By SOMAN BABY

MORE than 500 new work visas a day are now being issued by the Labour Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA).

The daily inflow of new visa applications is steadily increasing, said LMRA e-services and public relations manager Waheed Al Balushi.

“It has reached an average of 756 applications per working day,” he told the GDN.

“The corresponding outflow was 502 new visas printed per working day.”

The share of on-line visa applications has also been increasing, said Mr Al Balushi.

“It stands now at more than 50 per cent, getting close to the LMRA target rate of 60pc.”

Mr Al Balushi said more than 61pc of the new visa applications are processed within the 10-day public target, dismissing widespread complaints of delays.

“LMRA is making special efforts to increase this rate as much as possible, by helping employers to understand the visa requirements better and to use the on-line facilities more efficiently,” he revealed.

The composition of new visa applications and renewals shows normal patterns.

For example, work visa applications in construction accounted for 28pc of all applications, in line with the relative size of the construction industry, said Mr Al Balushi.

Non-domestic employment of foreign workers at mid-2008 also stood at 28pc.

Similarly, work visa applications in small establishments with one to nine workers stood at 30pc of total work visa applications in the commercial sector, corresponding almost precisely to the relative size of foreign workers in small establishments (31pc), said Mr Al Balushi.