Legal Update: Bahrain extends scope of familial sponsorships for expats
Our Associate, Nayel AlBorshaid explains the relevant resolution.
Nayel AlBorshaid – Associate ([email protected])
Resolution No. 34 of 2021 pertaining to entry visas and residence permits for family members of the worker & the foreign employer.
Following a review of Resolution No.121 of 2007 relative to entry visas and residence permits for family members of the worker and the foreign employer, the Ministry of Interior issued the following amendments:
The Ministry has extended the scope of the term “family” relative to the distribution of visas amongst family members of foreign workers in the Kingdom, to now include “spouse, children or parents.”
Dependants under 24 years of age:
Article 3(c) of the Resolution outlines that the monthly income of foreign employees/business owners shall not be less than four hundred dinars (BHD 400) when sponsoring children (“Young Adults”) who are not over the age of twenty-four (24).
Dependants over 24 years of age:
The provision also elaborates on visas for children of foreign workers/business owners, over the age of twenty-four, outlining that the “monthly income…shall not be less than one thousand dinars (BHD 1000) when sponsoring a child over 24 years of age”.
It should also be noted that in addition to the requirement of minimum salaries in order to obtain visas for dependents of foreign workers, the Ministry also requires the dependants to hold valid health insurance within the Kingdom. Moreover, the Nationality, Passports and Residence Affairs reserves the right to exclude certain cases from obtaining visas, as per the evaluation of each application, respectively.
The expansion of the dependents visa for foreign workers’ close-family members is a welcomed move by the Ministry of Interior, particularly as the Kingdom of Bahrain is the first of the GCC member states to introduce such a policy.
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