# Coming to the UAE with financial commitments



## Mulan (Feb 19, 2013)

Hi everyone! This is my first ever post! A looking for some good advice. My husband and I will be moving out to Al Ain in August and have started the long process of sorting out our financial commitments at home. 

We went for an account review this morning at our bank and mentioned we were moving abroad. The advisor immediately asked us how we intend to settle our debts before we leave ( we have a 12k personal loan that we took out to renovate our house) and our jaws dropped! Are we legally bound to repay all loans / credit cards before leaving the country?! We have low monthly repayments on our loan and were intending just to continue paying it by transferring lump sums of money into our UK bank account every so often. Our new jobs are paying us both considerably more than we earn at the moment so had no worries about honouring current financial commitments but am now concerned because there is no possible way we have the capital to clear all loans and credit cards before leaving! 

Any advice or experiences would be very much appreciated.


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## lxinuk (Mar 18, 2012)

Mulan said:


> Hi everyone! This is my first ever post! A looking for some good advice. My husband and I will be moving out to Al Ain in August and have started the long process of sorting out our financial commitments at home.
> 
> We went for an account review this morning at our bank and mentioned we were moving abroad. The advisor immediately asked us how we intend to settle our debts before we leave ( we have a 12k personal loan that we took out to renovate our house) and our jaws dropped! Are we legally bound to repay all loans / credit cards before leaving the country?! We have low monthly repayments on our loan and were intending just to continue paying it by transferring lump sums of money into our UK bank account every so often. Our new jobs are paying us both considerably more than we earn at the moment so had no worries about honouring current financial commitments but am now concerned because there is no possible way we have the capital to clear all loans and credit cards before leaving!
> 
> Any advice or experiences would be very much appreciated.


Which country are you leaving and which country are the accounts?

Lx


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## Stevesolar (Dec 21, 2012)

Hi,

Personally, I would not have told my bank that I was going to work abroad - it is not their business!.

Once you get here you will see plenty of money transfer companies that enable you to transfer money to your UK bank accounts very easily.

It just takes a day or two for the money to reach your UK account and then this would be used to pay your usual standing orders and direct debits.

Banks would certainly get nervous if you told them you were emigrating (especially if you dont have any large assets in UK, like a house).
They would be nervous about any unsecured loans and credit cards you have - as once you emigrate, they would have little prospect of getting their money if you defaulted on the payments.

Cheers

Steve


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## lxinuk (Mar 18, 2012)

Steve - who do you use to transfer money home? I've been looking but get overwhelmed and haven't plucked up being calm enough for a conversation. Does Western union transfer to a UK account.

what are the charges like?


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## Stevesolar (Dec 21, 2012)

lxinuk said:


> Steve - who do you use to transfer money home? I've been looking but get overwhelmed and haven't plucked up being calm enough for a conversation. Does Western union transfer to a UK account.
> 
> what are the charges like?


We have used a few - all very similar.
Last one we used was bottom floor of Lamcy Plaza - right hand side by the entrance to the food court.

First time you give them your Emirates ID Card, Mobile number and UK account details - they then keep these on record for subsequent transfers and you only need to give them yuor mobile number.

When you make a transfer of say 10,000 AED to UK pounds they ask whether the 10,000 includes the charges or not.
We say not and then total bill is 10,060 AED. 
Charge is 60 AED (others seem to charge around 40-60 AED but the rate can differ).
Rate this week was £1 = 5.75 AED (much better than late December when it was nearly £1 = 6.00 AED!!).

Cheers

Steve


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## vantage (May 10, 2012)

i told my bank my new address, but i have not told the mortgage bank! - the fixed rate i have is too good! It is also not useable as a buy to let mortgage..... 
I just have all mail forwarded to my brother who scans me the important stuff

If you have an ISA, you can keep it, but not pay any more into it

No idea about CTF - we've kept quiet about moving with them, so we can continue to max out savings for the kids.

Apart from the mortgage, I did clear a personal loan before coming over, though.


