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Family Law
Custody Passport in the UAE: With Father or Mother?
A child's passport in the UAE stays with the father as the child's guardian, and is handed to the custodial mother when the child travels. That is the basic rule under the current Personal Status Law, but it has an important exception: if the father obstinately refuses to hand over the passport when it is needed, the court may order that it be kept with the custodian. As for the child's Emirates ID, birth certificate and other identity documents, the law gives the custodian the right to keep them.
The danger is that, after a divorce, the child's passport turns into a pressure card between the parents: a mother prevented from travelling with her child for treatment or a holiday, or a father who discovers that his child has left the country without his knowledge. That is why AWADH ALMHEIRI LAW FIRM AND LEGAL CONSULTATIONS studies each family's situation before any application and identifies the fastest route to obtain the passport or to protect it.
This article is part of the series Personal Status, Family and Inheritance in the UAE, and answers one question: is the child's passport kept by the father or the mother after divorce, and how do you obtain a court order for the delivery of the passport?
Child's Passport After Divorce: With the Father or the Mother?
Under the Personal Status Law, the guardian may keep the child's passport, and the passport is handed to the custodian when the child travels. The guardian of the person is usually the father, and the custodian is usually the mother. So on ordinary days the passport is with the father, and for authorised travel it passes to the mother.
The court may also order that the passport be kept in the custodian's hands if it finds that the guardian is obstinate in handing it over to her when needed. At that point the rule changes, and the passport stays with the mother by court order rather than by agreement.
Rely on the law currently in force
The Personal Status Law in force today is Federal Decree-Law No. 41 of 2024, applicable since April 2025, which replaced the law issued in 2005. The new law kept the passport rule in substance, but its article numbers have changed, and it contains detailed provisions on the child's identity documents and on travelling with the child. Any application to the court should therefore be built on the text of the law in force, not on the provisions of the previous law.
The Child's Emirates ID and Birth Certificate: Who Keeps Them?
Under the Personal Status Law, the custodian may keep the original birth certificate and any other identity documents of the child, or a certified copy of them, and may keep the child's identity card. The difference is clear: the passport goes to the guardian, while the ID and birth certificate go to the custodian.
This right comes with conditions. The custodian may not use the identity documents to travel without the permission of the guardian or the court, nor use them in a way that harms the guardian or goes against the child's interest. If she does, the guardian may request the documents, and they are returned to her only with the court's permission.
Order for Delivery of the Passport: When and How the Mother Applies
If the mother needs the passport and the father refuses to hand it over, her route is an application to the court, not an argument at home. Under the Personal Status Law, where the court's permission is required, the application is filed as an order on petition with the court in whose district the applicant lives. In the Dubai Courts this application appears as its own case type, an order for delivery of the passport.
Success does not depend only on the mother being entitled; it depends on proving the need and proving the refusal. Most rejections happen here: an application without a ticket, a medical report or an official invitation, or without proof that the father was asked to hand the passport over and refused.
Evidence
Proving the need and the refusal
We gather evidence of why the passport is needed, such as travel for treatment, study or a family visit, and evidence that the father was asked to hand it over and refused or ignored the request.
Application
Drafting and filing the petition
We draft the application on the basis of the law in force and define the request precisely: delivery of the passport for travel, keeping it with the custodian because of repeated refusal, or permission to travel as well.
Enforcement
Following up the order
Under the Civil Procedure Law, the judge issues the order no later than the day after the petition is filed, and it is enforced by a letter from the judge to the competent authority. The order lapses if it is not submitted for enforcement within 15 days of its issue, so there is no room for delay.
Travelling Abroad with the Child: Consent or Court Permission
Receiving the passport does not mean freedom to travel. Under the Personal Status Law, a custodial parent may travel abroad with the child with the written consent of the other parent. Without that consent, the court may permit travel for a period or periods not exceeding 60 days in total per year, against a guarantee it accepts that ensures the child's return. It may exceed this period if the travel is in the child's interest, for medical treatment or for a necessity it assesses after hearing the other parent.
A custodian moving to a place with the intention of residing there, in a way that defeats the child's interest, is one of the grounds for losing custody. Temporary authorised travel is one thing; relocating with the child to live in another country is something entirely different that may cost the mother her custody. Visitation and travel are explained in detail in child visitation rights after divorce in UAE law.
Is the father afraid the child will travel without his knowledge?
The answer is not to withhold the passport by force, but to ask the court to ban the child from travelling if there are grounds for it. How to check for a travel ban and lift it is explained in travel ban in the UAE: how to identify, verify and lift it.
The Father Refuses to Hand Over the Passport Despite the Court Order
Under the Civil Procedure Law, if an order on petition cannot be enforced for a reason attributable to a natural person, the judge may impose a fine of not less than AED 1,000 and not more than AED 10,000 for each day of delay in enforcement. Enforcement of the order does not require service or an enforcement formula.
