Rogue companies are blatantly flouting Bahrain's laws by selling work visas openly on the Internet, it has emerged.

Our sister newspaper Gulf Daily News (GDN) came across two firms advertising them for sale on the website www.expatriates.com, at a cost of up to BD1,400.

The site is popular amongst job seekers and major companies, who use it to advertise vacancies.

It also acts as a forum to buy and sell household items and gain access to a range of services such as plumbing, baby-sitting, pet-sitting, translation, transportation, photography, catering, real estate and event planning.

However, the website is being misused by some trying to make money by illegally selling work visas.

One of the advertisements was published under the link 'Travel' with the heading 'Bahrain Employment Visa for Sale'.

'I sell Bahrain employment visa for BD1,400 and valid for two years,' it said.

'You can work anywhere in Bahrain. If you find job then we (will) give you immediate release.'

The second advertisement was published under the link 'Business Partners' with the heading 'Ready Visa for Sale'.

'I have a visa for sale and it can be ready within a week,' said the advert.

The GDN responded by e-mail to the first advertisement pretending to be a potential customer.

A reply said the seller was a marketing company based in Bahrain which had three visas for sale.

'You have to find a job yourself and you can work anywhere in Bahrain,' said the e-mail.

'Yes, right now we have three visas available.

'If interested drop me an e-mail.'

'Unaware'

When confronted about his illegal activities, the man named as the contact for the company said he had only been in Bahrain for a month and claimed he was unaware that what he was doing was a crime.

'Yes, I have visas for sale,' he said.

'I have a new marketing company and have more visas than I actually need, so I decided to sell the extra ones.'

A reporter also spoke to the man named as the contact for the second company, pretending to be an Indian woman who was desperate to buy a visa for her brother at home.

'Yes, I can give you a visa and you have to pay me BD1,200,' he said.

'I have many visas because I have a CR (Commercial Registration) for a company.

'But I don't have an actual company. I just get a CR and sell all the visas that I get.

'So you don't have to worry - I will give your brother a visa.

'You have to pay me half the money as advance and the remaining amount once I give you the visa.

'But I cannot give you any receipt or proof of receiving the money because it is all about trust.

'I will only provide the visa and cannot guarantee any job or salary.

'He needs to come and find his own job.

'If you are interested call after arranging the money and I will come and meet you.'

When later confronted about his illegal activities, the man admitted he was selling work visas on the black market, but said he was providing a 'service' for those who found it difficult to obtain them through proper channels.

'I am actually doing a good thing,' he said.

'There are so many people who want to work in Bahrain and cannot because they cannot get a visa in the proper way.

'I am also selling it for a cheaper rate than the market price for a free visa.

'So what is wrong with it? Nothing.'

Labour Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA) e-services and public relations manager Waheed Al Balushi said he was aware of the website and the illegal activities.

However, he would only say the matter was being dealt with and refused to comment further.

'We are doing what we are supposed to do about this but we don't want to say anything else,' said Mr Al Balushi.

Migrant Workers Protection Society (MWPS) action committee head Marietta Dias was shocked to hear how easily black market visas were available.

'This is very shocking news for me and I'm sure for anyone who hears this,' she said.

'Here we are trying to get rid of illegal workers from one side and people like these get in more.

'The government, especially the LMRA, needs to be doing something about this. This is ridiculous.

'It is the workers and the country who will suffer in the end.

'This is definitely defeating all the hard work being done by social groups, embassies and the government to fight the trade in illegal workers.

Pledge

'The LMRA had recently urged us (social groups and embassies) to report any illegal workers or the practice of illegal visa business to them so that they can immediately tackle it.'

Indian Embassy officials were unaware of the practice but pledged to raise the matter with the authorities concerned.

'We will bring this to the attention of the authorities and do whatever we can to tackle this illegal activity,' said a spokesman.-TradeArabia News Service