Plain-language UAE legal terms

بلاغ تغيب

An absconding case (bulaq taghayyub) is a formal report filed by a UAE employer or sponsor with the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MOHRE) or the ICP against a worker or dependent who h

مناطق الاستثمار في أبوظبي

Abu Dhabi investment zones are the designated areas of the emirate — including Al Reem Island, Yas Island, Saadiyat Island, Al Raha Beach and Masdar City — where foreign nationals may acquire real est

دائرة التنمية الاقتصادية في أبوظبي

ADDED is the Abu Dhabi government department that licenses and regulates mainland business activity in the emirate — the capital's counterpart to Dubai's DET. It issues economic licences across commer

سوق أبوظبي العالمي

The Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) is an international financial centre located on Al Maryah Island with an independent common-law jurisdiction established by Federal Law No. 8 of 2004 and Abu Dhabi L

محاكم سوق أبوظبي العالمي

The ADGM Courts are the common law courts of Abu Dhabi Global Market, the financial free zone on Al Maryah Island. Uniquely in the region, ADGM directly applies English common law — including a wide b

دائرة القضاء في أبوظبي

The Abu Dhabi Judicial Department (ADJD) runs the emirate's local court system and justice services — the Abu Dhabi counterpart of Dubai Courts. It administers the courts of first instance, appeal and

الاتحاد للمعلومات الائتمانية

Al Etihad Credit Bureau (AECB) is the federal company that compiles credit records on individuals and businesses in the UAE. Banks, finance companies, telecoms and utilities feed it payment data, and

آمر

Amer centres are the authorised service centres that process GDRFA Dubai transactions — the immigration counterpart of Tasheel for labour matters. At an Amer centre you can apply for and renew residen

مركز آمر

Amer centres are the authorised service centres through which GDRFA Dubai processes residency transactions: entry permits, residence visa issuance and renewal, visa cancellations, status changes, file

التسوية الودية

Amicable settlement refers to resolving a dispute by agreement before or instead of judgment — and in the UAE it is increasingly institutionalised, not just informal. Dubai operates a Centre for Amica

الإجازة السنوية

Annual leave is the paid vacation entitlement of UAE private-sector employees: thirty calendar days for each completed year of service, with a pro-rated entitlement after six months. The employer may

مواجهة غسل الأموال

Anti-money laundering is the UAE's framework of laws and controls aimed at preventing criminal proceeds from entering the financial system. It obliges banks, exchange houses, insurers and designated n

الأبوستيل

An apostille is a simplified, single-step authentication of a public document introduced by the 1961 Hague Convention. In member states, an apostille stamp or certificate replaces the longer consular

الاستئناف

An appeal is a challenge to a judgment of the Court of First Instance brought before the Court of Appeal. Under the UAE Civil Procedure Law, an appeal can be filed against final judgments on the merit

حكم التحكيم

An arbitral award is the final, binding decision issued by an arbitral tribunal, resolving the dispute the parties agreed to arbitrate. Under the UAE Federal Arbitration Law (Federal Law No. 6 of 2018

الفصل التعسفي

Arbitrary or unlawful dismissal is termination of a UAE employee for an illegitimate reason — classically, firing a worker for filing a serious complaint or claim against the employer that proves well

مركز أبوظبي الدولي للتحكيم

ArbitrateAD is Abu Dhabi's flagship arbitration institution, launched in 2024 as the successor to the long-standing Abu Dhabi Commercial Conciliation and Arbitration Centre (ADCCAC). It administers co

التحكيم

Arbitration is a private, binding dispute-resolution procedure chosen by agreement of the parties, in which one or more arbitrators decide the dispute and issue an award that has the force of a judgme

شرط التحكيم

An arbitration clause is a contract provision in which the parties agree that future disputes will be decided by arbitration instead of the courts. Under UAE law it must be in writing, and the person

النظام الأساسي

Articles of association are the internal rulebook of a company, governing how it is run: shareholder meetings and voting, director appointment and removal, share transfers and pre-emption rights, divi

الحجز

An attachment is a provisional court order that places a debtor's assets — bank accounts, real estate, vehicles, shares, goods — under the court's control so that they cannot be sold or transferred pe

التصديق الإماراتي

Attestation in the UAE refers to the domestic authentication of a document by a UAE government authority — most commonly the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MOFAIC). It is o

الكفالة الجزائية

Bail is the conditional release of an accused person during a criminal investigation or trial, instead of detention. In the UAE the Public Prosecution or the court may grant it, typically against a gu

الكفالة المصرفية (خطاب الضمان)

A bank guarantee (letter of guarantee) is a bank's independent undertaking to pay a beneficiary a stated amount if the bank's customer fails to meet an obligation — the backbone of UAE construction an

الإفلاس

Bankruptcy is the court-supervised regime for businesses that cannot pay their debts, governed in the UAE by the bankruptcy law (currently Federal Decree-Law No. 51 of 2023), which created a specialis

نقابة المحامين

The UAE does not currently have a single unified national Bar Association. The practice of law by UAE nationals as advocates is regulated by Federal Law No. 23 of 1991 on the Regulation of the Legal P

الراتب الأساسي

Basic salary is the core wage component stated in a UAE employment contract, excluding allowances for housing, transport, and other benefits. The split between basic and allowances is one of the most

الشيك المرتجع

A bounced cheque is a cheque returned unpaid by the drawee bank, typically for insufficient funds, a closed account, a mismatched signature, or a formal defect. Since the 2022 amendment to the Commerc

عبء الإثبات

The burden of proof determines which party must prove a disputed fact. The UAE rule is that the claimant proves the obligation and the party alleging release from it proves that release — in practice,

النقض / التمييز

Cassation is the final stage of review in the UAE court hierarchy, handled by the Court of Cassation in each judicial system (Federal Supreme Court for the federal judiciary, Dubai Court of Cassation

