About 3,000 undocumented overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Bahrain can benefit from the recently launched Flexi-Visa Program of the Bahraini government, told the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).
The flexi-visa, launched on November 5, is a residence and work permit which has now been made available for OFWs without legal immigration status in Bahrain.
The program, unique to Bahrain and the Middle East, addresses the vulnerabilities associated with domestic work. It will also cover domestic workers who ran away from their employers before November 1, 2018.
“After a series of quiet negotiations and discussions, Bahrain’s Labor Marketing Regulatory Authority (LMRA) announced for the first time that those runaway domestic workers in the country will now be covered by the Flexi Visa program,” Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Sarah Lou Arriola told PNA.
The Flexi Visa, which can be renewed every two years, covers a worker’s health insurance and a return ticket home to the Philippines as well.
“This is in line with the DFA’s efforts to seek pathways for regularization of our OFWs in implementation of the mandate of President Rodrigo Duterte to spare no effort to protect our nationals overseas,” Arriola added.
According to the agency, there are now 267 previously undocumented Filipinos in Bahrain who have received their visas.
The DFA covered the visa cost and the first two monthly administrative fees for OFWs who initially availed of the program.
