Moving on
Jan 8th 2017, 5:22 am
#16
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Jan 2015
Posts: 3,520
Re: Moving on
FYI for anyone else planning to leave.
I'm in Dubai this week and the first thing I did this morning was to go to Emirates NBD to formally close down the bank accounts.
This is what I learned:
They will not start the process of closing down your bank account until your credit card has been cancelled. Despite that my card has no balance, it will still take 45 working days to cancel the card. Yes, you read this correctly. Not four-five working days but 45 working days.
Once the card is formally cancelled, then they will close down the bank account and that takes three working days. When I asked what to do given that I wouldn't be in the country two and a half months from now, they said to send a letter of request along with some form (which they gave to me) to the home branch (the branch where you started the account) along with a copy of your passport page.
I was, of course, a bit pissy about it. Especially when I learned that the bank will charge me 25 AED for each month the account is under balance (I currently have 300 AED in the account and the min balance is 5,000 AED).
On the bright side, it's another excuse to pop over to Dubai from Doha to make sure the accounts are formally closed and all that
I'm in Dubai this week and the first thing I did this morning was to go to Emirates NBD to formally close down the bank accounts.
This is what I learned:
They will not start the process of closing down your bank account until your credit card has been cancelled. Despite that my card has no balance, it will still take 45 working days to cancel the card. Yes, you read this correctly. Not four-five working days but 45 working days.
Once the card is formally cancelled, then they will close down the bank account and that takes three working days. When I asked what to do given that I wouldn't be in the country two and a half months from now, they said to send a letter of request along with some form (which they gave to me) to the home branch (the branch where you started the account) along with a copy of your passport page.
I was, of course, a bit pissy about it. Especially when I learned that the bank will charge me 25 AED for each month the account is under balance (I currently have 300 AED in the account and the min balance is 5,000 AED).
On the bright side, it's another excuse to pop over to Dubai from Doha to make sure the accounts are formally closed and all that
Jan 8th 2017, 5:26 am
#17
Forum Regular
Thread Starter
Joined: Dec 2013
Location: Doha
Posts: 135
Re: Moving on
FYI for anyone else planning to leave.
I'm in Dubai this week and the first thing I did this morning was to go to Emirates NBD to formally close down the bank accounts.
This is what I learned:
They will not start the process of closing down your bank account until your credit card has been cancelled. Despite that my card has no balance, it will still take 45 working days to cancel the card. Yes, you read this correctly. Not four-five working days but 45 working days.
Once the card is formally cancelled, then they will close down the bank account and that takes three working days. When I asked what to do given that I wouldn't be in the country two and a half months from now, they said to send a letter of request along with some form (which they gave to me) to the home branch (the branch where you started the account) along with a copy of your passport page.
I was, of course, a bit pissy about it. Especially when I learned that the bank will charge me 25 AED for each month the account is under balance (I currently have 300 AED in the account and the min balance is 5,000 AED).
On the bright side, it's another excuse to pop over to Dubai from Doha to make sure the accounts are formally closed and all that
I'm in Dubai this week and the first thing I did this morning was to go to Emirates NBD to formally close down the bank accounts.
This is what I learned:
They will not start the process of closing down your bank account until your credit card has been cancelled. Despite that my card has no balance, it will still take 45 working days to cancel the card. Yes, you read this correctly. Not four-five working days but 45 working days.
Once the card is formally cancelled, then they will close down the bank account and that takes three working days. When I asked what to do given that I wouldn't be in the country two and a half months from now, they said to send a letter of request along with some form (which they gave to me) to the home branch (the branch where you started the account) along with a copy of your passport page.
I was, of course, a bit pissy about it. Especially when I learned that the bank will charge me 25 AED for each month the account is under balance (I currently have 300 AED in the account and the min balance is 5,000 AED).
On the bright side, it's another excuse to pop over to Dubai from Doha to make sure the accounts are formally closed and all that
Jan 8th 2017, 7:11 am
#18
Bored liberal
Joined: Feb 2007
Location: Over there ----->
Posts: 13,713
Re: Moving on
Leaving the UAE can indeed be complicated. A guide to all you need to do to leave Dubai is here: https://financialuae.me/2016/04/11/n...leaving-dubai/
It's been a very popular article.
It's been a very popular article.
Jan 8th 2017, 3:17 pm
#20
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Nov 2012
Location: bute
Posts: 9,740
Re: Moving on
The 45-day notice for credit cards applies in Saudi too. I got caught with the when leaving a job there in 2002. They refused to give me clearance unless I deposited SAR25,000 with them. They said I could have run up debts, by using the card in places where payment was still reconciled manually rather than electronically. I paid the deposit, and left KSA but had problems getting my deposit back. Got it back in the end after I send my pals the heavies around to the Arab National Bank in downtown Jeddah.
