Legally Yours

Manama 

More than 10,000 foreign workers have corrected their legal situation since the launch of the grace period for undocumented migrant workers.  The “Amnesty Period”, launched last July, will last until the end of 2015. 

Terming it as a remarkable success, the Labour Market Regulatory Authority’s (LMRA) chief executive Ausamah Al-Absi said, “The number of workers, who have availed themselves of the grace period exceeds the total of what had been achieved in 2007 and 2009.”

He explained that the 80 per cent of the 10,000 workers has legally joined  new employers, while the rest preferred to leave the country. 

As Al-Absi asserted that LMRA is keen to provide all possible facilities to employers, who want to absorb these workers. 

Emphasizing that the law will be applied with full force against illegal workers, Al-Absi noted: “There will be no blacklisting for all those who voluntarily leave the country.”

To stay and work legally in Bahrain, a worker should submit the transfer form to the new employer, who will upload the documents and apply for a work permit through the LMRA’s online portal. 

“An illegal worker does not need the consent of the previous employer to get legal employment during this period. The old employer cannot stop these workers from taking up new jobs and we will assist companies to hire them,” he elaborated.

Al-Absi said illegal workers whose passports were withheld by their employers should immediately contact their respective embassies, which will issue emergency certificates. “It will allow them to leave the country without any penalty being applied.”

However, the LMRA official warned of middlemen collecting money from workers and promising to rectify their legal status. Under normal circumstances any expatriate caught working illegally faces deportation, while the company itself will be fined a minimum of BD1,000 for every ‘irregular’ worker. Workers caught by police may face fines that start at BD100 and deportation.