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## m1key (Jun 29, 2011)

Whatever you do, don't take a loan out here to pay off the one back home.


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## lxinuk (Mar 18, 2012)

m1key said:


> Whatever you do, don't take a loan out here to pay off the one back home.


Indulge me, why?


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## lxinuk (Mar 18, 2012)

Oh and also previously we lived in HK for 8 years, we cut all ties - bank, mortgage, credit cards, etc....when we went home getting any credit at all (even to support the renting of a house) was nigh on impossible.......no credit record in UK created problems for a couple of years.......won't do that this time! 

We kept our home address as the address for everything,royal mail forward it to my mothers, she emails me anything Important. I swapped all my statements to email/online only.....just 1 loan to complete (but I regularly use my Credit card to buy things online to send to UK addresses as presents ... Keeps my credit record strong...)....


HOpe this helps.
Lx


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## m1key (Jun 29, 2011)

lxinuk said:


> Indulge me, why?


If things go wrong, and lets face it things can go spectacularly wrong here, then having debt you can't pay in the UK is far less a problem than here. Unable to pay debt here = jail. In the UK the worst case scenario is bankruptcy and a ruined credit rating. The banks here don't take a mature approach to dealing with debt. Often they'd rather have you in jail and unable to pay your debt than allow you to reduce payments to a manageable level and eventually pay them back. The reason so many people have fled the country rather than face up to the debt.


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## lxinuk (Mar 18, 2012)

m1key said:


> If things go wrong, and lets face it things can go spectacularly wrong here, then having debt you can't pay in the UK is far less a problem than here. Unable to pay debt here = jail. In the UK the worst case scenario is bankruptcy and a ruined credit rating. The banks here don't take a mature approach to dealing with debt. Often they'd rather have you in jail and unable to pay your debt than allow you to reduce payments to a manageable level and eventually pay them back. The reason so many people have fled the country rather than face up to the debt.


Ah OK .... I wasn't thinking about things going wrong LOL....I was thinking about interest rates!!! 

Lx


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## m1key (Jun 29, 2011)

lxinuk said:


> Ah OK .... I wasn't thinking about things going wrong LOL....I was thinking about interest rates!!!
> 
> Lx


It might cost a bit more transferring money about, but worth it in my opinion. Maybe I'm a doom monger


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## lxinuk (Mar 18, 2012)

Thanks m1key - you made a lot of sense x plus having given it some thought this morning, keeping a credit record in the UK is worth it xx


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## lxinuk (Mar 18, 2012)

Stevesolar said:


> We have used a few - all very similar.
> Last one we used was bottom floor of Lamcy Plaza - right hand side by the entrance to the food court.
> 
> 
> ...


Thanks Steve, once I get my ID card (only been waiting 6 mths!) I'll be sure to give it a try....these are the guys that are in the malls, with an exchange rate board and tellers right? I've seen one up at Arabian Centre in Mizhar so I'll give it a go! Luckily I left enough ££ in the UK to cover 8 mths of payments but that is running out shortly so I need to bite the bullet!

Lx


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## Stevesolar (Dec 21, 2012)

lxinuk said:


> Thanks Steve, once I get my ID card (only been waiting 6 mths!) I'll be sure to give it a try....these are the guys that are in the malls, with an exchange rate board and tellers right? I've seen one up at Arabian Centre in Mizhar so I'll give it a go! Luckily I left enough ££ in the UK to cover 8 mths of payments but that is running out shortly so I need to bite the bullet!
> 
> Lx


Yes - they are exactly the ones we have used.

Have a quick look before you choose the one you use - as the rates do vary, as well as their charges.

We prefer to do quite large transfers to one UK account and then use UK Internet banking to send it to the UK accounts that have the standing orders/direct debits.

As discussed above, we practised a bit of "defensive" banking when we came here - as follows:-

We did not tell our UK bank we were moving abroad - none of their business!

We resisted the urge to open an offshore account with the same bank that we bank with in the UK - keep UK & Dubai finances totally separate. 
This is especially important if things go wrong in either country - as I have heard that UK banks have chased UK debt through Dubai courts on linked accounts.
Bank debt in UAE is potentially jailable - so best to prevent that linking from happening!!!

