MORE than 25,000 companies have so far paid the first monthly bill for employing expatriates to the Labour Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA), say officials.

The July invoices were sent to more than 50,000 companies by early last month and last month’s invoices by last Saturday.

“Companies were slow in making payment in the beginning, but they started rushing by the end of the month,” said LMRA e-services and public relations manager Waheed Al Balushi.

“Companies must pay BD10 a month for each expat worker as a levy.

“Payment must be made within a month after receiving the invoice.”

According to the law, a fine of BD2 per worker will be charged every month for late payment.

“LMRA may stop transactions with those companies which fail to pay for three months consecutively,” said Mr Al Balushi.

Payment can be made as follows:

* Through the LMRA online payment gateway, which can be accessed using your account.

* At the LMRA payment counters at Sanabis.

* Through Al Ahli United Bank branches.

The invoice was prepared based on the records in the LMRA database of the number of valid work permits registered under the establishment/commercial registration as on July 30, said Mr Al Balushi.

“If the invoice does not reflect correctly the status of expat employment under the CR, they can make corrections online,” he noted.

“They can also do the corrections by bringing the invoices and supporting documents to the LMRA invoice adjustment counters.”

Companies which pay according to their invoices need not visit the LMRA offices to cleanse the data of their employees.

“Once the payment is made, we shall assume that it is cleansed and that the invoices reflect correctly the status of their expat employees,” said Mr Al Balushi.

Companies which have online access to their accounts, with the password provided by the LMRA, will be able to see their bills online.

“We request such companies to make their payment online. It will help avoid rush at the LMRA headquarters ,” he added.