Last year, 1,742 persons with forged passports were detected while attempting to enter the country through Bahrain International Airport (BIA), Labour Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA) revealed on Wednesday.

LMRA Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Ausamah Al Absi said that the electronic stamp system in BIA detected 152 banned foreign passports from entering Bahrain. The system allowed 101, 744 expats to enter the country in 2014.”

Al Absi revealed that 424, 241 transactions were completed by the authorities last year, clarifying that 56 percent were completed in one day, while 88 pc were done in three working days.

“Most requests received were for new work permit, employees’ mobility, employment
termination and temporarily work permits requests,” the CEO said.

Interestingly, LMRA’s average customer service time was six minutes per transaction for employers, while the remaining transactions were made within four minutes each.

Al Absi also informed that the authority issued 28, 000 commercial records last year.

“By the end of 2014, about 29, 000 new working permits were issued compared to 2010. This increase also indicates the improvement of the national economy,” he added.