# Can anyone help me 26 year old female in Dubai



## helprequired (Aug 20, 2016)

Hello my fellow expats.

I came to Dubai last year as a student and just completed my internship. As i do not come from a wealthy background I came here off my own bank and did the usual got a student loan here and funded it myself.

Unfortunately I got some devastating news from home last week and I cannot function at all all i want to do is be at home.

I went to the embassy and there is nothing they can do. Basically I maybe imprisoned if I do not pay back the bounced cheque from my employers of AED 25,000 and my loan of AED 80,000. 

I have no where to turn and am in a complete mess. There is no organisations or anything here to help. Do you know of anyone out there to help?

Just to clarify I got offered a permanent place next month whereby I would have been in fulltime employment and as like any student the plan was to repay the debt over the years. Due to the news from home I cannot even function and need to be there. I am at breaking point.

Can you or any good people out there help me?


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## The Rascal (Aug 6, 2014)

Is there a case registered against you? If not, leave now and sort the problem out from afar.


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## Chocoholic (Oct 29, 2012)

Erm you got a student loan HERE in the UAE? I wasn't aware banks gave student loans here - to someone not earning more than 8,000dhs a month?


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## The Rascal (Aug 6, 2014)

How much do you need.... And what do i get in return?


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## helprequired (Aug 20, 2016)

I cant leave as they have just started a case against me. So scared dont know what to do.

I was doing my internship hence why i was able to get the loan


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## Nursemanit (Jul 10, 2015)

Do you always introduce yourself as "26 year old female?" 

Seems like an irrelevant piece of info if you are asking for options on getting out of a financial situation. 

"I can not even function" what does that mean?


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## twowheelsgood (Feb 21, 2013)

It potentially means that one of our erstwhile contributors is trolling.

American comes to the UAE on their own, no family and borrows 80,000AED.........bounced cheque *from* my employer .... ?

Is that Haddock I smell ?


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## Jasmine_Flower (Aug 26, 2012)

Well, Arabian Killifish is a local speciality of fish 




twowheelsgood said:


> It potentially means that one of our erstwhile contributors is trolling.
> 
> American comes to the UAE on their own, no family and borrows 80,000AED.........bounced cheque *from* my employer .... ?
> 
> Is that Haddock I smell ?


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## helprequired (Aug 20, 2016)

I do not appreciate your derogatory comments. 

Firstly, I introduce myself with my age and that I am a female as do you know how scary it is that I may face Prison.

Secondly do you think I would embarass myself on this site if this was not my situation. I had the choice to do my internship in London or Dubai but I chose Dubai as it would be a great experience and my other friend was studying at Heriot Watt at the same time.

So please if you have no help or advice to give me please refrain from making any further comments. This is serious. If you had a daughter in my situation I am sure you would fear for them as is my mother. 

Also do you need to be rich and lean on family members to further your career? I think not? I am independent I do come from a low income family and I decided to do something better for myself.


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## Jasmine_Flower (Aug 26, 2012)

helprequired,

Just to clarify your situation - did you come here as a student to study at a University in the UAE or to do an internship as a student of a UK university on a short term internship in the UAE? On what basis did you get a loan from a UAE bank, because assuming your on an internship, which is not really classed as full term and long term employment, im finding it hard to understand how they lent you money in the first place. When you refer to 'employer', are you referring to the place where you are doing your internship? If you are on a short term internship organised through your UK University, then you would/should be still entitled to student funding from the UK and get help from your university in the UK. In this situation, you would not need to borrow local money since you have funding from student loans in UK...




helprequired said:


> I do not appreciate your derogatory comments.
> 
> Firstly, I introduce myself with my age and that I am a female as do you know how scary it is that I may face Prison.
> 
> ...


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## Nursemanit (Jul 10, 2015)

twowheelsgood said:


> It potentially means that one of our erstwhile contributors is trolling.
> 
> American comes to the UAE on their own, no family and borrows 80,000AED.........bounced cheque *from* my employer .... ?
> 
> Is that Haddock I smell ?



