AN initiative by the Bahrain government to offer flexible work visas to foreigners could prove too expensive for some jobseekers, according to Bangladeshi Ambassador Major General K M Mominur Rahman (Ret).
The scheme will be launched tomorrow and aims to stamp out the illegal visa black market, by allowing expats to legally sponsor themselves and work here on a freelance basis.
It will cost each recipient a total of BD1,169 over a two-year period, including a BD200 work visa, BD144 healthcare fee, a BD30 monthly fee and a one-time deposit of BD90 to cover return travel.
In addition, a one-time BD15 discounted fee will be levied on those whose previous residency has expired.
That is much cheaper than up to BD2,200 currently being paid for illegal “free visas”, in which foreigners buy two-year work permits on the black market and then work illegally for other employers.
However, Maj Gen Rahman said many of those who obtained “free visas” were never able to make enough money to pay off the loans they took to buy them.
In addition, many simply end up overstaying the visa as they can’t afford to renew it – continuing to work on an informal basis for local employers outside the system.
“I have explained my position on the flexi permit scheme clearly to Labour and Social Development Minister Jameel Humaidan,” said Maj Gen Rahman.
“This scheme is basically going to help those who are competent and capable of earning money in Bahrain, but the bulk of illegal workers cannot afford the high fees.”
Authorities intend to issue 48,000 flexi permits over the next two years, hoping to generate as much as BD56 million that would have otherwise gone into the illegal visa black market.
The permits issued by the Labour Market Regulatory Authority are available for expats aged under 60 who do not have regular work permits and are therefore illegal residents
However, Maj Gen Rahman said of the 200,000 Bangladeshis in Bahrain, as of last year around 76,000 were illegal workers earning between BD80 and BD100 every month. “The worker will have to pay a BD30 monthly fee as part of the scheme and BD20 as a minimum living cost in Bahrain,” said the ambassador.
“He has no money left to send back home.”
Meanwhile, he renewed an appeal to scrap a 2008 policy that forces the Bangladesh Embassy to pre-approve all visa applications from its citizens before they travel to Bahrain.
Bangladesh is the only country on which the requirement has been imposed due to concerns about high levels of crime among the Bangladeshi community in Bahrain.
“We are attesting documents issued by official bodies in Dhaka twice, which takes a lot of time, creates confusion among our nationals and chaos outside our embassy,” complained the ambassador.
“No such verification or attestation is applied to any other country and we have requested the ministry concerned to lift all these restrictions related to Bangladeshi workers.”
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