WITH reference to the letter ‘Good news on visas’ (GDN, February 22), Mr M Yaqub had contacted LMRA last year to inquire about getting dependent resident visas for parents.

He was indeed told that LMRA does not deal with such type of visas. LMRA can only process visas for expat employees and their direct dependents (wife and children of the employee); this cannot be extended to parents, brothers, sisters etcÉ

Any other type of visa is dealt with, directly by the General Directorate of Nationality Passports and Residency (GDNPR) on a case-by-case basis.

Amr Selim,

CRM project manager,

LMRA

Fees exorbitant

WE fully agree with and endorse strongly the letter ‘Fees a back-breaker’ (GDN, March 2). The authorities have imposed an unrealistic burden on companies, which is especially very hard on small and medium-scale businesses already struggling with various fees and dues.

Given the current economic condition, even big companies, employing large numbers of expat workers are finding it difficult to pay these fees and have been defaulting.

A large construction company employing 5,000 workers will have to pay a monthly amount of BD50,000, which is absurd. How are these companies going to recover or match this amount? As they can’t pass it on to their clients it will be taken out of their operating profits.

So much for all the publicity of Bahrain being “business friendly”.

“Business throttling” would be more appropriate as many companies are seriously thinking of moving their bases to other Gulf countries, being unable to pay these exorbitant fees.

If the government does not reconsider this issue, a lot of businesses will shift base or close up and it will be really bad for Bahrain’s economy, as it means more unemployment on the way.