مصرف الإمارات العربية المتحدة المركزي

The Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) is the federal regulator of banks, exchange houses, finance companies, payment service providers and — since absorbing the former Insurance Authority — insurers ope

تعديل الوضع

Change of status (also called status adjustment or amendment) is the in-country process of converting from one UAE immigration status to another without leaving — for example, from a visit visa to an

رسوم التبريد

Chiller fees are the charges for air conditioning in buildings served by central or district cooling — in Dubai, typically billed by district cooling providers such as Empower or Tabreed, or by the bu

قانون المعاملات المدنية

The UAE Civil Code — formally the Law of Civil Transactions (Federal Law No. 5 of 1985, as amended) — is the foundational statute of UAE private law. It regulates obligations and contracts, property,

المعاملة المدنية

A civil transaction is any legally recognised act between private parties that creates, modifies, transfers, or extinguishes a civil right — in contrast to a commercial transaction, which is governed

الوكالة التجارية

Commercial agency is the regulated arrangement under which a UAE-registered agent distributes, sells or represents a foreign principal's products in the UAE. Agencies registered with the Ministry of E

قانون الشركات التجارية

The UAE Commercial Companies Law (CCL) — Federal Decree-Law No. 32 of 2021, replacing Federal Law No. 2 of 2015 — is the core statute governing mainland companies. It regulates the formation, governan

السجل التجاري

The commercial register is the official record of businesses kept by each emirate's economic department (and equivalent registers in free zones), recording the company's name, legal form, owners or pa

المناطق المشتركة

Common areas are the parts of a jointly owned property that belong to all unit owners collectively rather than to any one of them: lobbies, corridors, lifts, structural elements, roofs, parking circul

التعويض

Compensation is the monetary sum a court awards to a party to make good a harm caused by another's breach of contract or wrongful act. UAE law recognises two core components: actual damages (damnum em

الصلح

Conciliation is a structured attempt to settle a dispute with the help of a neutral conciliator before it proceeds to judgment — and in the UAE it is built into the court system rather than left to pr

العقد (إف) — مذكرة التفاهم

Contract F is the Dubai Land Department's standard sale agreement form for secondary-market property transactions, generated through the broker's Trakheesi access and signed by buyer and seller. It is

إجراءات نقل الملكية

Conveyancing is the legal and administrative work of transferring property ownership from seller to buyer: verifying title and the parties' authority, drafting or reviewing the sale agreement, coordin

حق المؤلف

Copyright in the UAE is the exclusive right of an author over their original literary, artistic, or scientific work — books, music, software, audiovisual works, databases, architecture, and more. It i

الدعوى المتقابلة

A counterclaim is a claim the defendant files back against the claimant inside the same case, instead of starting a separate lawsuit. UAE courts allow it where the counterclaim is connected to the ori

محكمة الاستئناف

The Court of Appeal is the second level of the UAE onshore courts, which re-examines judgments issued by the Court of First Instance. An appeal must be filed within the deadline that runs from the jud

محكمة أول درجة

The Court of First Instance is the entry level of the UAE onshore court system, where civil, commercial, labour, real estate and personal status cases are filed and heard for the first time. Each emir

أمر قضائي

A court order is a formal decision by a judge that requires a party to act or refrain from acting. Court orders include procedural directions (setting hearing dates, ordering expert appointments), int

الخبير المنتدب

A court-appointed expert is a specialist — accountant, engineer, banking expert, IT or handwriting examiner — whom a UAE court appoints to investigate the technical side of a dispute and file a report

بلاغ جزائي

A criminal complaint is a formal report filed by a victim, witness, or concerned party with the competent UAE police station or Public Prosecution accusing a specific person of a criminal offence. The

الأضرار

Damages, in UAE civil law, refer to the actual harm suffered by a person whose rights have been infringed — the measurable or demonstrable loss that grounds a claim for compensation. Damages are class

داري

DARI is Abu Dhabi's official digital real estate platform, operated under the emirate's real estate regulator. It brings the property lifecycle into one portal: title deed services, tenancy contract r

الحكم الغيابي

A default judgment is a judgment issued when the defendant fails to appear or file a defence after being validly served. The UAE court does not automatically rule for the claimant — it still reviews t

فترة المسؤولية عن العيوب

The defect liability period is the window after handover during which the developer must repair defects in a new property at its own cost. In UAE practice it operates on two levels. Contractually, sal

الإبعاد

Deportation is the compulsory removal of a non-citizen from the UAE by order of the competent authority. UAE law recognises two types: judicial deportation, imposed by a criminal court as an accessory

دائرة الاقتصاد والسياحة في دبي

The DET — Dubai's Department of Economy and Tourism, widely still called 'Dubai Economy' or by its former name DED — is the authority that licenses and regulates mainland business in the emirate. It i

شهادة عدم ممانعة من المطور

A developer NOC is the no-objection certificate that the master developer or building developer issues to confirm it does not object to a property's sale and transfer — in practice, confirmation that

سلطة دبي للخدمات المالية

The DFSA is the independent financial regulator of the Dubai International Financial Centre. Modelled on leading international regulators, it licenses and supervises banks, asset managers, insurers, a

مركز دبي للتحكيم الدولي

DIAC is Dubai's principal arbitration institution, administering arbitrations under its own rules: it handles case filing, arbitrator appointments, fee management and award scrutiny logistics. Dubai D

مركز دبي المالي العالمي

The Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) is a special economic zone established by Dubai Law No. 9 of 2004 with its own independent legal system based on English common law, its own courts, and

محاكم مركز دبي المالي العالمي

The DIFC Courts are the independent English-language, common law courts of the Dubai International Financial Centre. They have automatic jurisdiction over disputes connected to the DIFC and — importan

محكمة الدعاوى الصغيرة في مركز دبي المالي العالمي

The Small Claims Tribunal is a division of the DIFC Courts designed to resolve lower-value disputes quickly, cheaply and in English, usually without lawyers appearing at hearings. It handles claims wi

