One of my friends was on a long vacation. His residence permit expired when he was away. As soon as he returned he approached the LMRA for data cleansing, thumb impression, photograph, etc.

But unfortunately it was stopped and they said nothing was available. He submitted online for his residence permit renewal, but it is not accepting the application because he is not cleansed!

Now what can he do? Must he cancel the permit and exit the country one month after its expiry?

Rajan Ponnore

l An LMRA spokesman said: “Renewals maybe delayed if the employer did not cleanse their employees’ data on time (ignoring our calls, notifications and newspaper advertisements since 2007).

“Data cleansing is the responsibility of the employer, and it is different from the registration or (enrolment). Enrolment is the process of taking the digital signature, photograph and fingerprint which is now done at the airport on the expat’s arrival.

“More information is available on our website www.lmra.bh and the FAQ’s section http://www.lmra.bh/en/faq_category.php?id=5, our contact number is 17 50 60 55, e-mail: lmra@lmra.gov.bh.”