The matter becomes more serious if the refusal goes beyond the passport to the child. The Crimes and Penalties Law punishes with imprisonment or a fine either parent who refuses to hand the child over to the person entitled to custody under a final decision or judgment. Details are in crimes affecting the family in UAE law.
Grievance Against an Order for Delivery of the Passport
If you are the father and the order was issued in your absence, the law gives you the right to file a grievance against it before the competent court, provided the grievance states its reasons. The ruling on the grievance upholds, amends or cancels the order, and can be challenged only by appeal. However, the grievance does not by itself suspend enforcement of the order, although the court may order a temporary stay.
In practice, the strongest grounds for a grievance are proof that the custodian used the documents for unauthorised travel, or in a way that harms the child's interest, or that the requested trip is a cover for a permanent move. These grounds need evidence, not fears.
My Husband Took My Passport and ID: What Can the Wife Do?
Under the Personal Status Law, anyone who has reached 18 years of age without any impediment to legal capacity, male or female, may keep their own passport and identity documents, unless the court decides otherwise. The wife's passport and ID belong to her, and the husband has no right to withhold them on the pretext of guardianship.
If a husband withholds his wife's documents, she has the police route and the court route, and in family disputes the two often go together. The common mistake is to rush to obtain a replacement or to sign a waiver in exchange for getting the documents back, and so lose in the divorce or maintenance case something that cannot be recovered. Show the matter to a lawyer before signing anything, and see the wife's rights after divorce in the UAE.
Is the Rule Different for Non-Muslims and Residents?
The Personal Status Law applies to UAE nationals, and applies to non-nationals unless one of them invokes the application of their own law or another law permitted by UAE legislation. Non-Muslims have a separate civil framework based on joint custody by both parents, under which the position on the passport and travel differs. Any application therefore starts by determining which law governs the family, as explained in civil divorce for non-Muslims in the UAE.
The Lawyer's Role in Child Passport Disputes
A passport dispute looks small, but it is linked to custody, travel, travel bans and sometimes criminal liability. At AWADH ALMHEIRI LAW FIRM AND LEGAL CONSULTATIONS we handle it on that basis:
Assessment
Identifying the applicable law and the party entitled
Is the family governed by the Personal Status Law or by the civil framework for non-Muslims? Who is the guardian and who is the custodian? Is there an earlier custody judgment or agreement?
Application
Choosing the right request
Delivery of the passport for travel, keeping it with the custodian, permission to travel, a travel ban, or a grievance. The wrong request is rejected and wastes the time the trip needs.
Enforcement
Following up enforcement and the fine
We follow up enforcement of the order within its time limit, request the daily fine in case of refusal, and take criminal action if the refusal extends to the child itself.
Key Time Limits and Figures in Child Passport Disputes
1 dayThe judge issues the order on petition no later than the day after it is filed
15 daysThe order lapses if it is not submitted for enforcement within this period from its issue
60 daysMaximum total of travel periods with the child per year by court permission, unless exceeded in the child's interest
AED 10,000Maximum fine for each day of delay in enforcing the order; the minimum is AED 1,000
18 yearsCustody ends, and the child keeps their own passport and documents
Mistakes That Weaken Your Position in a Passport Dispute
Relying on the provisions of the previous law
Citing articles of the 2005 law in an application decided today under the 2024 law weakens its drafting and confuses its legal basis. Build your application on the law in force.
Travelling with the child on the passport without consent or permission
Even if the passport is in your hands, travelling without written consent or court permission opens the door to losing custody and having the documents taken from you.
Leaving the order on petition unenforced
The order lapses after 15 days if it is not submitted for enforcement. Whoever waits goes back to square one.
Trading documents for a waiver
Giving up maintenance or custody in exchange for a passport or ID is a losing deal. Your right to your documents is not for sale. Maintenance is explained in child support after divorce in the UAE.
Legal References
1- Federal Decree-Law No. 41 of 2024 promulgating the Personal Status Law
2- Federal Decree-Law No. 42 of 2022 promulgating the Civil Procedure Law, as amended
3- Federal Decree-Law No. 31 of 2021 promulgating the Crimes and Penalties Law, as amended
4- Federal Law No. 3 of 2016 on Child Rights (Wadeema's Law), as amended by Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2024
Frequently Asked Questions About a Child's Passport in the UAE
Family Lawyer in Dubai
Before the Dubai Courts, AWADH ALMHEIRI LAW FIRM AND LEGAL CONSULTATIONS handles applications for an order for delivery of the passport, keeping the child's passport with the custodian, permission to travel with the child or a ban on such travel, grievances against these orders, and the recovery of a wife's passport and ID, as part of custody, divorce and maintenance cases.
Other Emirates
The firm is registered in Dubai and with the Ministry of Justice, and appears before all courts of the UAE in Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain, Ras Al Khaimah and Fujairah in disputes over a child's passport and identity documents, travel with the child, and all other personal status cases.