مركز وصايا مركز دبي المالي العالمي

The DIFC Wills Service Centre lets non-Muslims register English-language wills that direct how their UAE assets pass on death — overriding the default application of Sharia-based inheritance rules to

دائرة الأراضي والأملاك في دبي

The Dubai Land Department is the government authority that registers and regulates real estate in Dubai. Every sale, mortgage, gift or long lease of Dubai property passes through DLD registration, whi

رسوم نقل الملكية

The DLD transfer fee is the registration fee payable to the Dubai Land Department when ownership of a property changes hands, calculated as a percentage of the sale price — currently four per cent for

مركز دبي للسلع المتعددة

DMCC is the Dubai free zone authority centred on Jumeirah Lakes Towers, repeatedly ranked among the world's leading free zones by company numbers. Established around commodities trade — gold, diamonds

محاكم دبي

Dubai Courts is the emirate's local judicial system, separate from the federal judiciary and from the DIFC Courts. It runs three tiers — Court of First Instance, Court of Appeal and Court of Cassation

شرطة دبي

Dubai Police is the emirate's law enforcement force and, for most people, the entry point to the UAE criminal justice system. Criminal complaints — from bounced cheques and fraud to assault and online

شرط الإنهاء المبكر

An early termination clause sets out whether and how a tenant or landlord can end a fixed-term lease before it expires, and at what cost. UAE tenancy law does not give tenants a general right to walk

إيجاري

Ejari is Dubai's mandatory online registration system for tenancy contracts, operated under the Dubai Land Department and RERA. Every residential and commercial lease in Dubai must be registered in Ej

الهوية الإماراتية

The Emirates ID is the national identity card issued by the Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs and Port Security (ICP) to every citizen and resident of the UAE. It stores biometric d

التوطين

Emiratisation is the UAE policy programme requiring and incentivising private-sector companies to employ Emirati nationals. MOHRE sets annual Emiratisation targets for skilled roles in mainland compan

مكافأة نهاية الخدمة

Employment gratuity, or end-of-service benefit, is a lump sum that UAE private-sector employers must pay to employees who complete at least one year of continuous service. Under Federal Decree-Law 33

تنفيذ الأحكام الأجنبية

Enforcement of foreign judgments is the process of asking UAE courts to give effect to a judgment issued abroad, so it can be executed against assets in the UAE. The execution judge reviews conditions

تصريح الدخول

An entry permit is the pre-approval allowing a foreign national to enter the UAE for a stated purpose — taking up employment, joining family, study, medical treatment, or other defined categories. It

الاعتماد المستندي

A letter of credit is a bank's undertaking, issued at a buyer's request, to pay the seller against presentation of specified documents — transport documents, invoices, certificates — within a set time

بطاقة المنشأة

The establishment card (also called the company immigration card) is the registration a UAE company must hold with the immigration authority — ICP federally or GDRFA in Dubai — before it can sponsor a

إخطار الإخلاء

An eviction notice is the formal notice a landlord must serve on a tenant to lawfully recover the property. UAE tenancy law strictly limits when and how this can happen. In Dubai, a landlord seeking t

التنفيذ

Execution is the stage at which a final judgment, an arbitral award, a notarised agreement with executory force, or a recognised foreign title is enforced against the debtor's person or assets. In the

لجنة التوجيه الأسري

The Family Guidance Committee is the mandatory conciliation stage that precedes most personal status litigation in UAE courts. Before a divorce, custody or family maintenance case can proceed to a jud

الإقامة العائلية (كفالة الأسرة)

A family visa is the residence permit a UAE resident sponsors for dependants — typically a spouse, children, and in defined cases parents. Eligibility turns on the sponsor's income meeting the applica

مرسوم بقانون اتحادي

A Federal Decree-Law is a legislative instrument issued by the President of the UAE, with the approval of the Supreme Council, when the Federal National Council is not in session or when urgent matter

الجناية

A felony is the most serious category of crime under UAE law, covering offences such as serious fraud and embezzlement, drug trafficking, grievous assault, and crimes against state security, with puni

القوة القاهرة

Force majeure is an unforeseeable, unavoidable event beyond the parties' control — war, natural disaster, sweeping government measures — that makes performing a contract impossible. Under UAE civil la

النموذج (أ) — إقرار المالك المستفيد

Form A is a declaration filed with the UAE's Ministry of Economy or the relevant economic department under the beneficial ownership regime (Cabinet Decision No. 58 of 2020 and its amendments). It iden

النموذج (F) في DIFC

Form F is a filing used within the DIFC Registrar of Companies regime, most commonly for changes to a DIFC-registered company's particulars — for example notice of the allotment of shares, a change in

رخصة المنطقة الحرة

A Free Zone License is a commercial licence issued by the authority of one of the UAE's 40-plus free zones (DMCC, JAFZA, DIFC, ADGM, RAKEZ and others). The licence authorises an entity to carry out sp

التملك الحر

Freehold is the fullest form of property ownership in the UAE: outright, perpetual ownership of a unit or plot, registered in the owner's name with a title deed, inheritable and freely sellable or mor

تصريح العمل الحر

A freelance permit authorises an individual to work independently in the UAE — selling services in their own name without an employment contract tying them to a single employer. Two parallel systems i

سلطة تنظيم الخدمات المالية

The FSRA is the financial regulator of Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), the capital's international financial centre. It licenses and supervises banks, asset managers, advisers, market operators and fi

الهيئة الاتحادية للضرائب

The Federal Tax Authority (FTA) is the UAE's tax administrator, responsible for VAT, excise tax and the federal corporate tax. Businesses register with the FTA, file returns through its EmaraTax porta

حجز ما للمدين لدى الغير

Garnishment is the attachment of a debtor's money or assets that are in the hands of a third party — most commonly bank account balances, but also amounts owed to the debtor by employers, tenants or b

الإدارة العامة للإقامة وشؤون الأجانب

GDRFA is Dubai's residency authority — the body that issues entry permits, residence visas, status changes, and related immigration services for Dubai-sponsored files, operating alongside the federal

