New Rules To Convert Visit Visas Into Work Permits In Bahrain
The Bahrain government announced that it would not allow the conversion of visit visas to work or dependent visas without a sponsor. While visit visas can be changed to work or dependent visas if the sponsor is the same, the fee for them has been increased by over four times.
The fee, which was originally BD60, now stands at BD250 per visa. The announcement came from Shaikh Hisham bin Abdulrahman Al Khalifa, Interior Ministry Undersecretary at Nationality, Passports, and Residence Affairs (NPRA).
The official said the decision was taken by Interior Minister H.E. General Shaikh Rashid bin Abdullah Al Khalifa. As per the decision of the Interior Minister, “it was decided to stop changing visit visas to work or dependent visas without a sponsor.
It was also agreed to increase the fees for changing visit visas to work or dependency visas from BD60 to BD250 only if it will be for the same sponsor,” the announcement said. Further, it said the decision is as per the government directives to intensify the rules of changing visit visas to support the local workforce by making them the first employment choice.
The procedures would be carried out in cooperation with the Labour Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA) to promote the National Labour Market Plan and stop the exploitation of visit visas.
Calls had been made by various people in the Kingdom recently for tightening the rules regarding the conversion of visit visas to work visas, citing its effect on the employment prospects of Bahrain citizens. Several proposals had been made by the MPs in the Parliament to either completely stop the conversion or increase the fees for the conversion of visit visas to work visas as well as for issuing work visas for foreigners.
