There is actually no such thing as a UAE blacklist, but people can be marked on the immigration system as absconders or debtors. This means they can be detained or arrested upon entry into the country. This happens only when a company has registered a police case and been to court. It is highly unlikely that a small case in the UAE is also registered in Qatar. What you can do, however, is contact the bank to see if they registered a case against you, and you can ask a friend here to check with the police to see if there is an open or outstanding case against you. They will need a copy of your passport, but should be able to obtain the information from any police station in the UAE.
Keren Bobker is an independent financial adviser with Holborn Assets in Dubai. Contact her at keren@holbornassets.com