EXPATRIATES who have lost their jobs – or are at risk of losing them – have been thrown a lifeline, writes the GDN's Sandeep Singh Grewal.

They can sponsor themselves for less than BD200 and stay in the country for a year, according to the Labour Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA).

The fees for the popular flexi work permit scheme have been drastically reduced to help foreign workers impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.

While waiving off the BD250 fees for a flexi permit, the government regulator will now charge only BD182, which includes BD72 for health insurance, BD90 for a flight ticket, BD15 as residence extension charges and BD5 as administrative fees.

Those eligible for the permit include illegal expatriates with expired or terminated work permits, people who have not been paid salaries and have filed cases against their employers, and expatriates whose workplace has a cancelled Commercial Registration (CR).

Those with travel bans or facing court cases are not eligible.

“This is a crisis situation the world is facing and we anticipate job losses among migrant workers,” said LMRA chief executive Ausamah Al Absi.

“We are being flexible with our rules (related to flexi work permit) to allow expats who have lost their jobs to apply for the scheme and stay legally in the country for a year.”

The flexi work permit until last year was issued for a two-year period, that allowed expats to work with multiple sponsors – but now the permit is issued only for a year.

The LMRA has also waived the renewal fees for flexi work permit holders that was BD250 to be paid yearly, and now those applying for renewals only need to pay BD77 – BD72 for health insurance and BD5 administrative fee.

However, the flexi work permit holder must continue paying the BD30 monthly fees to avoid cancellation.

“Foreign workers are urged to contact our call centre (17103103) to find out how they can register for the permit.

“After submitting the documents online, the applicants will be told to visit the LMRA branch in Sitra for being photographed and fingerprinted.”

The permit fees can be paid at any Bahrain Financing Company branch in Bahrain.

“More than 35,000 expats have so far applied for the permit since it was launched in 2017,” he said.

This number is likely to increase with the reduction in fees that will allow flexi work permit holders to work as freelancers either part-time or full time with multiple employers.

They can leave the country at any time and return during the validity of the permit.

The scheme has effectively more than halved the number of illegal expats living in Bahrain from an estimated 60,000 in 2017.

Labour and Social Development Minister Jameel Humaidan earlier this week stated flexi work permit holders are not entitled legally to obtain a CR, employ others or sponsor workers, while stressing they are not competing with current trade activities.

The GDN has reported several sectors especially the hospitality sector among the worst affected since March due to Covid-19, with the majority of employers asking their staff to go on unpaid leave or accept pay cuts.