Comprehensive Bahrain Visa Process & FAQ - Work & Self sponsorship

1) No they don't keep passport. They will send you an email when the approval has been received.  You can go to Bahrain then to get it stamped
2) None except don't sell the property
3) CPR has nothing to do with being able to work or not.  It is an identity card issued to all legal residents of Bahrain i.e. have residence permit.  You can get CPR

Thanks for the info XTang.

Just to clarify another point, the Certificate of good conduct deed is still a requirement or has been dropped as the deposit of 15000 bhd?

No certificate of good conduct is required.   Deposit only has been dropped.

Hi XTang,
Appreciate the effort you had put in for a such a detailed explanation of the process.

I would like to clarify something with regards to "Can wife sponsor kids and husband?"
If me and my wife are both on work visa and suppose I lost my job. Does that mean me and
my kids can't be sponsored under her visa? I thought sponsoring worked both ways which
would be a peace of mind for family in case one person loses their job and there is no rush
to finding another one.

Thanks in advance.

Well this is the way it is.  Women cannot sponsor husbands.  And neither kids if the husband is in Bahrain on a work visa.   If the husband loses his job, then he needs to cancel his visa and give NOC in front of notary to allow wife to sponsor kids.   But under no circumstances will they allow a wife to sponsor a husband if she is on a work visa. The only exceptions are some women in the financial services sector. 

Although women on investor visa (investors in a company not real estate) can sponsor husband and kids without any issue.

Hello everyone,


So, I have just received my work permit. My employer is the university of Bahrain.

     I was under the impression that my employer is going to apply for visas for my wife and kids. They did ask for attested marriage license, copies of passports, etc. And information about family members  was required in the work permit application form that I filled.

  Now, the employer is kind of urging me to come and they said that I MUST go to Bahrain first, and that they can not apply for family visas now.. Is this correct ? Is it true that my employer (which is in this case a public  (I mean government-affiliated) institution ) cannot apply for family visas  before I land in Bahrain ?

The reason I doubt this is that I worked for a public university in KSA before, and they did issue visas and tickets for me and my family members simultaneusly..


Thanks a lot

Depends really. They may want you to get your visa stamped and get cpr before they apply.  A lot of employers do that.  It is possible to do it before as well ie get family visit visas and then convert them once your visa is stamped, but there is no way you can force them to do it.  As long as they are going to do it, a few weeks here and there doesn't matter.

Hi Xtang,

Thanks a lot for your replies. You are really doing an extraordinary amazing work on Expat. Thank you.

Sticky updated for questions today.

Sticky updated for different items - as I finally got my 10 year self sponsorship visa stamped in the passport.  So now the process is listed with clear facts.

Mabrook!!!

How much is visiting visa of bahrain of three months

Go to evisa.gov.bh.

Hello  Xtang
My employer has applied for Work visa and in LMRA website it  shows emoliyment visa in progress and monthly fees paid .

It has been applied 1 day ago.

Can you please give me an rough idea  how long wil it take for final process .

I guess my papers are still with LMRA.

Seriously?

The thread you posted on has the answers to all of your questions.  Go to the first page and read carefully.  Don't be lazy.

Congratulation Xtang.
I applied at the end of September and as of today i am still waiting.
If you do not mind, can i ask you how long did it take to get the 10 years self sponsorship visa.
I am writing to the self sponsorship office every month but the always answer still in process.
Thanks in advance

Well it took me roughly two months but then again, I had been in Bahrain for 5 years before that. So I assume the checks for me were quicker than most. What I have heard is that it takes an average of 4 months for people from outside Bahrain.

Hi, my work visa status is "employment visa is prossesing" long time(1 Wick). what happened? Can you tell me?

Read the sticky - no one can tell you what happened.  Only your sponsor. 

And secondly, READ THE STICKY, I have clearly listed the timelines as between 2 to 4 weeks - don't ask the same question again without doing your research. Don't be lazy.

Salam Xtag,

Just now i check from LMAR Regarding my visa process the Status Shows that 'Valid Employment Visa' Is means all the process is complete? Now my company issue me visa to come Bahrain or what next?

As I keep saying again and again, read the sticky on the first page.  Your question was already addressed by me under the heading of issuance.

Hi, 
I want apply evisa for  mother with 10 years old child. What documents need?

