Work Permit - Renewal

For most nationalities, renewal is relatively a straight forward process and can be done within a week.

For Pakistanis, renewal is working but there are delays here and there. Up to 2 weeks.  Also lmra seems to have quite a lot of backlog in January due to start of the year inspections and work permit checks / cancellations so might be delays as well due to this.

Thanks for the response .

Also is the health care fee of 144 BD optional or mandatory?

I do have it currently but thinking of not opting for it since I don't spend time in Bahrain.

It is mandatory to pay it at the time of visa issuance.  The only way to get it back (and my company used to do it), is to pay it and then go to LMRA with evidence showing that you are already fully insured beyond the basic health cover (through private medical insurance).  They then give you a credit to your EMS account.  But it takes time and is a bit of hassle.

The other alternative, for bigger companies, is to have the arrangement with LMRA from the very beginning for this not to be charged.  That requires a bit of due diligence by LMRA on the corporate insurance policy and the insurance company also gives a relevant undertaking each year.