Expat Employee Transfer

Basically what your employer is saying that you should transfer your visa to the new company.   If your new company is willing then you can transfer your visa to them prior to joining.   Worst case, if they cancel your visa, you have 30 days to stay which can be extended by LMRA up to 90 days.  But in that case, your new employer has to apply for a new visa which is a longer process.  So highlight this to your new employer as they can transfer you now without hassle.

Ah great. Thanks for reply. With the grace period and possible extensions, would that only be applicable to the employee or are dependents included too?

Application is in progress with the GDNPR and will have a decision soon , if approved it will move to: await payment (status: Await GDNPR). For my employment visa request this message is showing from last 4 days. Sir kindly tell me how much time it will take to issue my new work visa.

Thanks and regards
Jaseem

Here are some rules applicable to Mobility.  LMRA Act No. 19 (2006): Article 25 for regulating the procedures for foreign workers' mobility (local transfer) . Mobility can be processed with or without the consent of the Employee's old (current) Employer, depending on the case as follows:
a.Mobility Process: To use this function, the current Work Visa must be valid for a minimum of six (6) months. If the consent of the Employee's old (current) employer is obtained electronically in the EMS system through the “Allow Mobility Function”, OR the employer had given the Employee a “No Objection Letter”, the transfer will be instant (no need to wait for any period of time or complete 12 months of service). In this case, the old (current) employer will be credited with the pro-rated remaining period of the Work Visa as a “credit note” in the LMRA system.
NOTE: Where there is an agreement between the old and the new employers to credit the new employer, this agreement must be uploaded in the system on mobility application submission.
b.    Cancellation Process: Where there is no agreement from the current Employer to allow mobility (local transfer), the terminating Employee is still able to apply for employment after the Work Visa is cancelled. Terminated expatriate Employees can transfer to a new employer, if the Work Visa has been cancelled/terminated by registering a “Mobility Intention” at LMRA within five (5) working days from the cancellation/expiry date. After the new Employer has received a Mobility Intention Request from the LMRA, the Company may proceed with submission of a new Work Visa application.
NOTE: The terminated Employee is given thirty (30) calendar days to make the transfer to another employer, otherwise, the terminated Employee needs to travel out of Bahrain before the new employer can apply for a Work Visa.  In addition, during this time the terminated Employee is prohibited from engaging in any work, and the current employer will not be allowed to renew this terminated Employee's Work Visa.

Jaseem9848 wrote:

Application is in progress with the GDNPR and will have a decision soon , if approved it will move to: await payment (status: Await GDNPR). For my employment visa request this message is showing from last 4 days. Sir kindly tell me how much time it will take to issue my new work visa.

Thanks and regards
Jaseem

Go and read this:

https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=750635

skybluearmy wrote:

Ah great. Thanks for reply. With the grace period and possible extensions, would that only be applicable to the employee or are dependents included too?

To everyone.  Main visa is what dependents are linked to anyway.

Hi XTang,

In the end it was too late to do a direct transfer so my new company have started the process of applying for a new work permit for me. I checked on the LMRA express website and it states that my employment visa is in progress.

I have a few concerns as my grace period will end on the 20th April (old work permit was terminated on the 21st March). Once my work permit is issued, only then the new company can apply for my dependents who are currently in Bahrain with me. I have a strong feeling that all of this won't be able to be done before my grace period comes to an end.

Who's responsibility is it to extend my grace period in this case? Would it be the new employer or myself?

Once visa is in process, there is no issue with grace period.   But that also means that it can't be extended.

Right OK. So essentially the whole visa process needs to be done before the grace period ends and if not, my dependents and I have to leave the country and then come back?

I've spoken to LMRA on the phone but they haven't been much help. I'm pretty sure the whole process won't be completed before my grace period ends as the company can only apply for my dependents after my work permit is issued.

What I am trying to tell you is that once the visa is applied and is in process, the grace period ceases to apply i.e. the visa can take 3 months but you won't be treated as overstaying.   However, if the application gets rejected after taking that long, you will be overstaying.   Similarly, while the application is in progress, the previous grace period cannot be extended.   You should have extended the grace period and then applied - it doesn't work the other way round.

Ok got it, thanks. With regards to the 3 month process, would that apply to my dependents as well? As it's being treated as a new work visa I'm guessing it doesn't? What would happen to them in this situation? Would they have to leave and then come back?

Once again, sorry for all the questions but I'm in kind of a tough spot if this is the case.

Their visa is linked to yours.