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Expatriate Employee Transfer

Through this service, expatriate employees can transfer to another employer without the need of canceling their existing work permit. The transfer can be done with or without the consent of the current employer.

Service Conditions

Required Documents

Expatriate Employee's Transfer with the (Employer's Consent)
No. Document Document Type
1 Expatriate Employee passport and Dependants’ passports. (if applicable) Copy
  • The passport should have all the information and alterations or updates and First Name in addition to Father or Family must be written in 1st page of the passport in all Employment/Dependant Application. As well as the page that states the father or spouse’s name (for Indian and Pakistani nationalities) as well as the page that contains the old passport number.
  • The passport must be valid for at least 6 months, but it is highly recommended to have it valid for at least 2 years before applying.
2 Work contract between the employer and the expatriate employee Copy
  • The contract is mandatory. It should be in Arabic (or a bilingual contract that includes Arabic) on the company’s letterhead or on a government paper.
  • It must include the commercial registration's name and number, the duration of the contract be it 1 year or 2 years, name of the expatriate employee as per passport, passport number, nationality, occupation, salary, employment, and notice periods.
  • It should be signed by the employer and the expatriate employee and (should bear the seal/ stamp of the employer on the company’s letterhead).
3 Approval letter/ no-objection certificate from the relevant authority for certain specialized occupations. The approval must be as recent as possible and should not be older than 6 months Copy
Employment Transfer without the Current Employer's Consent (please submit the below documents in addition to the above-mentioned documents)
No. Required document Special Considerations
1 Resignation and notice letter (as per the labour law and/or the employment agreement between the expatriate employee and the employer) addressed to the current employer by the expatriate employee who wants to transfer and Post office registered mail notification card (pink card) or slip for the resignation or notice letter sent by the expatriate employee to his/her current employer Colored Copy
  • The notice letter must be sent to the commercial registration's (cr's) address registered in the CR (as per the Ministry of Industry and Commerce). More details can be found on MOIC's site Sijilat.
  • The letter must be sent to the employer within the specified period of notice for the termination of the employment contract in accordance with the provisions of the labour law for the private sector (not exceeding three months) from the date specified for the transfer.
  • The notice period can vary from the minimum of 30 days to the maximum of 90 days.

Process Description

In case the transfer is based on the former employer's approval, the new employer needs to do the following:

  1. Login to the LMRA’s Expat Management System (EMS) to complete the electronic transfer application form. The entered information should be matching to the information in the passport and other related documents. The expatriate employee will be transferred after the payment of the fees.
  2. Once the transfer application is submitted, an application ID will be issued and a notification will appear (Application has been successfully submitted, kindly pay the admin fees, as the application will be cancelled if the fees are not paid before the invoice due date).
  3. Kindly pay the admin fees either via the Expat Management System (EMS) or by visiting one of the accredited banks.
  4. Upon completion of the admin fees payment, the application will automatically be transferred for verification.
  5. You can check the application status by:
  6. After receiving the approval on the new work permit, pay the fees via the Expat Management System (EMS) or by visiting one of the accredited banks.
  7. Print the work permit from the Expat Management System (EMS).

In case the transfer will be done without the former employer’s approval, the following steps will be taken:

  1. The expatriate employee should notify the current employer of his intention to leave by sending his resignation through Bahrain Post to the commercial registration's address during the specified notice period of the employment contract termination, in accordance with the provisions of the labour law.
  2. The second (new) employer will submit a transfer request/ application to LMRA prior to the date set for the transfer by one month, providing all the required documents.
  3. Once the transfer application is submitted, a notification will appear (Application has been successfully submitted, kindly pay the admin fees, as the application will be cancelled if the fees are not paid before the invoice due date).
  4. Kindly pay the admin fees either via the Expat Management System (EMS) or by visiting one of the accredited banks.
  5. Upon completion of the admin fees payment, the application will automatically be transferred for verification.
  6. You can check the application status by:
  7. After receiving the approval on the new work permit, pay the fees via the Expat Management System (EMS) or by visiting one of the accredited bank.
  8. Print the work permit from the Expat Management System (EMS).
  9. Upon transfer, the first (old) employer will be refunded the fees of the remaining period in the expatriate employees work permit.

Legal Regulations

Fees

Processing Time

Service Access

Expatriate Employee Transfer Service Access
Service Counter Headquarters, Mina Salman, Seef Mall - Al Muharraq
EMS system https://www.lmra.gov.bh/EMS_Web/
Contact Centre +973 17506055
Last Update: 05-11-2024.

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