Examining Travel Bans on Expats with Debts

TDT | Manama     

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

A travel ban on expats with debts is not a practice that is non-existent in most of the developed world, say experts. The United States, which hosts the largest number of immigrants in the world, and Canada, a popular immigration destination, do not have such a practice, they added. ‘Not in Dubai’ Asked whether a travel ban similar to the ones proposed in Bahrain exists in Dubai, Shai Zamanian of Dubai-based immigration consultancy The American Legal Centre said, “For mere travel, no such laws exist in the UAE.

The introduction of this would have a severe political backlash as it would become a political matter to withhold citizens of foreign countries from travelling home.” He further explained, ”The question is of default. So long as people are servicing their loans, meaning they are paying on time, then they have met their contractual obligation and there is no such breach of contract with the debt issuer.

Thus, it would be unreasonable to penalise someone for exercising the simple tools of capitalism that our societies rely upon. In the modern world, I know of no free-market nation that practices such policies,” he said. In unprecedented situations where there is a global shakeup of financial markets and there is a reasonable expectation that mass defaults on loans could occur, there could be new policies in place to curb that effect.

Yet, with robust economies with substantial liquidity, such as in Bahrain, the policy would not align with the reality of market factors, Shai explained. “If there are no indicators of an insurmountable risk, what controversies does the proposed rule attempt to alleviate? This is the crux of the issue and should be assessed before market regulations are considered,” he stated.

‘Absent in largest immigration destinations’

Washington, DC-based Charles Kamasaki, a Distinguished Immigration Scholar at Cornell Law School, is a Senior Cabinet Advisor at UnidosUS, the largest Hispanic civil rights organisation in the US, and a Fellow at the Migration Policy Institute. The lobbying force behind the US's first major revision of immigration law in 1986, Mr. Kamasaki, is an author and celebrated speaker on immigration reforms in the US. Talking about the proposals for a travel ban on expats with debts, Mr. Kamasaki said such a policy is not there in the US, which hosts the highest number of immigrants in the world. “Unlike many other countries, the US does not have travel restrictions on people leaving the country. There is no ‘exit visa’ requirement here, so something like this simply would not come up,” he stated. US law expert Ilya Somin agrees with Mr. Kamasaki that a travel ban on expats with debts is non-existent in the US. “So far as I know, the US does not restrict travel by expatriates or others here on work visas merely because they have debt. The big law in our policy is not that we make it difficult for foreign workers to leave, but that it is, for many, too hard to gain entry in the first place,” Mr. Somin said.

No travel ban in Canada

Kareem El-Assal, Canadian immigration policy analyst and founder of Section95.com confirmed that a travel ban on expats with debts is absent in Canada as well. “Expats possessing debt in Canada is common, and they can travel freely outside of the country while holding loans. In addition to small debts such as credit card loans, it is common for expats here to have other debts related to the likes of cell phones, cars, and homes. Building a Canadian credit history is important for expats for various reasons, such as being able to qualify for a mortgage to buy a home here,” Kareem stated.

‘Fairness is key’

While a travel ban on expats with debts is common in the GCC region, such restrictions should be non-discriminatory and non-arbitrary, says Devin Kenney of Amnesty International. “Other Arab Gulf states do restrict non-nationals exit from the country if they have debt, so Bahrain would not be unique in the subregion if it imposed such a rule. Regardless of which states do it, however, such restrictions on the right to leave a country based on economic considerations must be neither discriminatory nor arbitrary,” he said.