Here:

https://lmra.bh/portal/en/page/show/189

When I checked with passport number its showing. " Valid employment visa" but the photo is not available??

what is the status now

sriharish06 wrote:

When I checked with passport number its showing. " Valid employment visa" but the photo is not available??

what is the status now

Hi Can I know when was your visa applied on ? How long the process took ?
Based on the information he has given so far, if it shows Valid Employment Visa, it will take a couple of days for the visa to be printed.

My employer have recently applied two times for Bahrain work visa whereas, official website of Bahrain shows "Visa Expired". Anyone have experience of similar situation and the reason for visa expired. It would be helpful if anyone can guide me on this.

( Note: Visa applied in the month of March-20 )

Thankyou

Regards
Ali Raza

Already covered it and think I responded to you on another thread.  In all probability, the visa has been rejected.

Hello Xtang,
Thank you for the great work you are doing. I have read some of your post and am a bit enlightened.  However, I have my own worries.  I came to Bahrain 2months today through an agent with a work visa but am not working with my sponsor as I only used him to bring me so I can find a job here. So I have 12months visa. I pray all the flight and visa fee. Last month he asked me if I got a job yet I said no,  still applying. Yesterday he asked again, unfortunately I don't have one yet.  He told me I need to transfer my visa or I start paying LMRA of 30BHD. I wish to know is that how its normally done?  Because they didn't tell me?  Secondly if by somehow he went to cancel my visa,  will the request be granted against my wish and will?  Lastly if my visa is cancelled,  can I get a different sponsor to redo it or will I have to be deported before I can start a fresh?  Am so worried because I spent so much money for visa fee and flight to come here and all these is beginning to stress me.

Simply, what you did is illegal.  You bought a work visa.  That doesn't leave you with many options. If you go into lmra and say that, fully expect to be detained and deported and your sponsor also penalised.

Secondly, the sponsor can cancel your visa. Your will or lack thereof doesn't matter. Mainly because you won't have any option to fight back as your illegal action ie purchase of work visa will be exposed.

So your options are to pay him the fees and confinue to look for a job or try to find another sponsor to shift the visa to.

My colleagues are currently in Bahrain & their visas expiring July 10 & they applied to Indian embassy, waiting for chartered flights confirmation.  i heard until December there will be no need to renew Bahrain visa? is this true?

Check with lmra. They announced for 3 months. I am not sure if that was extended further.

Thanks Xtang

Hi

I would like to ask something very specific to anyone who is able to answer.
I applied for the self-sponsorship visa in September 2019 and in February 2020 i was told that it was ready and i could go to their office to pay for it and get the sticker for the passport. Since then, due to the corona virus pandemic,  and  flight restrictions i could not  go to Bahrain. Do you know how long is the residence visa valid and if the cancel it if i do not go and get it whiting a specific period of time.

Regards

Jack

Once they send you the approval, ideally, you should get it done as soon as possible.  This type of visa does not usually get cancelled like a work visa if not stamped, as you are the sponsor yourself.  However, after 6 months or so, there might be problems.  But due to the virus issue, they are being relaxed on all types of visa.  I suggest to send an email to the Self sponsorship section expressing your concern and they will let you know if there is any issue.  They are responsive to emails vs. rest of NPRA.

Hi,

I have a job offer and valid visa which I checked on the following website https://lmra.bh/portal/en/express_servi … ervice_tab

The visa was valid and fees were paid, but due to COVID issue was unable to travel and my employer said that currently no flights or travel option is available from  my point of origin, today after a month I checked the status of my visa again the visa is still valid but the monthly fee section mentions "Not Paid, Subject to work permit cancellation"

So what is the scenario here will the employer cancel it or keep it going until January when I will be going to Bahrain or what?

If you go to the first page and carefully read, the FAQ section; the monthly fees has NOTHING to do with YOUR visa.  It is the monthly fee per visa for ALL the visas on the CR which the company has to pay for - if they don't, all visas on the CR get cancelled.

As to whether they will keep it or not, you have to ask them that question.

If the employer does not pay the fee the visa will be canceled that's my understanding. Once it's canceled the process will be repeated again and would take the same amount of time for instants approval from LMRA and all that

Not just your visa, EVERY single visa issued by them will be cancelled if they don't pay the monthly fee.

I doubt they will let that happen.

But yeah, if it does happen or your visa expires or they cancel, same process will take place.

So it means its a compulsion by law that they timely pay these fees otherwise rest of the visa for that organization will be canceled, even for a government organization?