Foreigners who have still not registered with the Labour Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA) by the end of this month will be prevented from having their work permits renewed, warned senior officials.

Meanwhile, companies whose foreign employees have not completed the process will be barred from applying for new work permits, renewing expired visas, applying to increase their workforce and recruiting staff from other firms.

The LMRA is cracking down on expats who have still not been added to the LMRA database, which involves being fingerprinted, photographed and submitting a digital signature to be included in an Expat Management System.

Companies affected by the crackdown will be entitled to resume normal activities as soon as their staff are registered with the LMRA.

"In order to avoid the above mentioned offences, we urge you to send the un-enrolled expats under your CR (Commercial Registration) or unit to LMRA's enrolment centre to complete the enrolment process," the LMRA informs companies in an advisory posted on its website yesterday.

Foreign workers affected will simply have to show up at the LMRA to be logged into the system for free, enabling them to once again have their employment visas renewed or to switch companies legally.

The LMRA said on its website that no deadline had been set for foreign workers to be entered into the system, but added the plan was to register as many expats as possible before the end of the year.

Individuals can visit the LMRA website at www.lmra.bh and click on the expat portal to check their enrolment status.

The process is designed to collect data on all foreign workers in Bahrain and their families.

It is conducted on the ground floor of the LMRA's headquarters in Sanabis, and the information is used by the Central Informatics Organisation to issue smart cards and help combat passport forgery.-TradeArabia News Service