الإقامة الذهبية

The Golden Visa is a long-term UAE residency permit valid for five or ten years, renewable, granted to specified categories: investors, entrepreneurs, qualified professionals (doctors, scientists, eng

شهادة حسن السيرة والسلوك

A good conduct certificate (police clearance certificate) is an official document issued by UAE police authorities confirming that the applicant has no disqualifying criminal record in the UAE. It is

الهيئة العامة للمعاشات والتأمينات الاجتماعية

The GPSSA is the federal authority that runs the pension and social security system for UAE nationals — and nationals of other GCC states — working in the Emirates, outside the separate Abu Dhabi and

مهلة السماح

The grace period is the window of lawful stay the UAE grants after a residence visa is cancelled or expires, during which the person can remain without overstay fines while arranging a new status — ty

الأراضي الممنوحة

Granted land is land allocated by the Ruler or government to UAE nationals — historically for residential, commercial or industrial use — as distinct from land acquired by private purchase. Its defini

الإقامة الخضراء

The Green Visa is a five-year, self-sponsored UAE residence introduced in the 2022 immigration reforms, sitting between standard employer-sponsored residence and the ten-year Golden Visa. It targets s

التظلم

A grievance (tazallum) is the procedure for challenging an order a UAE judge issued without hearing you — typically orders on petition such as precautionary attachments, travel bans and various permis

تسليم العقار

Handover is the point at which a developer delivers a completed unit to the buyer — keys, access cards and possession — after the building receives its completion certificate and the buyer settles the

تصريح بيوت العطلات

A holiday home permit is the licence required in Dubai to rent out a residential property for short-term stays — the legal foundation under every Airbnb-style listing. The regime is administered by Du

الهيئة الاتحادية للهوية والجنسية والجمارك وأمن المنافذ

The ICA — now formally the ICP, the Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs and Port Security — is the federal body behind Emirates ID cards and the immigration files of most emirates out

التأمين ضد التعطل عن العمل

ILOE is the UAE's mandatory unemployment insurance scheme, introduced in 2023, covering most employees in the private sector and federal government. Workers pay a small subscription (premiums differ b

حظر الدخول

An immigration ban bars a foreign national from entering the UAE, distinct from a labour ban (which only blocks new work permits) and a travel ban (which prevents leaving). Entry bans arise from sever

القائمة السوداء

The immigration blacklist is the register maintained by UAE immigration authorities of individuals barred from entering the country or, in some configurations, from leaving it pending resolution of a

الأمر القضائي

An injunction — in UAE practice usually referred to as a summary or precautionary order — is a court order requiring a party to do, refrain from doing, or preserve a state of affairs pending the resol

السجل العقاري المبدئي

The interim real estate register is Dubai's official record of rights over properties that do not yet physically exist — units sold off-plan before completion. Established under Dubai's interim regist

الإقامة

Iqama is the Arabic word for residence and the standard Gulf term for a residence permit. Strictly, 'iqama' is the official name of Saudi Arabia's residence card, but expatriates across the region use

سلطة المنطقة الحرة لجبل علي

JAFZA is the authority running the Jebel Ali Free Zone, one of the oldest and largest free zones in the world, wrapped around Jebel Ali Port in Dubai. It registers and licenses free zone companies and

تأشيرة البحث عن عمل

The job seeker visa is a single-entry permit introduced in the UAE's 2022 immigration overhaul allowing a foreign national to enter and stay temporarily — options run from roughly sixty to one hundred

التضامن في الالتزام

Joint (solidary) liability means each of several debtors can be pursued for the whole obligation, not just their share — the creditor picks the easiest target, collects in full, and leaves the paying

الملكية المشتركة للعقارات

Jointly owned property is the legal regime governing buildings and communities divided into privately owned units plus shared common areas — lobbies, lifts, pools, roads, facades. Dubai's jointly owne

الحكم

A judgment is the final ruling of a court that resolves the substantive merits of a dispute — whether the claim is accepted in whole or in part, dismissed, or declared inadmissible. UAE judgments are

حظر العمل

A labour ban in the UAE is an administrative or judicial restriction that prevents a worker from taking up new employment in the country for a set period. The most common type is an administrative ban

بطاقة العمل

The labour card is the identity credential historically issued by MOHRE to each foreign employee as physical proof of the right to work for a named mainland employer. Today it survives mostly in digit

الشكوى العمالية

A labour complaint is the mandatory first step in resolving most mainland UAE employment disputes: the employee (or employer) files with MOHRE — through its app, call centre, or service centres — and

محكمة العمل

The Labour Court is the specialised judicial chamber that hears employment disputes in the UAE, organised within each emirate's Court of First Instance. Jurisdiction covers unpaid wages, unpaid end-of

المطالبة عن تأخر التسليم

A late handover claim is an off-plan buyer's claim against a developer for failing to deliver the unit by the date promised in the sale and purchase agreement. The SPA is the starting point: it states

الملكية الإيجارية (ليسهولد)

Leasehold is a long-term property right under which you hold and use a property for a fixed period — in the UAE commonly marketed in terms of decades, often up to 99 years — without owning the land it

الإنذار العدلي

A legal notice is a formal demand served on the other party before litigation — commonly through the notary public or a court notifier — recording that you have asked them to pay, perform, or stop som

الترجمة القانونية

Legal translation in the UAE means translation of documents by a translator licensed by the Ministry of Justice, whose stamped translation is accepted by courts and government bodies. Because onshore

التصديق

Legalization is the multi-step process of authenticating a foreign public document so that it has legal effect in the UAE, and vice versa. The UAE is not a party to the 1961 Hague Apostille Convention

التقادم

A limitation period (prescription) is the legal deadline after which a claim can no longer be heard by the courts. UAE law sets different periods depending on the nature of the claim — commercial obli

عقد العمل محدد المدة

A limited contract is a fixed-term employment agreement with a stated start and end date, and since the UAE Labour Law reform that took effect in 2022 it is the standard contract model for private-sec

