By SOMAN BABY from New Delhi

MANAMA

ALL expatriates in Bahrain, except children, must be enrolled and listed with the Labour Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA) before June 30. Those who fail to do so will be considered illegal residents, said LMRA inspection manager Ahmed Al Khabbas.

A second LMRA festival will be held from June 4 to 30 to give a last chance to expats who have not yet registered, he told the GDN in New Delhi.

Mr Al Khabbas was in India as part of the official delegation accompanying Labour Minister Dr Majeed Al Alawi.

The festival will be held at Bahrain International Exhibition Centre (BIEC) from 7am to 11pm daily on the given dates.

More than 210,000 expats have already registered with LMRA, out of an estimated population of 500,000.

These include 52,000 who registered during the first LMRA Festival held at BIEC in October last year, said Mr Al Khabbas.

Others have been registering at various enrolment centres opened by LMRA.

These include the Sanabis Cultural Hall, which is open from Saturdays to Thursdays; Saar Club, from Sundays to Thursdays; the North Sitra Industrial Area, from Saturdays to Thursdays; and the Hidd Industrial Area, from Sundays to Thursdays.

The centre at the Marina Mall has been closed.

The opening hours at all centres are from 7.30am to 3.30pm.

LMRA officials have already visited more than 300 companies, including all major national companies, and enrolled their employees.

“Our staff have already covered 80 per cent of the companies, each employing 200 workers or more,” said Mr Al Khabbas.

“We shall stop visiting companies on May 25.”

The LMRA takes over the responsibility of issuing work visas for all expatriates, from the Labour Ministry, on July 1.

“We want to know the accurate data of all expatriates and their spouses before we officially take over the job of processing their papers,” said Mr Al Khabbas.

“Enrolment with LMRA is mandatory for all expatriates, and without registration, they cannot do any official transaction with the government. These include the renewal of their work and residence permits.

“We, therefore, appeal to all expats to do it either at one of the enrolment centres or at the festival venue.

“The registration of children will be done by the Central Informatics Organisation while issuing or renewing their CPR cards.”