Guide · updated 16.10.2026 · 14 min read · Lucent Legal team

A relative arrested in the UAE: how to find them, send money and items, and visit

After an arrest, police hold the person at the station that booked them. If they stay in custody for a long time, they may move to the emirate's central prison. The family has to find them, hire a lawyer and get money to them, and the rules differ from one emirate to the next. This guide sets out what official sources confirm and flags what you'll need to check on the spot.

The first day: what to find out

Collect four things first. Neither a lawyer nor a consulate can move fast without them.

1. Where they're held. The emirate and, if you know it, the police station. A call from the detainee, their friends or their employer often answers this.
2. Their details. Full name in Latin script as in the passport, passport number, and Emirates ID or unified number (UID) if they're a resident.
3. The reason for the arrest, even in general terms: a car accident, a cheque, a fight, drugs, a fraud complaint. It decides who rules on release and which visit rules apply.
4. The case number, if anyone has given it. A lawyer finds the file at the prosecution faster with it.

The clock runs against the family: police have 48 hours to hand the case over, and the prosecution has 24 more. Every deadline in the process, with article numbers, is in the table in arrested in the UAE: the first 48 hours.

How to find where someone is held

There's no public register of detainees. These channels work:

• The emirate's police. In Dubai, call Dubai Police on 901 (non-emergency) or use the Dubai Police app. The Dubai Police service catalogue lists pages for detainee inquiries and family visits. Their terms didn't load when we checked, so ask on 901 or at the station what a relative without an Emirates ID can get from them.
• The prosecution. The British consulate lists +971 4 334 6666 for case status at Dubai Public Prosecution. With an Emirates ID you can also check online: see Dubai Police case status.
• The consulate. Under Article 36 of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, the authorities notify the consulate if the detainee asks them to. A relative can give the consulate the detainee's details and ask it to find out where they are. Use contacts from official sites only: for Russian citizens, dubai.mid.ru and uae.mid.ru.
• A lawyer. A UAE-licensed advocate gets case information from the prosecution faster than anyone else and can attend questioning.

If the person has been in custody for a while, they may have moved from the station to the central prison. In Dubai, that's the central prison in Al Awir (Dubai Central Prison). In Abu Dhabi, the British consulate lists three: Al Wathba (central prison), Al Sadr (federal prison) and Al Ain prison.

The lawyer: what they can do and how you hire one

There's no free defence lawyer in an ordinary case. A court appoints one if the charge carries the death penalty or life imprisonment, or for national security and drug-supply cases in the Federal Court (British consulate). Otherwise the family hires and pays the lawyer.

What Law No. 38/2022 gives the lawyer:

• to attend questioning at the prosecution and read the investigation file, unless the prosecutor rules otherwise in the interest of the investigation (Art. 98);
• to speak to the client in private at any time, even under a no-contact order (Art. 106);
• to ask for release on bail, on a personal guarantee or with a travel ban (Art. 109);
• to challenge a custody extension ordered in the accused's absence within 3 days (Art. 107(3)).

How a detained client signs a power of attorney depends on the facility and the stage of the case. Ask the lawyer: they'll know how it works at that station or prison. Agree the fee and scope in writing first. The British consulate warns that lawyers usually ask for payment upfront.

Visits

The rules depend on the stage of the case and the emirate. Here's what's confirmed.

Remand prisoners (before the verdict). Every visitor needs permission from the prosecution. The British consulate suggests going to the prosecutor the week before the visit you want.

Sentenced prisoners. Close family can visit once the sentence is passed. Other visitors need the prosecutor's permission. The authorities can change the procedure without notice.

Dubai. Most visits are booked in the Dubai Police app. For a prisoner held on drugs charges, close relatives arrange the visit in person at the police station or the Central Jail, and only on Wednesdays (British consulate). Dubai Police also runs remote video visits: you request one in the app and get a link and time by SMS. If you're outside the UAE, ask about a video visit first.

Other emirates. The Ministry of Interior runs a service for organising visits for inmates' relatives, lawyers and embassies, through the MOI app, website and service centres. In Abu Dhabi, video visits to Al Wathba and Al Ain are booked in the TAMM app and take place at a police station. The British consulate says visitors can go to Al Sadr on a weekday, usually 9am to noon.

Bring ID: visitors get checked. Visits usually happen behind glass with a guard nearby. Hours change during Ramadan, and men and women visit on different days. A visit can be cancelled or cut short at the last minute.

Deliveries: what you can and can't bring

Stations and prisons have different rules.

