The Global Phoenix - Issue 3 August 2017 | Page 38

BAHRAIN
The region’s smallest nation, consisting of an
archipelago of 33 islands in the Persian Gulf
off the coast of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain is just a
quarter of the size of the US state of Rhode Is-
land and one third the size of the nation of Lux-
embourg. Almost completely dependent on oil
and aluminum production, the recent decline
in global commodity prices has hit particularly
hard. Also, dealing with sporadic domestic
civil unrest between the Sunni monarchy and
the majority Shia population, the government
has struggled to continue to employ the 75%
of the population in public sector jobs. At-
tempts at growing a tourism sector have been
only moderately successful; but western tour-
ists and expats consistently give Bahrain high
marks for quality of life.
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In an attempt to create a more business and tour-
ism-friendly climate, Bahrain’s immigration policy
has recently loosened business and tourist visa
requirements. Last November, two new business
and tourist visas were introduced for citizens of
114 eligible nations: a single-entry two-week visa
and a one-year multiple-entry visa valid for 90-
day stays. The permissible stays on the existing
visas were also increased to: one-month for the
three-month multiple-entry visa and 90-days for
the five-year multiple-entry visa applicable to citi-
zens of the US, the UK, Canada, and Ireland. The
foreign national work permit process remained
relatively unchanged, with average processing
times of 8 to 12 weeks.