Guide · updated 31.07.2026 · 12 min read · Lucent Legal team

How to Check a Criminal Case in the UAE by Passport Number or Emirates ID

People search "UAE police case inquiry by passport number" in one of two situations: either you're about to travel and want to be safe, or someone's hinted that "there's something on you" and you no longer have Emirates ID access — passport lost, visa expired, or you were never a resident in the first place. The short honest answer to the main question: there is no official UAE service that looks up a criminal case strictly by your passport number. That doesn't mean a check is impossible — it just has to go through a different route, laid out step by step below.

Why you can't just check "by passport"

Every official UAE system — police and courts alike — is built around Emirates ID and the unified number (UID), issued by ICP (the Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs and Port Security) when a visa or residency is processed. Your passport number was never wired in as a standalone search key. Sites promising a check "by passport number alone, online" are not official government resources — they're either intermediaries or law-firm marketing pages, and handing them your personal data is a real risk.

If you have your passport and visa details but no physical Emirates ID card on hand, the sensible first move is recovering your UID through ICP or GDRFA (Unified Number Inquiry), then using that to run the actual case check. That's a separate technical step — "find the number" — not the case check itself; it's covered in detail in how to check a travel ban by Emirates ID.

Step 1: Dubai Police — if the case could have been opened in Dubai

The main free channel is the "Criminal Status of Financial Cases" service:

1. Open dubaipolice.gov.ae (individual services section) or the Dubai Police app.
2. Enter your Emirates ID number.
3. Confirm with the SMS code sent to the phone linked to your Emirates ID.
4. Get the status: no case found, case under review, referred to prosecution, or referred to court.

The service is free, needs no registration, gives an instant result, and covers only cases registered in Dubai — mostly financial ones. For a full breakdown of case stages and what each status means, see how to check a case in the UAE.

Step 2: Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Ajman, RAK, Fujairah — their own channels

There's no single database covering all seven emirates. Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Ras Al Khaimah each run independent judicial systems; Sharjah, Ajman, Fujairah, and Umm Al Quwain courts fall under the federal system (Ministry of Justice) — but police in every emirate still keep their own case records.

• Abu Dhabi — the Estafser service from the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department (ADJD): login via UAE Pass, search by unified number (UID), not Emirates ID card. Full step-by-step walkthrough in how to check a case in the UAE.
• Sharjah — the sjd.ae judicial platform (Sharjah Judiciary Platform) and the eLitigation portal (ejustice.sjd.ae): tracks cases filed in court and Public Prosecution matters. Police-stage cases not yet referred to court need a direct check with Sharjah Police.
• Ajman — Ajman Police's "Case Status Inquiries" via the Department of Digital Ajman portal (ajman.ae): free, but it needs a report number, not Emirates ID — useful only once you already know the case number.
• Ras Al Khaimah — RAK Courts (courts.rak.ae): the emirate has its own independent judicial system, with an online check for issued rulings and a separate "Case Inquiry" service through the RAK Public Prosecution Department.
• Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain — no public online case-check service could be found; the practical route is a call or in-person visit to the local police station or the Ministry of Justice office covering these emirates' federal courts.

Bottom line: if you don't know exactly which emirate a case might have been opened in, no single check covers everything — you'll need to go through the channels of whichever emirate (or emirates) you lived, worked, or did business in.

Step 3: Call or show up in person

If the online check gives no result, verification fails, or you'd just rather confirm the status with an actual person:

• Dubai Police, 901 — a 24/7 contact centre, not just for emergencies; it reportedly handles dozens of different services, including case-status queries.
• Federal Ministry of Interior, 800 5000 — a general hotline, useful if the case might be outside Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
• Ministry of Justice, 800 333 333 — the federal courts line (relevant for Sharjah, Ajman, Fujairah, Umm Al Quwain).
• In-person visit to the nearest police station or an Amer/Tas-heel-type service centre — staff can check status using your passport and other ID on the spot, no SMS verification needed.

Calling or visiting in person is especially worth it if the phone linked to your Emirates ID is unreachable (lost, deactivated after leaving the UAE) — in that case the SMS code for the online check simply won't arrive.

Step 4: Through a lawyer with power of attorney — if you're abroad

If you've already left the UAE and can't show up at a station in person, a remote self-check is heavily limited without Emirates ID or portal access — the realistic route is a power of attorney (POA) for a lawyer in the UAE. They file the official request, get access to the case file, find out the real status from the court or prosecution clerk, and represent you at hearings if needed.

You can set up a POA without traveling to the country: some UAE law firms offer remote e-notarization — a draft is agreed by email, translated into Arabic, identity is confirmed by video call or recording, and the finished POA is emailed to you. A valid passport is usually enough for this; Emirates ID isn't required. If the POA is instead notarised in your home country, it typically needs additional legalisation (apostille or consular attestation) and translation before it's usable in the UAE.

If you're a foreigner with no Emirates ID at all

The most awkward version of this: you were never a UAE resident (tourist, transit visit, business trip on a visa with no residency after) but suspect a case may exist anyway — say, after a business partner's complaint, a rental dispute, or an incident on entry.

• There's no direct online access here — every service listed above is tied to a resident's Emirates ID/UID.
• Your practical options: an in-person visit (passport in hand) to the police station in the emirate where the incident may have happened, or a POA for a UAE lawyer to file the request with the prosecution or court directly on your behalf.
• If a detention or case has already become real rather than a suspicion, see arrested in the UAE: what to do for what to do in the first hours and how consular contact works.
• If a case is confirmed and the question is whether it can be closed by settlement or payment, that's covered separately in how to close a criminal case in the UAE.

When you actually need a lawyer

A self-check is enough just to find out whether a case exists, as long as you have Emirates ID/UID and a working phone for SMS. You need a lawyer if: you're abroad and your phone/EID are unreachable; the case could be in more than one emirate; different services gave conflicting results; it's a criminal case already referred to prosecution or court; or you have no Emirates ID and never did. We don't promise — and can't promise — a timeline or outcome for any check; it depends heavily on the specific emirate, agency, and case stage. In borderline cases, a lawyer is a more reliable source than an intermediary website.

This material is for information only and is not legal advice. UAE law changes — a lawyer will assess how it applies to your situation.