One must praise LMRA for starting off with a clear intention to be transparent and progressive.
Witness the efforts they are putting in computerising and ‘cleansing’ the expat data – which itself will remove a lot of confusion about visa status associated with the earlier procedures.
One area where some archaic mindset seems to still prevail is with regard to local transfer of jobs for expats.
As I understand from LMRA’s replies in the GDN, to change a job locally, an expat has to get his work visa (and hence residence permit also) cancelled from the current employer and he and his family have only a 30-day grace period to stay in Bahrain starting from the date of cancellation.
Only after the cancellation of the old visa can the new employer apply for a work permit/visa and must successfully complete all procedures within this grace period. Meanwhile, the expat is under tremendous tension until the new work permit arrives. And if there are public holidays in between or any delays on the part of the new employer or the LMRA, the 30-day period can seem very less.
Imagine the condition of the expat – with family here, children in school, having a house on rent, car, etc – all this has to end abruptly on the 30th day if the new work visa does not come through for no fault of his. In case of a normal local job transfer, why can’t the new employer be allowed to apply for something like a provisional work permit even while an expat is continuing to work for the old employer.
Since everything is computerised, it is only a question of adding some status indicators on the work-permit records.
Once the new (provisonal) work permit is approved, employee can submit his resignation, serve the notice period and smoothly change over to the new employer – without causing any hassle to himself or his family. I request LMRA to please indicate their views on this suggestion.
Logical Thinker
* An LMRA spokesman said: The answer to this query and similar questions is already published on our website under the Frequently Asked Questions section http://www.lmra.bh-/en/faq_category.php?id=5 .