Banking and payments in Dubai: an account within two working days, and the cheque that is still a contract

You open a bank account in Dubai with your Emirates ID and your residence visa, and the central bank requires the bank to do so within two full working days. That is faster than many people expect. What disappoints are two other things: many accounts have a minimum balance below which you pay a monthly fee, and rent here is still paid with cheques. Since 2022 a cheque without cover is no longer a crime, but the holder can have it collected directly through the execution judge. So write a cheque as if it were a contract.

What do you need to open an account?

The government portal lists as the usual documents:

• your Emirates ID;
• a valid residence visa;
• your passport;
• a salary certificate or employment letter;
• sometimes proof of your address.

If you work as a self-employed person, the bank also asks for your trade licence and the company documents. Many banks let you apply online or through their app, and some do the identity check in the app itself.

That fixes the order. No Emirates ID and visa, no account, and no account, no salary: your employer must pay through the Wage Protection System, via a bank or another authorised institution, and the pay for the previous month is due on the first of the month. How you get that Emirates ID is explained in the Emirates ID.

What rights do you have at the bank?

The central bank's consumer rules are more concrete than you might expect.

Rule	Deadline or requirement
Opening an account	within 2 full working days of the application, except during financial crime checks
Refusal	immediately in writing, stating that you can complain to the central bank
Minimum balance	the bank must say in advance whether one applies and what it costs if you drop below it
Fees	all fees disclosed in advance, and the cheapest option shown
Closing or switching	free of charge, from 6 months after opening
Closing an account	completed within 7 working days of your request
Complaint	acknowledgement within 2 working days, final answer within 30 working days

The minimum balance deserves attention. The government portal says many banks apply one and that below that amount you may pay a monthly fee. The central bank also asks banks to offer accounts with low minimum requirements for salary and balance. Ask for that variant when opening, and do not let yourself be talked into an account that only pays off at a balance you will not have in the first months, with the deposit and the year's rent in cheques coming up.

Every account has its own IBAN; since 2012 it has been compulsory for all electronic payments within and outside the Emirates.

How do cheques work?

Rent in Dubai is often paid in advance with dated cheques; how that works is explained in renting in Dubai. What you need to know is what happens if such a cheque is not covered.

Since 2 January 2022, writing a cheque without sufficient funds is no longer a criminal offence. But the law has put something else in its place. The bank must pay a cheque partially if there is too little in the account, unless the holder refuses. And the uncovered cheque is an enforceable instrument: the holder goes straight to the execution judge, without a police report and without a court case.

What remains a crime is fraudulent use: asking the bank not to pay a cheque before its due date without a lawful reason, closing or emptying your account before the cheque is presented, or signing a cheque in such a way that it cannot be cashed. Whoever is convicted can lose their chequebook and be refused a new one for up to five years.

Do not close your account with cheques outstanding. Whoever leaves Dubai or changes bank while rent cheques are still out falls into exactly one of the cases that have remained criminal. First have every outstanding cheque cashed or replaced by a payment the landlord confirms in writing.

What do you keep in the Netherlands?

Your Dutch account, for everything the Netherlands keeps paying you or debiting. Just do not count on it blindly: the European right to a basic payment account applies to those who live legally in an EU country, and the Emirates lie outside it. So ask before departure what your bank does with customers who live there; how to arrange that is explained in keeping a bank account and DigiD.

In Vertrekklaar this is phase 5 of 5 of the journey, step 5.3: the same steps, but for your situation — in your order, tickable, and with the deadlines watched. See the whole journey to Dubai or go straight to step 5.3 in the open plan.