live in bahrain but work in dubai

It really depends on whether it is going to be cost effective for you to travel back and forth while maintaining two households.  And I am assuming that you will continue to have a residence visa for Bahrain.

Practically, excluding the cost element, it is possible.  A lot of people do Riyadh / Bahrain every weekend which is almost the same flight time (but unlike Dubai, a weekly drive is also doable).  From Dubai to Bahrain, the flight options are more plentiful and cheaper.  You just need to plan where your office, residence and airport travelling times fall in - to minimize time wastage. 

I have a few friends in Bahrain who have been doing this for a while. I, myself do Riyadh / Bahrain every weekend and did Dubai / Jeddah for two years.

This is a short answer but if you have specific questions, you can ask.

Thank you for the qucik reply, and you have kind of hit the nail on the head with regards to 'keeping my residency in Bahrain'... actually I am residing in Bahrain courtesy of working in Saudi, so I don't know if the same arrangement can be replicated for working in Dubai... Dubai is way too expensive to live and actually we all prefer Bahrain, but if I want/have to move to Dubai, I wanted to check if the same rules apply as in the case of Saudi Arabia. I don't know anyone who does it this way (lie in Bahrain but work in Dubai) but I have heard that many do.... so trying to figure out how they maintain their Bahrain residency

Currently, you have a paper CPR because of your employment in Saudi and the visa is not exactly a residence visa but a long term multiple entry visa.  The paper CPR allows you to do pretty much most things like a Bahrain resident.

Unfortunately, this does not translate over to Dubai.   The major reason it exists for Saudi is because of the land border between Dammam and Bahrain and the heavy cross traffic.  It makes economic sense for Bahrain to allow this to give an incentive for people to live in Bahrain and in return the government benefits in the real estate market, consumption etc etc.   When it comes to other countries, there simply isn't that much traffic or incentive to do the same - absence of land borders.

The friends I mentioned, do it by sponsoring residence visas for themselves, either by setting up a company or buying a property.  Even I have visas for Bahrain through my own company which I set up when I shifted from my job in Bahrain to Saudi.

Both of these options are relatively easy to set up.  The lower cost option is the company and I have penned a sticky which you can find on this forum.

The other thing you need to understand about UAE is that the visa process is slightly different to Bahrain.  You get your visa, get an accommodation and a rental contract, use that to sponsor your family visa, they come in and do their medical and then they get their visa (vs. no medical in Bahrain for dependents and no issue re: rental as they are already living here).   So it is a hassle to get them through the process if they are not going to move. You might want to tell your employer, if you decide to keep your family in Bahrain, that you don't need visas from them for the family (saving cost) but in return, you want them to cover medical and schooling benefits for the family in Bahrain as they would have, if they came to the UAE with you.

The costs of renting in two places would be high - neither Bahrain nor Dubai are cheap in terms of renting accommodation.

Yep, exactly.  And that was my first point i.e. if it will be cost effective.   I am currently doing the same.

Thanks very much for your feedback.... yes, I think you are right that the best approach is gain residency through company or house purchase... I will investigate these options.... maybe back to the forum for advice on good law firm / Visa & CPR resource.

Thanks again