HomeHow to lift an arrest warrant or travel ban in Dubai and the UAE
The discovery of an active arrest warrant or travel ban in the United Arab Emirates is an event capable of completely paralyzing a person’s life. You may find out about it at the most inconvenient moment: during passport control at Dubai airport, when attempting to renew a resident visa, or when contacting government authorities. These legal restrictions pose a serious threat to your freedom of movement, financial stability, and personal safety.
The reasons for such restrictions in the UAE are divided into two main categories: criminal and civil/financial. The latter traditionally include overdue debts, bank loans, and, until recently, the widespread cases of unpaid (bounced) checks.
Regardless of the reason, the first and most important step is to immediately cease any attempts to resolve the issue independently at the police station or airport. Such actions often lead to immediate detention. The only correct course of action is an urgent consultation with an experienced lawyer who specializes in the UAE legal system. Any mistake or delay can result in irreversible consequences, including imprisonment and deportation with a black mark for all Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. This article serves as a detailed guide to your next steps, based on UAE legal practice as of 2025.
What is an arrest warrant and a travel ban in the UAE?
An arrest warrant is an official order issued by a competent authority, usually the Prosecutor’s Office or a court, based on a police investigation. It authorizes the police to actively search for and detain the specified individual. An arrest warrant is almost always associated with a criminal case. This may be related to charges of fraud, theft, assault, or more serious crimes. The existence of such a warrant means that active criminal proceedings are being conducted against you.
A travel ban is an administrative or judicial measure that physically prevents a person from leaving the territory of the UAE. It can also function as an entry ban. Unlike an arrest warrant, a travel ban can be imposed for a much wider range of reasons:
- In the criminal case: As a preventive measure during the investigation or trial, even if the person was released on bail.
- In a civil/financial case: This is the most common scenario for expatriates. A creditor (for example, a bank or an individual) may file a civil case to recover the debt and petition the court to impose a travel ban to ensure the defendant’s presence in the country until the debt is paid.
- In cases of personal status: For example, during divorce proceedings or disputes over child custody.
A travel ban is marked with a flag in the immigration system. A person can move freely within the UAE, unaware of the problem, but will be stopped at the border. An arrest warrant means that any document check (even during a routine stop on the road) can lead to detention.
Types of restrictions and reasons for their issuance
Understanding the root of the problem determines the strategy for its resolution. The legal system of the UAE clearly delineates the sources of legal restrictions.
Internal restrictions of the UAE. These restrictions are initiated within the country and apply to its territory. Financial and civil cases are the most common reason why foreigners encounter legal issues in Dubai.
- Bank loans and credit cards: In case of payment delays, the bank first tries to contact the debtor. If this fails or the debt is not repaid, the bank files a police case or directly submits a civil lawsuit to the court. As part of this lawsuit, the bank immediately requests a precautionary travel ban from the judge, which the court usually grants.
- Bounced Cheques: Significant changes have been made to UAE legislation (especially in Abu Dhabi since 2021 and at the federal level from 2022-2023). Most cases involving the issuance of unsecured cheques have been decriminalized. This means that now imprisonment under a criminal case is generally not applied for this.
- Disputes over rent and business: Any commercial or personal dispute that reaches court can serve as a basis for the plaintiff to request a travel ban on the defendant if there are grounds to believe that they might flee.
Criminal cases. This refers to violations of the UAE Penal Code. The process is initiated by filing a complaint at a police station (for example, in CID – Criminal Investigation Department).
Examples: Fraud, theft, physical violence, use or distribution of drugs, cybercrimes, public insults.
The process: The police conduct an investigation. If they find evidence, the case is transferred to the State Prosecutor’s Office. The prosecutor’s office reviews the materials and, if it considers the charges justified, issues an arrest warrant (if the suspect has not been detained earlier) and transfers the case to the Criminal Court.
How to check the travel ban to the UAE and the presence of a warrant
This is the most common question users ask: How can I find out if I have problems? Incorrect actions at this stage can be catastrophic.
Method 1: Personal visit to the police (CATEGORICALLY NOT RECOMMENDED) Never try to simply ask at the police station. If there is a warrant for your arrest in your name, you will be detained on the spot. This is a trap that many fall into.
Method 2: Online Services (Limited Information) Websites and applications, such as those of Dubai Police or the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department (ADJD), offer services for Case Status Verification or Inquiry about Entry/Exit Ban.
Method 3: Lawyer’s Request (The Only Safe and Reliable Method)The only comprehensive and safe method is to hire a local lawyer. Your criminal lawyer in Dubai has access to closed systems and the right to submit official requests.
- Status Check: You provide the lawyer with a copy of your passport (and Emirates ID, if available) and a Power of Attorney.
- Verification through all databases: A lawyer, either physically or through online portals for lawyers, checks the presence of your name in the immigration system, in the police databases of all emirates, and in the Prosecutor’s Office system.
- Full report: Within 1-2 business days, the lawyer provides you with a full report: Are there any limitations?
What type are they (Warrant or Ban)?
In which emirate and police station is the case registered?
What is the case number (Case Number)?
Who is the applicant (plaintiff)?
What is the essence of the accusation/claim?
What is the amount of the debt (if this is a financial matter)?
