LMRA registration mandatory for work visa
The Kingdom's ongoing labour reforms have entered a crucial stage with the launch of data-cleansing process enabling the entities concerned, including the employer, to get the work visa processed in minutes by using the state-of-the-art eService website of the Labour Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA).
The national initiative on data-cleansing even goes beyond the consolidation of database as no business in the Kingdom will be issued with a work visa for an expatriate workforce unless registered with the LMRA, a top official at the LMRA said yesterday.
Ali Radhi, acting CEO of LMRA, highlighting the salient features of data-cleansing campaign, said that all businesses must register with the authority, because without such an exercise there would be no concept of establishing a national database for the labour market.
The important stage of purging the labour market in Bahrain and the cleansing process of the national data of workforce will be ready by December 31. Technically speaking and according to the schedule distributed by the LMRA on Monday, the cleansing process was kicked off in the last week of July.
Ali Radhi said that the registration of businesses would be carried out in various phases to control the traffic from July 23 to November 7, and the businesses have been divided into five different categories.
LMRA officials, in a live demonstration, showed how the process of e-Service would work from where the employer, employee and LMRA and its partners could get documents such as work visa, CPR, etc directly by using the national database. "This process is based on a very transparent model and the employers can have access to the record of all foreign employees. Because there are inputs from other ministries and departments, any work visa application can be turned down due to lack of information or any discrepancy for a particular case."
Radhi said that the LMRA system would also add some other features, at a later stage, like cross-checking and verifying other credentials like educational qualifications, work experience, etc.
The businesses are divided into various categories with hotels and hospitality industry establishments with 100 and over expatriate work force at the top. This segment will be able to register by the end of August - the first batch applied on July 23. The financial and insurance sector establishments with 50 or more employees can apply by September 7, retailing businesses with 20 or more employees by end of September, construction sector and allied businesses with 10 or more from September 23 to October 15 and all establishments with foreign workforce from October 7 to November 7.
By Mahmood Rafique
© Bahrain Tribune 2007
