How to end your UAE or Qatar debt nightmare

Irresponsible lending

Every expat knows the story. On any given workday you may receive upwards of five calls from loan and card agents aggressively trying to sell you credit. Westerners are used to banks being cautious when given loans and cards but this is not the case in the Middle East. The highest risk countries are currently the UAE and Qatar.

The UAE has a different approach to lending. If you will accept the loan, then they will give it to you. Minimal questions are asked, and even less checks as to your ability to make the payments are made. They don’t need to lend responsibly because they can literally throw you in jail for an unlimited time for missing payments. Even those not jailed are given a travel ban, meaning they can never leave Dubai until the debt is paid in full. Paradoxically, they are not allowed to work in the UAE, because of the police case for the debt. If they can’t work, then how can they pay their debt?