Travel Ban (Civil / Debt)

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 execution stage — showing a serious, due debt above the applicable threshold and a real risk the debtor will flee; the judge may require the creditor to provide security and can order the debtor's passport measures in some situations. The ban is lifted when the debt is paid, settled, secured by a guarantee, or when its legal conditions lapse. It is distinct from criminal travel bans imposed by the prosecution and from immigration-related bans. It matters because it is among the most coercive tools in UAE debt recovery: discovering a ban at the airport is how many debtors first engage with their creditors. You meet it as a creditor weighing enforcement leverage, or as a debtor needing an urgent application to lift it for work or family travel.