"retention money", about 4000AED they hold back in case you have some unpaid bill or lost ID or whatever for them to deduct from. Basically an imposed deposit. After a period of time sufficient to show that you paid everything, you're supposed to receive it along with any other outstanding monies, i.e. final pay, etc. Not to be confused with the Provident Fund money, which comes separately.
In my case I received 100% of my retention and PF, a few weeks after I left.
b777boy,
when you say they "kept your retention money", do you mean they made claims against it or just never sent it at all? Just curious as I haven't heard too much of that happening. Of all the wonderful EK departments I ever dealt with, EOS was probably the most efficient. But then, they're getting the most practice these days.
AMEX,
Can't speak to the mortgage specifically, but a small point about keeping accounts with a UAE bank after one leaves: they will probably start charging your account a monthly service charge that was waived while one was an EK employee. Probably not a huge amount, but irritating and of course no one will mention it...perhaps one could convince a bank manager to continue waiving it, who knows.
Leaving will make you wonder why you waited so long...