الشركة ذات المسؤولية المحدودة

The limited liability company is the most common corporate form for doing business onshore in the UAE. Its defining feature is that each partner's liability is limited to their share in the capital —

الشرط الجزائي

A penalty clause (liquidated damages clause) fixes in advance the compensation payable for a breach — most familiar as delay damages in construction contracts, often expressed per day or week of late

التصفية

Liquidation is the formal process of winding up a company: collecting its assets, paying creditors in order of priority, distributing any surplus to shareholders, and cancelling the licence and regist

التقاضي

Litigation is the process of resolving a dispute through the courts. In the UAE, civil litigation typically begins with the claimant filing a statement of claim with the Court of First Instance throug

الرخصة على البر الرئيسي

A Mainland License authorises a company to operate anywhere in the UAE outside a free zone, directly with consumers, private businesses, and government entities. It is issued by the Department of Econ

التزامات الصيانة

Maintenance obligations define who fixes what in a rented property — the most frequent source of friction in UAE tenancies. The default position under Dubai tenancy law is that the landlord is respons

مكاني

Makani (Arabic for 'my location') is Dubai's official geographic addressing system, developed by Dubai Municipality. Every building entrance in the emirate is assigned a unique ten-digit Makani number

المطور الرئيسي

A master developer is the entity that develops an entire master-planned community — acquiring the land, building infrastructure and roads, setting the master plan and community rules, and selling plot

إجازة الأمومة

Maternity leave is the statutory entitlement of female employees in the UAE private sector: sixty days in total, structured as a fully paid initial period followed by a half-paid period, with addition

الوساطة

Mediation is a non-binding dispute-resolution process in which a neutral third party — the mediator — assists the disputing parties in negotiating a voluntary settlement. Unlike a judge or arbitrator,

فحص اللياقة الطبية

The medical fitness test is the mandatory health screening every applicant for a UAE residence visa (new or renewal) must pass at a government-approved medical centre. The screening tests for specifie

عقد التأسيس

The memorandum of association is the foundational contract of a UAE company, signed by its founders and — for onshore companies — typically notarised before the notary public. It records the company's

وزارة الاقتصاد

The UAE Ministry of Economy is the federal ministry behind several registers that businesses cannot avoid. It runs the national trademark register — trademark applications, oppositions and renewals ar

الجنحة

A misdemeanour is the middle tier of crime in UAE law, sitting between minor contraventions and serious felonies. It covers offences punishable by fines and/or shorter imprisonment — common examples i

تصديق وزارة الخارجية

MOFA — the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs, previously known as MOFAIC — is the federal ministry whose attestation stamp makes foreign documents usable in the UAE and UAE documents usable abroad. A de

وزارة الموارد البشرية والتوطين

MOHRE is the federal ministry that regulates private-sector employment in the UAE mainland. It issues and cancels work permits, approves the standard offer letter and employment contract that every ma

خطاب عرض العمل

The MOHRE offer letter is the standard-form job offer a mainland UAE employer must issue and have the candidate sign before a work permit can be processed. Its legal weight is the point: the formal em

وزارة العدل

The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) is the federal authority responsible for the administration of the federal court system, the regulation of the legal profession, and the delivery of core justice services

نظام ملاك

Mollak (Arabic for 'owners') is the Dubai Land Department's electronic system for regulating and collecting service charges in jointly owned properties. Management entities must run their service char

التعويض عن الضرر الأدبي

Moral damages are monetary compensation awarded to a claimant for non-financial harm — injury to reputation, dignity, feelings, or family relations — caused by the defendant's wrongful act. Under Arti

تسجيل الرهن العقاري

Mortgage registration is the recording of a bank's security interest over a property in the land department's register — in Dubai, at the DLD via a registration trustee. Registration is not a formalit

ملكية

Mulkiya is the Arabic word for ownership and is used colloquially across the UAE to mean the official ownership document for an asset — most often the property title deed, and in everyday speech also

حق المساطحة

Musataha is a distinctive UAE real right that entitles its holder to build on, develop and exploit land owned by another party for a fixed term — under the Civil Code, granted for up to fifty years an

نافس

Nafis is the federal programme that drives Emiratisation in the UAE private sector. It combines incentives for Emirati jobseekers — salary support, pension contribution subsidies, training and child a

شهادة عدم ممانعة

A No Objection Certificate (NOC) is a formal written statement from an authority — typically an employer, sponsor, bank, or government body — confirming that it has no objection to a specific action t

شرط عدم المنافسة

A non-compete clause restricts a UAE employee, after leaving, from joining or starting a competing business. The Labour Law permits such clauses only where the employee had access to clients or busine

التوثيق

Notarization is the formal authentication of a document or signature by a Notary Public, an officer authorised by the UAE Ministry of Justice or the judicial department of each emirate. A notarised do

الكاتب العدل

The notary public is the official (or licensed private notary) before whom key legal documents are authenticated in the UAE: powers of attorney, company memoranda and their amendments, legal notices,

فترة الإشعار

The notice period is the advance written warning one party to a UAE employment contract must give the other before terminating it. Under the Labour Law the contractual notice must fall between thirty

التنازل عن عقار على الخارطة

An off-plan assignment is the resale of a property that is still under construction: the original buyer transfers their rights and obligations under the SPA to a new buyer before handover and before a

عقار على الخارطة

An off-plan property is a unit purchased before construction is complete — often before it has even started — directly from a developer based on plans, brochures and a show apartment. Off-plan sales d

الشركة الخارجية

An offshore company in the UAE is an entity incorporated under free-zone rules specifically designed for holding assets and conducting business outside the UAE — not inside it. The main jurisdictions

عقود

Oqood (Arabic for 'contracts') is the Dubai Land Department portal through which off-plan property sales are registered in the interim real estate register. When you buy a unit that is still under con

