A UAE resident has become something of an unexpected hero for a group of undocumented workers after she took it upon herself to help them break away from an employer.
British expat Jessica Madi often booked the domestic services of one of the workers, 36-year-old Noresil (full name withheld on request), on an hourly basis from a leading cleaning agency in the UAE. But when the Filipina arrived at Jessica’s home on April 9, limping due to a foot injury, it sparked a series of events that have given Noresil and others hope in an otherwise difficult situation.
“I asked if she had seen a doctor,” recalled Jessica, 30. “She told me she couldn’t afford to take a day off or visit a clinic; she had no health insurance because she didn’t have a valid work visa. I was surprised, as working in the UAE without a permit is illegal.”
They sat down and dialled Noresil’s employer, N.E. (full name withheld), who “screamed at the worker and threw insults at her”, according to Jessica, who overheard the conversation. When she intervened, he claimed Noresil’s visa was “under process”. However, the Filipina said she’d been working for him for over four months. In the UAE, employment visas are usually processed within a week.
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Jessica raised a complaint with Justlife, the platform she used to book the service. “I got a call back within 10 minutes, and they said Noresil wasn’t their employee but was outsourced,” Jessica said. “I booked the service through them, not an unknown agency they outsource from, so I expected them to have conducted due diligence.”
Confiscated passports
Noresil had originally arrived in the UAE from the Philippines in 2022. She worked as a housemaid in Al Ain for two years and, when her contract expired, re-entered the country on a visit visa while continuing her job search.
It was during this time that N.E. offered Noresil a job while she was on visit visa. She began working in December as a domestic worker with a monthly salary of Dh2,000. “He took my passport after promising a job; I was never really given a choice,” Noresil said. When Jessica asked Noresil why she was still working for her employer, Noresil told her that N.E. was holding her passport and “unwilling to hand it over”.
To resolve matters, Jessica took Noresil to the Al Barsha Police Station to report the conditions of her employment and passport confiscation. The police instructed them to head to N.E.’s office and call for patrol assistance. By the time they arrived at the Satwa apartment, seven more undocumented workers — who said they had all been employed similarly by N.E. without proper visas — joined them, hoping to get their passports back.
Khaleej Times spoke to the property manager of the building, who confirmed that a Dubai Police patrol officer had responded to the women’s call and worked with the apartment owner to compel N.E. to return the passports, which he finally handed over to building security. Yet, over WhatsApp voice messages — which Khaleej Times obtained — N.E. continued to threaten and intimidate the workers, warning them of retribution.
Overstay fines totalling Dh81,450
Despite the victory of helping the workers obtain their passports, Jessica decided her work was not done. She reached out to members of the British expat community online to help revise the CVs of the eight workers and enrol some of them in childcare training. The Dubai resident invited them to her home, gathered their details, and calculated their outstanding visa fines.
The eight of them face a total of Dh81,450 in fines for overstaying. “I am working with lawyers to get their fines waived. We have compiled a case, and hope officials will recognise it as a humanitarian issue. They are the victims and were trapped in an exploitative environment,” she asserted.
Khaleej Times’ email queries to N.E. went unanswered. However, over the phone, he distanced himself from the maid agency that employed the maids and claimed to have severed ties with them. It is worth noting that the company’s trade licence, a copy of which has been obtained, lists N.E.’s name in the address.
When asked why he had confiscated the cleaners’ passports, N.E. claimed that the company was trying to secure new visas, which were under process, and that some of them had already incurred fines for overstaying. According to the workers’ passports, several were already working for him when the UAE launched the 2024 Amnesty programme for illegal expats with fines. N.E. declined to continue the conversation without his lawyer present.
Lost amnesty chance
Bangladeshi nationals Alamgir and Tushar were two of the other workers who claim they were hired by N.E. on September 9, 2024, with promises of work visas and employment.
Alamgir’s work visa expired in August 2024, and he incurred a month’s worth of fines for overstaying. “N.E. assured me he would fix everything and we trusted him. He took us to offices, collected our fingerprints, and even took us to Tasheel,” Alamgir said. During UAE’s amnesty programme, they requested N.E. to help them regularise their visa as he held their passports.