• At a police station, set days exist for bringing clothes. Stations also accept money.
• At a prison, visitors can normally leave only cash, deposited for safekeeping (amanat). Books may be allowed with prior permission. Not every prison accepts clothes, so check with yours.
• Toiletries aren't accepted at stations or prisons. The prisoner buys them in the prison shop.
• Post doesn't get through. Hand letters over during a visit or leave them at the prison. The prison checks mail and can hold it back.
• Medicine doesn't go in as a delivery. The detainee should report any condition straight away and ask for a medic. A consulate can help pass medical records to the prison doctor.

Money: the prisoner's account and limits

Every prisoner has an internal amanat account. It holds the cash they had on arrest and whatever family sends. They use it in the prison shop for phone cards, water, food and toiletries.

How to get money to them:

• Cash in person at the police station, Dubai Central Prison or Al Wathba. The British consulate gives a limit of AED 500 a week per family member, AED 1,000 a week in total. Check the drop-off day first.
• Through a bank in Dubai. Since 2021, Dubai Police and Emirates NBD have accepted deposits into the correctional facility's account at bank branches, quoting the prisoner's name and number. Check with the bank or Dubai Police how this works today.
• Through the MOI app in emirates where the Interior Ministry runs the facilities. Al Sadr in Abu Dhabi, which takes no cash, works this way, as do Ajman's facilities. You need the prisoner's details and unified number.

Don't hand money to intermediaries who promise to "sort it out". Pay bail, fines and fees only through official channels (the prosecution, the court or the facility) and keep the receipt.

Bail and guarantors

The prosecutor decides on bail, and once the case reaches court, the court decides (Arts. 108–109). Bail takes three forms: a personal guarantee, a cash bond or a travel ban. The accused or any third person deposits the money with the court treasury (Art. 110). If the accused breaks the conditions, the bond goes to the state with no separate ruling. If the case is dropped or ends in acquittal, the full amount comes back (Art. 111).

A passport often stands in for cash: the accused's or the guarantor's. A guarantor can hold any nationality but usually needs valid UAE residency. If the accused fails to appear, the guarantor may have to pay a fine or end up in custody (British consulate). More in bail in the UAE.

Calls and contact

Prisoners call with phone cards from the prison shop. The numbers they can call go on a registered list, and changes go through the prison. In Dubai, call times usually need clearing with the prison. International calls don't always connect, so a UAE number the detainee can reach helps. Detainees generally don't get access to their mobile phones.

After the verdict: fines, deportation, the flight

• Fines in the sentence get paid before release. Unpaid, they turn into extra days in prison: AED 100 per day, according to the British consulate. A debt owed to a private party can't be served off this way, and the person stays until it's paid.
• Deportation. A foreigner sentenced to prison for a felony gets deported by law; for a misdemeanour, the court decides (Art. 126 of Federal Decree-Law No. 31/2021). See deportation from the UAE.
• The flight. The person or their family pays for the ticket and delivers it to the prison a couple of working days before release. Without a ticket, the person stays in prison until the authorities arrange deportation, which can take a long time.
• Pardons. Release decrees come out before Ramadan, Eid Al Adha and National Day. How lists get drawn up and how to file a request: pardons in the UAE.

What not to do

• Don't pay anyone for a release "through connections". No lawful route exists outside the procedure.
• Don't pressure the victim. Settlement is possible under some articles, but it goes through the prosecution or the court: see closing a criminal case.
• Don't post accusations against the victim or the police on social media. That can open a separate defamation case: see defamation in the UAE.
• Don't treat the consulate as a lawyer. Consular staff follow the case but don't defend anyone in court.

What isn't officially confirmed

Official websites don't publish the exact list of permitted items, delivery days or visiting hours for each station or prison. The British consulate says outright that the authorities change procedures without notice. Check these details with the facility or the lawyer before each visit.

When you need a lawyer

Right away, if your relative stays in custody after questioning at the prosecution. Especially when:

• custody has been extended beyond the first 7 days;
• the family lives abroad and can't go to the prosecution for permissions;
• the case involves drugs or a felony charge;
• a guarantor or bail is needed and the terms are unclear.

Lucent Legal is a management consultancy (DET licence No. 1192929). We find out what stage the case is at, explain the procedure to the family in Russian or English, and prepare documents. At the prosecution and in court, a partner advocate licensed in the UAE represents the detainee. Nobody can guarantee a release or an outcome, and neither do we. More topics in UAE criminal law.

Topic: UAE Criminal Law 2026

Get a lawyer's help: Criminal lawyer

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