The OP profile says they are from the UK but It is very uncommon for educated UK expats to use such poor sentence structure and grammar.


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## LesFroggitts (Dec 30, 2013)

OK guys, let's give the OP the benefit of the doubt. Please tone down the responses to those that could be of assistance.


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## QOFE (Apr 28, 2013)

We need some more information to fully understand the situation.



helprequired said:


> I came to Dubai last year as a student and just completed my internship. As i do not come from a wealthy background I came here off my own bank and did the usual got a student loan here and funded it myself.
> 
> No it's not usual. How and where were you able to secure a loan of 80,000 AED without any income? Or was it a paid internship and you had some sort of income?
> You're not funding it yourself it it's with borrowed money. What loan can be obtained without having to start repayments, usually the next month?
> ...


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## Chocoholic (Oct 29, 2012)

See that's what I'm also struggling with here. You can't just walk into a bank and get a loan here, you need bank statements, a salary certificate from your employer etc etc. How did you end up borrowing money from your employer? Don't know of any that would just hand over 25k to an employee, let alone an intern.

It just doesn't make sense.


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## TallyHo (Aug 21, 2011)

The one employer-provided loan I can think of is a housing allowance loan but they certainly wouldn't do that for an intern. 

But let's give her the benefit of the doubt. Her writing skill is appalling but a possible interpretation is as follows:

I'm guessing she had a proper job with an employer (which she thinks of as an internship) and they advanced her a housing allowance and deducted a monthly sum from her monthly salary. But when she announced she was resigning due to her new permanent position, the employer demanded the repayment of the rest of the salary advance, hence the 25,000 AED. But she cannot pay it back due to insufficient funds. So they are threatening her with a bounced cheque claim. This is a possible scenario.

Maybe her "student loans" are actually personal loans but she refers to them as student loans for she was using it to fund a course at a local university where she studied when not working.

When you swap "student loan" with personal loan, and "internship" with job, then her story does make sense. 

Still - there are many holes. Such as her selection of terminology. Refusal to tell us what exactly is going on back home that is requiring her to leave the UAE immediately. Did she change part of her story to gain sympathy from us? I would not at all be surprised if she had a normal job and racked up huge debts and has been made redundant and can't afford to pay back any of her loans. Changed/invented part of her story to elicit sympathy. Not an atypical situation, but if this is the case then unfortunately there's nothing we can do for her. Her only options are to immediately leave the country before the police case is filed by the employer, or to ask family members to clear her debts. 



Chocoholic said:


> See that's what I'm also struggling with here. You can't just walk into a bank and get a loan here, you need bank statements, a salary certificate from your employer etc etc. How did you end up borrowing money from your employer? Don't know of any that would just hand over 25k to an employee, let alone an intern.
> 
> It just doesn't make sense.


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## notdave (Jul 11, 2015)

I'm a little puzzled all round...
I appreciate the the "working girl" sounding intro may have been misjudged, but... Like many here... I am still confused...

Not wanting to pick nits, but, your trip to the "Embassy"... I assume this was Abu Dhabi? Dubai only has a consulate (as I discovered many years ago... mercifully redundantly)... or perhaps it was the consulate... to be fair, I suppose they all feel about the same from the rough end... the FCO, one way or another.

And erm... the whole loans thing... I mean... seriously?

I know there are stories in the news about people earning <10k whom banks have allowed to accrue ridiculous debts (I did laugh last week at the bloke who won 1M aed+ ("Astute Investor" bets 12.5% of monthly income on 5000-1 chance)... I mean... I suppose it's probably better odds thank making your money back from PIC/De Vere/Whatever they're going to be called next 'cos they haven't called me since I told them to pees off last year).
Oh yes... and a quick google produces:
(Careful Now) 
(100k+ debt on 8k/month)
Who have been mainly been here for *several* years to manage to accrue that level of "creditworthiness".