Kept some loans and cards active in UK to maintain UK creit rating (as stated above by other posters).

Opened accounts with UAE large banks - then do not use them to send money back to the UK (again prevents linking between UK & UAE accounts). In any case it is cheaper, quicker and rates are better through the money sending companies in all the malls.

Hope the above makes sense!!

Cheers

Steve


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## Elphaba (Jan 24, 2008)

Mulan said:


> Hi everyone! This is my first ever post! A looking for some good advice. My husband and I will be moving out to Al Ain in August and have started the long process of sorting out our financial commitments at home.
> 
> We went for an account review this morning at our bank and mentioned we were moving abroad. The advisor immediately asked us how we intend to settle our debts before we leave ( we have a 12k personal loan that we took out to renovate our house) and our jaws dropped! Are we legally bound to repay all loans / credit cards before leaving the country?! We have low monthly repayments on our loan and were intending just to continue paying it by transferring lump sums of money into our UK bank account every so often. Our new jobs are paying us both considerably more than we earn at the moment so had no worries about honouring current financial commitments but am now concerned because there is no possible way we have the capital to clear all loans and credit cards before leaving!
> 
> Any advice or experiences would be very much appreciated.


The only way the bank could insist that the debt was repaid in full would be if you signed a contract that had a clause that stated you would do this if you left the UK.

Having read the posts in this thread, I'd suggest you need to do a little more research about living in the UAE. Take a look at the website in my signature which contains lots of factual info, but particularly the following articles for starters.

Guidance for British Expats – updated May 2012 | Financialuae's Blog

Sharia Law and Your Money | Financialuae's Blog

Want to save money on currency transfers? | Financialuae's Blog


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## Gavtek (Aug 23, 2009)

Apologies for hijacking the thread but does anyone know of any banks in the UK who would let a British passport holder who currently resides in the UAE have a current account (with no credit/overdraft facilities)?

I stupidly told Santander to stick their account where the sun doesn't shine after they refused to waive the monthly penalties they were charging for not having my salary paid into my account any more, and couldn't move me to a different current account because I was no longer a UK resident.

Furthermore, I've just had to cancel my UK American Express card as they've changed their policies and now no longer allow me to pay my monthly bills using a non-UK issued Debit Card.

Every bank I've looked at online seems to offer accounts for UK residents only. Unfortunately, my parents have moved house since I've moved out here so using my old home address is no longer an option, either is getting any household bills under my name using their new address (which is temporary anyway).

If I ever need to move back, it's going to be a major PITA if I don't have anything sorted and may make it difficult to get a visa for the missus if I don't have any liquid funds in the UK.


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## Elphaba (Jan 24, 2008)

Gavtek, why not have an offshore current account? I have one in addition to my UK one. It will works in just the same way.

General note to British posters - it's best to keep UK bank accounts open when you leave as it is nigh on impossible to open one if not a UK resident.


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## ccr (Jun 20, 2010)

Elphaba said:


> ...why not have an offshore current account?


Any advantage for US resident to have offshore account ?


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## m1key (Jun 29, 2011)

ccr said:


> Any advantage for US resident to have offshore account ?


I prefer to keep savings offshore, just in case the proverbial hits the fan in the region and the banks decide not to allow withdrawals on a whim. You just never know here...


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## Mulan (Feb 19, 2013)

Thanks so much everyone for all the info! Feel a lot calmer now knowing that I can just continue to pay my direct debits from my UK account as planned! 

Next job is to sort out what we're going to do with our house! Think we're going to let out two rooms but keep our own room so that we have somewhere to return to and store stuff. Do you think our mortgage company will insist we change to a buy to let mortgage? Or can we just ask permission t have lodgers?


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## Gavtek (Aug 23, 2009)

Elphaba said:


> Gavtek, why not have an offshore current account? I have one in addition to my UK one. It will works in just the same way.
> 
> General note to British posters - it's best to keep UK bank accounts open when you leave as it is nigh on impossible to open one if not a UK resident.