الأمر على عريضة

An order on petition is a decision a UAE judge issues on a written application without summoning the other side — used where surprise or speed is essential. Common examples include permissions to serv

غرامات تجاوز مدة الإقامة

Overstay fines are the daily financial penalties that accrue when a person remains in the UAE after their visa, permit, or post-cancellation grace period expires. The fine builds per day of unlawful s

أجر العمل الإضافي

Overtime pay is the premium compensation due to most UAE private-sector employees who work beyond the statutory working hours. The Labour Law caps normal working time, limits how much overtime can be

اتحاد الملاك

An owners association is the collective body of unit owners in a jointly owned property — an apartment building or community — responsible for the common areas: their maintenance, insurance, budgeting

تصريح العمل بدوام جزئي

A part-time work permit is MOHRE authorisation for an employee to work reduced hours for an employer, and it underpins the UAE's flexible work models — part-time, temporary, flexible, and job-sharing

الوفاء الجزئي بقيمة الشيك

Partial payment is a feature of the reformed UAE cheque regime: when a cheque is presented and the account holds less than the face value, the bank must offer to pay the available balance rather than

براءة الاختراع

A patent is an exclusive right granted by the State for a new invention — whether a product or a process — that is novel, involves an inventive step, and is industrially applicable. In the UAE, patent

أمر الأداء

A payment order is a fast-track procedure in UAE civil procedure for collecting debts that are confirmed in writing and due — typically unpaid invoices acknowledged by the debtor, bounced cheques, or

قانون حماية البيانات الشخصية

The PDPL is the UAE's federal data protection law, issued in 2021 as Federal Decree-Law No. 45 of 2021. Conceptually similar to Europe's GDPR, it requires a lawful basis — typically consent or defined

قانون العقوبات

The UAE Penal Code — currently Federal Decree-Law No. 31 of 2021 on the Issuance of the Crimes and Penalties Law, which replaced Federal Law No. 3 of 1987 — is the core federal statute defining crimin

الأمر الجزائي

A penal order is a streamlined criminal decision issued by the Public Prosecution (or a judge in some settings) for designated minor offences, imposing a fine without a court hearing. The accused is n

قانون الأحوال الشخصية

Personal Status Law is the body of law that governs marriage, divorce, child custody, guardianship, inheritance, and wills in the UAE. For Muslims, the federal Personal Status Law — most recently Fede

الشيك المؤجل التاريخ

A post-dated cheque carries a future date, used in the UAE as a deferred payment tool — most famously in rent, where a year's tenancy is commonly paid with a series of post-dated cheques, and in car f

الشيكات المؤجلة

Post-dated cheques are cheques written with a future date, and they remain the backbone of rent payment in the UAE: tenants typically hand the landlord a set of cheques — one, two, four or more — cove

وكالة قانونية

A Power of Attorney (POA) is a written legal instrument by which a principal authorises an agent (the attorney-in-fact) to act on their behalf in specified matters. UAE law recognises general POAs cov

وكالة بيع العقار

A property sale power of attorney is a notarised authorisation letting an agent sell, transfer or manage real estate on the owner's behalf — one of the most consequential documents in UAE practice bec

الحجز التحفظي

A precautionary attachment is a court order freezing a debtor's assets — bank accounts, vehicles, shares, real estate — before or during a lawsuit, so the assets cannot be moved or hidden while the ca

خدمات التعقيب (العلاقات الحكومية)

PRO services — from 'public relations officer', the traditional title for a company's government-liaison agent — are the document-processing and government-transaction services that keep a UAE company

فترة التجربة

The probation period is the initial phase of a UAE employment relationship during which the employer assesses a new hire, capped by the Labour Law at six months and usable only once per employer. Term

إلغاء المشروع العقاري

Project cancellation is the regulator's formal termination of a stalled or non-viable off-plan development. In Dubai, RERA monitors registered projects' construction progress and escrow position, and

السند الإذني (الكمبيالة الإذنية)

A promissory note is a written, unconditional promise by one party to pay a fixed sum to another on demand or at a set date, signed in the form required by the UAE Commercial Transactions Law. As a co

المزاد العقاري

A property auction in the UAE arises in two distinct settings. Voluntary auctions are a sales channel — the Dubai Land Department and licensed platforms auction properties for owners and developers se

الهبة العقارية

A property gift transfer — hiba — is the voluntary transfer of property ownership without a sale price, most commonly between close family members or between an individual and a company they own. In D

ميراث العقارات في الإمارات

Property inheritance in the UAE determines what happens to real estate when its owner dies — an area where the default rules surprise expatriate families. Absent forward planning, UAE courts may apply

تقرير معاينة العقار

A property inspection report is a documented assessment of a property's condition at a defined moment — at tenancy move-in and move-out, before a secondary-market purchase, or at developer handover (w

التقييم العقاري

Property valuation — Taqyeem in Arabic — is the formal assessment of a property's market value by a qualified valuer, and in Dubai the Land Department itself operates an official valuation service und

النيابة العامة

The Public Prosecution is the authority that investigates crimes and brings criminal cases before UAE courts. After a police complaint or arrest, the file moves to the prosecution, which questions sus

الوسيط العقاري

A real estate broker in Dubai must be licensed: the brokerage firm needs a trade licence with real estate activity, and each individual agent must be registered with RERA and hold a broker registratio

الاحتيال العقاري

Real estate fraud covers the deception schemes that recur in the UAE property market: fake landlords renting properties they do not own and vanishing with deposits and rent cheques; forged title deeds

الوكالة العقارية

A real estate power of attorney is a notarised authorisation allowing an agent to act in property matters for the owner or buyer — to sell, buy, lease, mortgage or manage specific properties. UAE prac

مكتب أمين التسجيل

Registration trustees are private service offices licensed by the Dubai Land Department to execute property registration transactions on its behalf. Instead of queueing at the DLD itself, parties comp

تأشيرة العمل عن بُعد

The remote work visa lets a foreign national live in the UAE for one renewable year while working remotely for an employer or business located outside the country. Applicants prove ongoing foreign emp