However, both Alamgir and Tushar say N.E. kept stalling throughout the two-month Amnesty period. They claim that on the last day before the October deadline, he secured an exit pass from Sharjah that would have allowed them to leave UAE without paying fines. But he withheld the documents, which expired after 14 days. “I now have more than Dh12,000 fine and no proper employment,” Alamgir said.
Tushar, who arrived on a visit visa in March 2023, was working odd jobs when he joined N.E. “He kept promising a visa but never delivered. We missed the amnesty as well. If I knew he wouldn’t help, I would’ve handled it myself and returned home. No one wants to live illegally,” said Tushar, who now faces Dh33,000 in fines.
Justlife suspends partner agency
Responding to an inquiry from Khaleej Times, Justlife stated that it had conducted an internal review of Jessica’s booking and examined the partner agency’s employment practices.
It noted that agencies listed on their platform must hold a valid UAE trade licence and sign an agreement. “That agreement obliges the agency to ensure that each professional it deploys [to customers] is a legal resident with a current employment visa and Emirates ID; all documents must be uploaded to the platform before the first booking and renewed within thirty days of expiry, failing which the professional is suspended from further work.”
However, in Noresil’s case, it appears that those measures were not enforced. In response to a followup inquiry from Khaleej Times concerning the enforcement of those measures in Noresil’s case, Justlife said it had taken “an immediate and precautionary step, and the partner agency was suspended from their platform”. It added that it also gave the partner agency a “documented remediation path to address the issues identified”, and told them that “failure to remedy these would result in permanent suspension”.
At the time of filing this report, Khaleej Times was unable to verify the “documented remediation path” mentioned. Justlife has emphasised that it operates only as a marketplace, adding that while Noresil was “not directly employed” by the company, it is “highly sensitive to the fact that customers place their trust in the Justlife name, and that trust is something we take seriously.”
The company highlighted measures it has implemented to support workers’ welfare, including a confidential escalation channel, a direct-to-professional incentive, and tip disbursement via prepaid cards.
Separately, Justlife assured Jessica that it would carry out internal audits of all 3,900 employees registered under the platform to address any oversights.
The company added that it is “strengthening [its] oversight processes across the wider partner network to confirm continued compliance with UAE labour standards.”
What the labour law says
According to Hossam Zakaria, a senior legal counsel in Dubai specialising in complex corporate litigation, companies that hire workers through third parties should conduct due diligence before bringing workers into residents’ homes. According to UAE domestic worker laws, companies must verify that workers have valid work permits and proper documentation.
“When a company uses domestic workers without proper documentation, they can face significant legal consequences. Under Federal Decree-Law No. 9 of 2022 Concerning Domestic Workers, recruitment agencies are considered employers in cases of temporary employment and are responsible for ensuring workers have proper documentation and legal status,” Zakaria said.
He added, “UAE law explicitly prohibits the exploitation of workers, including passport confiscation, failure to provide proper visas, and non-payment of salaries. These practices are illegal under UAE law and can lead to severe penalties.”
Passport confiscation is explicitly prohibited and deemed illegal in the UAE. Consequences for violators can include imprisonment as well as fines up to Dh20,000.
Getting relief from overstay fines
In 2022, the UAE introduced a daily fine of Dh50 for overstaying on all visa types, including tourist, visit, and residency visas. This fine applies from the first day after the visa expires, with no grace period. For domestic workers who have been forced to work without valid visas, there are potential ways to get relief from overstay fines.
According to Zakaria, “Courts may waive fines in cases where exploitation is proven. The newly established prosecution unit for domestic workers can advocate for victims’ rights. However, each case is assessed individually, and there’s no automatic waiver of overstay fines, even for victims of exploitation.”
He added that “authorities generally encourage overstayers to come forward voluntarily, as this often results in more lenient treatment.”
Currently, Jessica is trying to get the workers’ fines waived by the immigration department, but says she is struggling. She’s also looking to start her own cleaning company to employ these workers ethically and allow them to live legally in the UAE.
“Without having their fines waived and their legal status regularised, I cannot employ them,” Jessica said. “This forces them to remain in the country illegally and pushes them back into the same cycle of working without a valid permit and inevitably breaking the law.”
Ajanta Paul
Ajanta Paul is a Senior Editor on the Digital team. A natural leader and newshound, she thrives in b…More
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