Manama: Foreigners who have overstayed their residence visas in Bahrain are free to leave without facing legal issues, a senior immigration official has said.
“The administrative measures allow foreigners who have overstayed their visit visa stays to regularise their situation and leave Bahrain after paying the required fees and without facing any legal action,” Shaikh Rashid Bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, the interior ministry undersecretary for nationality, passports and residency, said. “There are no punitive actions against them,” he said.
Shaikh Rashid said that there are people who are not aware that there are no punitive measures against foreigners who did not comply with residency regulations.
“There are people who spread rumours and allegations that the immigration authorities take legal action against residence violators, and this forces them to avoid applying to go home by just paying their dues,” he said.
People should ignore malicious rumours and baseless allegations and any foreigner who applies to leave Bahrain has the right to move freely in the country to complete his or her procedures, he said.
Bahrain is home to around 1.2 million people. Slightly more than half are foreigners, mainly unskilled labourers from Asian countries.