Only by possessing this information can one proceed to develop a strategy for lifting restrictions.
Mechanisms of removal: Step-by-step process in UAE
The procedure for lifting an arrest warrant in Dubai or a travel ban entirely depends on the type of your case.
Lifting of the ban on financial/civil cases
This is the simplest and most predictable scenario. The goal is to settle the debt.
- Step 1: Negotiations. After the lawyer confirms the amount and the plaintiff (for example, a bank), they enter into negotiations on your behalf.
Example of a case (Practical value): The client has a credit card debt of 150,000 dirhams. The bank filed a lawsuit. The lawyer contacts the bank’s legal department and negotiates a one-time settlement with a discount, for example, for 100,000 dirhams. Alternatively, if the client does not have the full amount, the lawyer negotiates a debt restructuring with the signing of a new payment schedule. - Step 2: Reaching a settlement. The parties sign an official settlement agreement. The client pays the agreed amount.
- Step 3: Case withdrawal. The creditor (plaintiff), upon receiving the funds, issues a letter of no claims (Clearance Letter / No Objection Certificate – NOC) and submits a withdrawal paper to the court or police.
- Step 4: Lifting the ban. Your lawyer takes these documents and submits a petition to the court (or police) for the immediate lifting of the travel ban. The judge or police officer approves the lifting.
- Step 5: System update. This takes from 2 to 10 business days. The ban must be removed from the immigration system (flag cleared). The lawyer is obligated to monitor this process and provide you with confirmation that the system is clean.
Withdrawal of a warrant in criminal cases
This process is much more complex and unpredictable. You can’t just pay and leave here.
- Step 1: Immediate intervention of a lawyer. As soon as the warrant is discovered, a criminal defense lawyer must immediately gain access to the case materials in the Prosecutor’s Office.
- Step 2: Filing a bail petition. If you have been detained, the first task of the lawyer is to secure your release on bail. In the UAE, bail can be in the form of a monetary deposit, retention of a passport (the most common option), or a guarantee (surety) from another person.
Important: Being released on bail does not dismiss the charges. It only removes the warrant for immediate arrest and allows you to remain free until trial. A travel ban almost always remains in effect in such cases. - Step 3: Defense Strategy.
Negotiations with the victim: If it is a private prosecution case (for example, insult, fight without serious consequences, financial dispute with elements of fraud), the lawyer can try to achieve reconciliation. If the victim waives the complaint, the Prosecutor’s Office may close the case.
Defense in court: If the case involves public prosecution (drugs, serious fraud) or reconciliation is impossible, the lawyer prepares a full-fledged defense in court (Court of First Instance). The goal is to prove your innocence and achieve an acquittal (Acquittal). - Step 4: Lifting restrictions after the court. The arrest warrant and travel ban are fully annulled only after the final decision is made:
Acquittal.
A sentence not involving imprisonment (for example, a fine). After paying the fine, the restrictions are lifted.
Serving the imposed sentence (if the verdict was guilty).
How to cancel a Red Notice of Interpol in the UAE
This is a separate category of cases. You can be arrested in Dubai not for a crime in the UAE, but at the request of your home country or a third state through Interpol. Red Notice is not an international arrest warrant. It is a request from an Interpol member country to all other member countries to locate and provisionally arrest a person for the purpose of their subsequent extradition (surrender).
The UAE, as an active member of Interpol, often detains individuals (especially in airports) who are subject to a Red Notice.
The task of canceling a Red Notice from Interpol issued by the UAE is a complex legal battle fought on two fronts simultaneously.
The removal of a Red Notice from the global database is not handled by the UAE court but by a special body — the Commission for the Control of Interpol’s Files (CCF — Commission for the Control of Interpol’s Files).
Your lawyer (often an international extradition specialist) must submit a detailed petition to the CCF, proving that the Red Notice request violates the Interpol Constitution. Simply claiming your innocence is not enough.
There are several key grounds for a successful appeal, and your lawyer must prove the presence of one of them. These grounds include:
- Article 3 of the Interpol Charter: The request is predominantly of a political, military, religious, or racial nature. This is the strongest and most frequently used basis for the protection of businessmen and politically persecuted individuals;
- Article 2 of the Charter: The request violates the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (for example, if the person in the requesting country is threatened with torture or an unfair trial);
- The civil nature of the case: Interpol categorically must not be used for debt collection (business disputes, unpaid loans). Many countries abuse this, attempting to criminalize a regular civil dispute in order to declare the debtor on an international wanted list;
- Procedural violations: The request was submitted with violations, there is insufficient evidence of guilt, or the case has already been decided by the court (principle of Ne bis in idem).
If a UAE court denies extradition, you are released within the UAE territory. However, the Red Notice may still remain active in other countries. If the CCF cancels the Red Notice, you become free globally.
Do not risk your freedom and future
If you have the slightest suspicion of an arrest warrant, an unresolved case, or a travel ban to the UAE, your first and only step is a confidential legal check.
Contact our team of experienced lawyers specializing in criminal and financial law in Dubai and the UAE. We will immediately conduct a complete and secure check of your status across all government databases. We will provide you with a clear report and develop a step-by-step plan to annul any legal restrictions, whether it is a local warrant or an international Interpol request. Protect yourself today. Schedule a confidential consultation and status check.