زيادة الإيجار

Rent increases in Dubai are not a matter of free negotiation at renewal — they are capped by law. Under Dubai's rent increase decree (Decree No. 43 of 2013), the maximum permitted increase depends on

الإيجار المنتهي بالتملك

Rent-to-own is an arrangement in which a tenant rents a property with a contractual right — and sometimes an obligation — to acquire ownership, with part of each rent payment credited toward the purch

النزاع الإيجاري

A rental dispute is any conflict between landlord and tenant arising from a tenancy — unpaid rent, contested increases, deposit deductions, maintenance failures, eviction, or refusal to renew. In Duba

مركز فض المنازعات الإيجارية

The Rental Disputes Settlement Centre (RDSC) in Dubai is the specialised judicial body that adjudicates landlord-tenant disputes — including non-payment of rent, eviction, rent increases outside the R

مؤسسة التنظيم العقاري (ريرا)

RERA is the Real Estate Regulatory Agency of Dubai, the regulatory arm of the Dubai Land Department (DLD). Established by Law No. 16 of 2007, it licenses and supervises developers, brokers, owners' as

حساب الضمان العقاري

A RERA escrow account is a dedicated, regulator-supervised bank account into which all buyer payments for an off-plan project in Dubai must be deposited. The developer cannot freely withdraw the money

مؤشر الإيجارات الذكي

The RERA rental index — relaunched as the Smart Rental Index — is the Dubai Land Department's official benchmark of market rents across the emirate, now refined to rate individual buildings rather tha

استمارة الحجز

A reservation form (or booking form) is the short document a buyer signs at the start of an off-plan purchase, paying a booking deposit to reserve a specific unit at a stated price before the full sal

تأشيرة الإقامة

A residence visa is the authorisation allowing a foreign national to live in the UAE for an extended, renewable period. It is always anchored to a basis: employment (sponsored by the employer), family

الاستقالة

Resignation is the employee's voluntary termination of a UAE employment contract, normally by serving the agreed written notice of thirty to ninety days. Under the current Labour Law, resignation no l

تأشيرة التقاعد

The retirement visa is a five-year renewable UAE residence for retirees aged fifty-five and above (with routes for long-serving UAE expatriate workers), granted to applicants who satisfy one of the fi

اتفاقية البيع والشراء

The Sale and Purchase Agreement is the master contract between buyer and seller — or buyer and developer in off-plan deals — recording the price, payment schedule, completion or transfer date, the exa

سندك

Sanadak is the UAE's independent ombudsman unit for resolving consumer complaints against banks, finance companies and insurers, established by the Central Bank and launched in 2024. It gives retail c

هيئة الأوراق المالية والسلع

The SCA is the federal regulator of onshore capital markets in the UAE. It supervises the Dubai Financial Market and Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, licenses brokers, investment managers, advisers and

شيك الضمان

A security cheque is a cheque handed over not as immediate payment but as a guarantee — for a loan, a lease, a credit facility or contract performance — usually undated or post-dated, to be presented

مبلغ التأمين

A security deposit is the refundable sum a tenant pays the landlord at the start of a tenancy as protection against unpaid rent, damage beyond fair wear and tear, or unpaid bills. In Dubai market prac

رسوم الخدمات

Service charges are the annual fees that owners of units in jointly owned properties — apartment towers, gated communities, mixed-use developments — pay for the operation and maintenance of common are

براءة ذمة رسوم الخدمات

Service charge clearance is the confirmation that all service charges owed on a unit have been paid up to date — a document with outsized importance at two moments in UAE property life. At resale, the

الإعلان القضائي

Service of process is the official notification of court documents — claims, hearing dates, judgments — to the opposing party. In the UAE it is carried out by court notifiers and, increasingly, by app

اتفاقية الشركاء

A shareholders' agreement is a private contract between a company's owners that sits alongside the memorandum and articles, governing matters the public documents do not: reserved matters requiring un

قواعد الإيجار في الشارقة

Sharjah runs its own tenancy regime, distinct from Dubai's in ways that surprise tenants moving between the emirates. Lease contracts in Sharjah must be attested with the municipality rather than regi

الإجازة المرضية

Sick leave in the UAE private sector is a statutory entitlement of up to ninety days per year of service, available after probation, structured in descending pay tiers: an initial fully paid block, a

فحص العيوب قبل التسليم

Snagging is the detailed inspection of a newly completed property to identify defects — 'snags' — before or shortly after handover from the developer. Typical snags range from cosmetic issues like poo

المؤسسة الفردية

A sole establishment is a business owned by one individual who trades under a licence in their own name — the simplest and cheapest onshore structure in the UAE. Its critical feature is the absence of

لائحة الدعوى

A statement of claim is the document that opens a civil case in the UAE onshore courts. It identifies the claimant and defendant, sets out the facts, the legal grounds, and the precise relief requeste

مذكرة الدفاع

A statement of defence (defence memorandum) is the defendant's formal written answer to a statement of claim in UAE court proceedings. It responds to each allegation, raises procedural objections — su

تأشيرة الطالب

A student visa is the UAE residence permit issued for full-time study, sponsored either by the licensed educational institution or by a parent or relative already resident in the UAE. It typically run

الإيجار من الباطن

Subletting is when a tenant rents out all or part of the leased property to a third party while remaining bound by the head lease. Under Dubai tenancy law the default rule is strict: a tenant may not

قاضي الأمور المستعجلة

The urgent matters judge is a UAE court judge empowered to grant fast interim relief where waiting for a normal lawsuit would cause irreparable harm — and without deciding the underlying dispute. Typi

تدبير

Tadbeer (Arabic for 'arrangement') is the network of licensed service centres through which domestic workers — housemaids, nannies, drivers, cooks — are recruited and sponsored in the UAE. The centres

تسهيل

Tasheel (also written Tas-heel) is the network of authorised service centres and the online platform through which MOHRE transactions are processed in the UAE: work permit applications, employment con