Any recommendation where I get one from that doesn't have restrictive minimum deposits and the like?

I currently have an offshore account with Nationwide (in USD) but it's more of a savings account (no debit card, have to pre-nominate beneficiary accounts before you can transfer money to them, etc).


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## Guest (Feb 20, 2013)

m1key said:


> If things go wrong, and lets face it things can go spectacularly wrong here, then having debt you can't pay in the UK is far less a problem than here. Unable to pay debt here = jail. In the UK the worst case scenario is bankruptcy and a ruined credit rating. The banks here don't take a mature approach to dealing with debt. Often they'd rather have you in jail and unable to pay your debt than allow you to reduce payments to a manageable level and eventually pay them back. The reason so many people have fled the country rather than face up to the debt.


And how are they gonna do that if I am already in another country? If I move to another country and never come back?


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## Guest (Feb 20, 2013)

Mulan said:


> Thanks so much everyone for all the info! Feel a lot calmer now knowing that I can just continue to pay my direct debits from my UK account as planned!


I have a student loan in Netherlands, car loan in Turkey, personal loan in the US. And I just send money to the accounts from my Emirates NBD account monthly, that is all. 50-60 AED cost is nothing to worry about in a month. 

So you definitely don't need to pay 12k before moving here.


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## Elphaba (Jan 24, 2008)

Mulan said:


> Thanks so much everyone for all the info! Feel a lot calmer now knowing that I can just continue to pay my direct debits from my UK account as planned!
> 
> Next job is to sort out what we're going to do with our house! Think we're going to let out two rooms but keep our own room so that we have somewhere to return to and store stuff. Do you think our mortgage company will insist we change to a buy to let mortgage? Or can we just ask permission t have lodgers?


Legally you have to have the lender's permission to rent out your property. There will be a clause to that effect in the mortgage agreement. Different lenders have different procedures so you will need to ask them. You will also need to have appropriate insurance.


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## Elphaba (Jan 24, 2008)

nathanalgren said:


> And how are they gonna do that if I am already in another country? If I move to another country and never come back?


That's assuming you get as far as leaving. Leaving a country doesn't mean you aren't liable for a debt and won't be chased for it.


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## saraswat (Apr 28, 2012)

One word: Interpol......


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## Elphaba (Jan 24, 2008)

Gavtek said:


> Any recommendation where I get one from that doesn't have restrictive minimum deposits and the like?
> 
> I currently have an offshore account with Nationwide (in USD) but it's more of a savings account (no debit card, have to pre-nominate beneficiary accounts before you can transfer money to them, etc).


Have you asked Nationawide about having a different sort of account with them?

I can refer but depends on what exactly you want. A personal topic, so do you want to drop me an email?


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## Guest (Feb 20, 2013)

Elphaba said:


> That's assuming you get as far as leaving. Leaving a country doesn't mean you aren't liable for a debt and won't be chased for it.


Of course not, there are many debt collector companies specialized in this. However I don't think in any case they can bring you back to UAE and put you in jail


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## Elphaba (Jan 24, 2008)

nathanalgren said:


> Of course not, there are many debt collector companies specialized in this. However I don't think in any case they can bring you back to UAE and put you in jail


No, but you're likely to have to repay (& you should too). Not everyone can just do an overnight flit either.

You also wouldn't want to transit through the UAE, or have any chance of having to land here with outstanding debts. That's another way some people have ended up in jail.


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## m1key (Jun 29, 2011)

nathanalgren said:


> And how are they gonna do that if I am already in another country? If I move to another country and never come back?


If the bank tries to cash your security cheque before you run away.

If a future flight you are on diverts to Dubai.

If in future your dream and very very well paid job involves being in/going to UAE.

Aside from the morality of just doing a runner, there are a whole raft of ways it can come back and bite you in the backside. At least in the UK you have various options to deal with debt that are less onerous and importantly legal. It makes no sense to move debt here if you don't have to.


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