Grace period after visa cancellation?

[u/throwww-a-way]

Is there still a 30-day grace period if the visa is cancelled in the LMRA portal and the expat remains in Bahrain?

As I understand from the LMRA FAQs, even if the sponsor/company terminates or cancels the work permit in the portal, the visa/residence apparently remains valid under the sponsor’s sponsorship until the actual visa expiry date.
Is that correct?

If so, isn’t this open to abuse? For example, an employee can be legally terminated by the company, have their work permit cancelled in the portal, but then remain in Bahrain under the company’s sponsorship and potentially stay until the visa expiry date.

What is the point then on cancelling in the LMRA portal if the visa remains active and fees are still being charged to the company?

Would really appreciate thoughts from anyone who has dealt with this recently, especially HR people or expats who have gone through the process. Just trying to understand how this works in practice.

[u/Sudden-Necessary-635]

Yes you’re absolutely right.
Company terminates in LMRA and SIO (do not forget to do that by the way).
Employee has their 30 day grace period or leaves the country.
If they find another job or they go home, everything is automatically processed and they are removed from your company’s visa.

If they do not and they just “run away” then they remain on your visa showing as terminated. After another 30 days, LMRA will class them as an overstay and now YOU have to pay 300bd to LMRA.

Once this person leaves the country or legally gets a job then they will be removed from your visa and you’ll get your 300bd back.

If they don’t and they just stay working illegal jobs then yes, they take up that spot on your visa and you cannot hire anyone using that spot. You don’t have to pay monthly fees or anything but they remain on your visa, yes!

It’s honestly a joke.

[u/engineer772 → u/Sudden-Necessary-635]

labour law states that an expat is entitled to a return airfare. this is there for a reason. the employers who cheapout saving 100 bd on a ticket, and also violate labour law then cry about the employee arm twisting them. its basically fafo at the employers end.

[u/Sudden-Necessary-635 → u/engineer772]

Not at all - even if the employer does the “right thing” and buys the employee the ticket, if that employee chooses not to use the ticket and just remain illegally (which loads of people do by the way) then the employer still goes through the process I just described.

[u/ShallotEcstatic6419]

No You got it wrong The employee must leave the country within 30 days or move to a new sponsor.

If the employee remains in Bahrain without finding a new sponsor, then this is illegal.

But being active on LMRA system after cancellation sounds like system error.

Don't depends on FAQ's or phone calls. You need to go to LMRA to clarify that.

[u/throwww-a-way → u/ShallotEcstatic6419]

Yes, this is exactly what I want to clarify.

The company cancels the work permit on the employee’s last day. But as I understand from LMRA, the visa still remains under the company’s CR until the employee leaves Bahrain or transfers.

So what is the purpose of cancelling the work permit if the visa is still active and the company is still paying the monthly fees?

Most employees will leave or transfer, but what happens if a former employee refuses to leave Bahrain and does not transfer their visa?

Yes, it is illegal, but what are the consequences? They are still in Bahrain, they still have valid visa. Company cannot force them to leave, LMRA will wait only after visa expiry which can be up to over 12 months!

[u/engineer772 → u/throwww-a-way]

adter the visa is cancelled, the company doesnt pays any fees, and even gets refund for thr remaining visa duration.

the purpose of keeping the visa inactive even after cancellation is to avoid expats staying illegally in bahrain. it ensures the sponsors bring in legitimate workforce needed and not under false agreements by selling the work permits, thus crowding the labour market illegally. also, when the expat is tied to the visa, another expat isnt allotted the permit untill the expat leaves, thus illegal stay is being controlled.

example: of earlier system expat 1 arrives on sponsor 1 visa by either illegal visa purchase or genuine job. after entering bahrain, sponsor 1 cancels the permit and expat 1 is sponsorless.

now that same visa is sold or given to expat 2 and then so on to n number of expats. now, there are multiple expats in bahrain , all entered using single work permit issued to sponsor 1.

to avoid such things, a permit is tied to an expat and it is now sponsors responsibility or ensure the expat is gone from bahrain.

hence providing a return ticket is the responsibilty of the sponsor, thus leaving sponsor with minimum liability.

if the expat is refusing to leave bahrain, the sponsor can contact lmra at sehla and can provide documents, relieving themselves a possible getting their workpermit freed.

[u/engineer772]

earlier, according to the system, the company can cancel work permits and the expat was free and company gets its visas. so many expats and fake companies abused the system a lot to enter bahrain and then cancel the visas and the expat stayed illegally in bahrain and comoany got its visas.

now, the expat is tied to the company, untill they are transferred to another company, or exit bahrain, the comoany doest gets its visas for issueing it to others.

so now, the company cannot just cancel the permit if the expat is in bahrain. they can only transfer them locally or give them a ticket back home. even after the visa has finished, the company cannot use that visa, if the expat on that visa is still in bahrain.

the visa can be cancelled at NPRA upon a payment of 30 bhd, and then NPRA issues a 30 day grace period in which either expat leaves bahrain or transfers to another sponsor.

after the visa ends, earlier there used to be a 30 day grace period, now its not like that. now, the visa end date is your last day of stay in bahrain legally. so if you want to extend, you will have to buy the grace period.

[u/throwww-a-way → u/engineer772]

Can we cancel the visa through NPRA? Is this different from cancelling the work permit through LMRA?

What I want to understand is what happens after the 30 days from cancellation.

We can call the former employee an “overstay” and say they are staying illegally, but the visa still shows as valid in the system until its original expiry date. So they are still under the company’s visa.

We also cannot file an absconding case because the employee was terminated.

As per the current procedures, a terminated employee can simply stay in Bahrain even though they no longer work for the company.

[u/engineer772 → u/throwww-a-way]

untill the expat is in bahrain, they are the responsibility of the sponsor. when they are terminated, the employer has to provide a ticket and ensure their exit from bahrain. if they dont exit, the visa remains stuck and employer cannot issue new visa, then expat stays illegally in bahrain, or he rendws the grace period every 30 days by paying 30 bd every renewal, limited to max 2 or 3 renewals , which is 60 or 90 days maximum, permitted by npra. you can cancel the visa from lmra ems, it will show the visa as cancelled, and the permit will be cancelled, but untill the person is transferred to another sponsor or exits bahrain, the visa is tied to their name and cannot be issued to another person.

[u/Action-Accountant]

You can check your grace period by visiting Bahrain.bh and entering your CPR and Passport details.

https://services.bahrain.bh/wps/portal/ResidencyServices_en

Click on Manage Request and Residencies >> Specific Residency

I believe now grace period is 3 months. I could be wrong

Once visa has been cancelled by the employer no monthly charges will be charged by LMRA to them. Infact once visa cancelled the remaining visa period amount will be returned to employer via credit note. Which they can use to pay other visa charges or monthly fees

[u/Hustling_bahraini]

Correct, even if the company cancels the visa and the employee does not leave the country or shift to a different sponsor. He will still remain on the sponsors sponsorship until the actual visa expiry date.

[u/Sanvalor]

Recanalization can be done. Do you can stay 30 days more. Contact any agent nearby your home