توجيه

Tawjeeh centres are MOHRE-authorised guidance and awareness centres where UAE private-sector workers complete mandatory orientation steps tied to their employment paperwork. Their signature function i

توثيق

Tawtheeq is Abu Dhabi's official tenancy contract registration system — the emirate's counterpart to Dubai's Ejari. All residential and commercial lease agreements in Abu Dhabi must be registered in T

هيئة تنظيم الاتصالات والحكومة الرقمية

The TDRA is the federal authority that regulates the UAE telecommunications sector and drives the digital government agenda. It licenses telecom operators, manages spectrum and the .ae domain space, s

عقد الإيجار

A tenancy contract is the lease agreement between landlord and tenant setting out the rent, term, payment schedule, deposit, maintenance responsibilities and renewal terms. In the UAE it is far more t

تجديد عقد الإيجار

Tenancy renewal is the continuation of a lease beyond its original term, and UAE law tilts the rules in favour of continuity. In Dubai, if a tenant remains in the property after expiry without objecti

إنهاء عقد العمل

Termination of employment is the ending of a UAE employment contract by either party or by operation of law. The Labour Law lists lawful routes: mutual agreement, expiry of the fixed term, either part

سند الملكية

A title deed is the official certificate issued by the land authority of each emirate — the Dubai Land Department in Dubai — recording who legally owns a specific property. It states the owner's name,

التحقق من سند الملكية

Title deed verification is the process of confirming, against official records, that a property document is genuine, current, and matches the person claiming to own the property. In Dubai this has bec

الرخصة التجارية

A trade licence is the official permit that lets a business operate legally in the UAE, issued by the economic department of the relevant emirate for mainland companies or by a free zone authority for

الاسم التجاري

A trade name is the registered name under which a business operates in the UAE, reserved and approved through the economic department or free zone authority before a licence is issued. Approval rules

العلامة التجارية

A trademark is any sign — a word, logo, three-dimensional mark, colour combination, sound, or even smell — that distinguishes the goods or services of one enterprise from those of others. In the UAE,

نظام تراخيصي

Trakheesi is the Dubai Land Department's licensing and permit system for real estate activities — the back-office machinery behind lawful brokerage in the emirate. Through Trakheesi, brokerages and in

حظر السفر

A travel ban in the UAE is an order preventing a named individual from leaving or entering the country. It can be issued civilly — usually by a creditor filing a petition to secure repayment of a debt

المنع من السفر (المدني)

A civil travel ban is a court order preventing a debtor from leaving the UAE until a debt claim is resolved or secured. A creditor applies — typically by petition, before or during a case or at execut

الرقم الموحد

The UID is the unified identity number the UAE immigration system assigns to every foreign national on their first entry or first visa issuance, and it permanently anchors that person's immigration fi

المستفيد الحقيقي

The ultimate beneficial owner is the natural person who ultimately owns or controls a company — looking through layers of holding companies, nominees and trusts to the human at the top. UAE regulation

عقد العمل غير محدد المدة

An unlimited contract was the open-ended employment agreement used widely in the UAE private sector before the current Labour Law took effect in 2022. It had no expiry date and ran until either party

المطالبة بالأجور غير المدفوعة

An unpaid wages claim is the action a UAE employee takes to recover salary, allowances, overtime, or end-of-service amounts the employer failed to pay. The route is structured: a MOHRE complaint first

حق الانتفاع

Usufruct is a registered property right that gives its holder the right to use and benefit from a property owned by someone else — to live in it, lease it out and collect rent — for a defined long ter

تنفيذ حكم الإخلاء

Execution of a vacating (eviction) judgment is the enforcement stage after a landlord wins an eviction case: the judgment ordering the tenant to vacate is referred to the execution department, which f

سلطة دبي لتنظيم الأصول الافتراضية

VARA is Dubai's dedicated regulator for virtual assets — the world's first standalone crypto authority, established by Dubai law in 2022. It licenses and supervises exchanges, brokers, custodians, adv

ضريبة القيمة المضافة

VAT is the UAE's consumption tax, introduced on 1 January 2018 under Federal Decree-Law No. 8 of 2017 at a standard rate of 5%, charged on most supplies of goods and services. Businesses must register

مهلة تصحيح الأوضاع

A visa amnesty is a time-limited government initiative allowing people with irregular immigration status in the UAE — overstayers, absconding-report subjects, people whose sponsors vanished — to regul

إلغاء التأشيرة

Visa cancellation is the formal administrative process by which a UAE residency visa is annulled before or at its natural expiry. It is normally initiated by the sponsor — typically an employer for wo

ختم الإقامة

Visa stamping is the traditional final step of the UAE residence process — physically affixing the residence visa sticker in the holder's passport. The term survives even though the mechanics have cha

تأشيرة الزيارة

A visit visa permits a temporary stay in the UAE for tourism, family visits, business meetings, or specific purposes such as job seeking, without granting residence. Durations and entry types vary — s

نظام حماية الأجور

The Wage Protection System is the UAE's electronic salary-monitoring mechanism: mainland employers must pay registered employees through approved banks and exchange houses so MOHRE can verify, in near

تعويض إصابة العمل

Work injury compensation is the UAE Labour Law regime covering employees injured at work, injured commuting to or from work, or afflicted by a scheduled occupational disease. The employer must fund me

تصريح العمل

A work permit is the authorisation MOHRE issues allowing a foreign national to work for a specific mainland employer in the UAE. It is distinct from, and a prerequisite to, the residence visa: the typ

نظام حماية الأجور

The Wage Protection System (WPS) is the UAE's electronic salary-monitoring scheme, run by MOHRE with the Central Bank. Mainland private-sector employers must pay registered employees' salaries through

السند التنفيذي

A writ of execution (executive instrument) is a document the law allows to be enforced directly through the execution court without first winning a substantive lawsuit. In the UAE the family includes