Decision delayed on banning conversion of entry visas to work permits for expats

TDT | Manama

Email : editor@newsofbahrain.com

A blanket ban on turning entry visas into work residence permits has been pushed back, after MPs yesterday withdrew a draft amendment to Bahrain’s 1965 Aliens (Immigration and Residence) Law for further study and put off a decision for a fortnight.

The proposal would add a new Article 7 (repeated) stating that an entry visa granted to a foreigner may never be converted into a residence permit for work.

Parliament had already backed the text once, but the Shura Council rejected it in principle.

Measure

The Foreign Affairs, Defence and National Security Committee had urged MPs to keep to their earlier decision, saying the measure is aimed at protecting job opportunities for Bahrainis, easing unemployment among citizens and supporting the national labour market plan so that Bahrainis remain the first choice in hiring.

Acting Labour Minister Yousif Khalaf told the chamber that misuse of visit visas had been recorded in detail by a parliamentary inquiry, which found 37,000 violations in 2023 and more than 8,500 people in a single year switching from visit visas to work visas.

He said the government, through the Interior Ministry, had moved to deal with this, with Interior Minister Decision 16 of 2024 raising the fee for changing status to BD250 and tying any conversion to the same guarantor.

Under that decision, a visit visa may be converted to a work or dependent visa only for the original sponsor, a dependent visa may be turned into a work visa for the same fee, and tourist visit visas are not converted into work permits.

Status

“A foreigner cannot simply enter Bahrain and hand out CVs,” he said, “because any change of status is confined to the same guarantor.”

Khalaf pointed to figures for 2025 as evidence of the impact.