I can only assume you are/were, or work(ed) for a financial adviser or estate agent? Was it another "jam next year, commission only, don't worry it'll be fine" kind of opportunity?

Whatever the issue or circumstances, the best advice offered from anybody is "just get out of here while you can"... whatever the reason... or circumstances.
It will mean that you have to plan your journeys to much of the south and east carefully in future ... but if you have neither the means nor method to deal with it your options are limited.

You may think that you sound all "independent" by telling us all how you never ask your family for anything... but, the fact that you'd rather act a bunch of *total* strangers with, who knows what ulterior motives... for help... doesn't describe independence, just bad judgement. (sorry).

Apologies if this doesn't sound "all positive" and "it'll be great"... but sometimes it isn't like that.

Best of luck, whatever you choose to do (I believe Rascal's dungeon is open 24/7 ) 

ND


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## Stevesolar (Dec 21, 2012)

notdave said:


> Not wanting to pick nits, but, your trip to the "Embassy"... I assume this was Abu Dhabi? Dubai only has a consulate (as I discovered many years ago... mercifully redundantly)... or perhaps it was the consulate... to be fair, I suppose they all feel about the same from the rough end... the FCO, one way or another.


Not wishing to nit pick - but the UAE is unique in that there are two British Embassies - one in Abu Dhabi and one in Dubai.
Other countries have an Embassy and a Consulate - but not the UK!
I believe it is a hangover from the Trucial State days.


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## notdave (Jul 11, 2015)

Stevesolar said:


> Not wishing to nit pick - but the UAE is unique in that there are two British Embassies - one in Abu Dhabi and one in Dubai.
> Other countries have an Embassy and a Consulate - but not the UK!
> I believe it is a hangover from the Trucial State days.


Wow... so... I was advised badly way back then and haven't checked since.
I had an "important paperwork" emergency... and I was told "only consular services in Dubai... embassy in AD". The paperwork turned up... so despite my numerous unanswered phone calls to them, during "business hours", I never got any nearer to dealing with them than that.

Apologies for the incorrect nit-pick.

:sorry:


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## The Rascal (Aug 6, 2014)

notdave said:


> Best of luck, whatever you choose to do (I believe Rascal's dungeon is open 24/7 )
> 
> ND


Eh? What have i done to get brought into this? <SNIP - Potential Rule 1 & 2 breach>


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## notdave (Jul 11, 2015)

The Rascal said:


> Eh? What have i done to get brought into this? <SNIP - Potential Rule 1 & 2 breach>





The Rascal said:


> How much do you need.... And what do i get in return?


Perhaps I read it wrong... :noidea:


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## nonoa (Jan 9, 2014)

helprequired said:


> Hello my fellow expats.
> 
> I came to Dubai last year as a student and just completed my internship. As i do not come from a wealthy background I came here off my own bank and did the usual got a student loan here and funded it myself.
> 
> ...



I think you panicked and while your emergency situation may be hard, you have to pull yourself together and be strong for just a little longer, otherwise you will indeed be trapped and nothing will solve the problem. It is a debt spiral. You can read through The National Debt Panel stories. People write in with their problems and a panel of experts try to help them with a solution. Some are complicated. There is also another section for issues with Visas and lots of travel ban issues. It teaches you a lot about the local laws.

If your job offer is still on the table, take it. Employers do provide emergency leave for their staff. If you are serious about continuing your career and staying to repay your debt, then at least take the job and let your salary pick up the debt payments. You can then request they lift any bans placed against you. You can then take leave to take care of your situation.

The only other solution is, yes, having someone else pay your debt. If you have family or relatives or friends that can help out, it would be great. Although debt between family can be harder to live with.

If you are not sure there is a ban on you, have a friend take your passport copy to the police station to inquire. They will not provide details, only tell you if yes there is one or not (I went there myself once and they told me...you realize we will arrest you right here right now if there indeed is a case?)

Like the others mentioned, more details regarding your situation can help us help you better. Your employment situation as well as the cheque situation is not very clear.


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