By SOMAN BABY

EXPATRIATES who have not yet registered with the Labour Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA) have been urged to do so before July 1.

The number of expatriates already enrolled with the LMRA has crossed 200,000, said LMRA’s acting manager for public relations and e-services, Waheed Balushi.

“With the latest population figures putting the number of non-Bahrainis at more than 500,000, the enrolment figures are not very encouraging,” he told the GDN.

“From July 1, the enrolment with LMRA will become mandatory for official transactions.

“It is also important for renewing work visas and for travel related purposes.”

A fourth centre for registration has now been opened in Hidd, said Mr Balushi.

The centre is located in the Business Building at the Hidd Industrial Area.

Two other centres are located at the cultural centres in Sanabis and Saar.

The fourth one is exclusively for families, located at the Marina Mall.

“These centres will not remain open forever,” said Mr Balushi.

“We, therefore, advise all expatriates to register with the LMRA at the earliest.

“We appeal to all expatriates and their families who have not yet registered to visit one of the centres with their CPR cards, without waiting till the last minute.

“As part of the registration, the LMRA staff will capture the people’s fingerprints.”

Mr Balushi also appealed to all companies to cleanse their data with the LMRA.

Data

Thousands of companies have not yet updated the data of their employees with LMRA.

“We appeal to all companies to present photocopies of their employees’ passport and CPR card at the LMRA,” said Mr Balushi.

The LMRA will start issuing work visas for expatriates in the private sector from July 1.

This will coincide with the new labour fees coming into force.

The LMRA will start billing the private sector companies from July 1 for each foreign worker employed by them, according to the data available with it.