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Gulf Daily News
Wednesday, 20th August 2014
5
l VISA FEES MOVE ‘MAY HIT BUSINESS AND TOURISM’ Forgery duo
By SANDEEP SINGH GREWAL
HOTELIERS and businessmen
have warned that an increase in
visa fees planned for later this
year could damage trade and
tourism.
The Interior Ministry’s nationality, passports and resident
affairs directorate announced
the move yesterday, saying it
would help improve services
and make the issuance of visas
easier.
Caution
Trade wary
of increase
It will affect everyone wanting to enter Bahrain, excluding
labourers and domestic workers,
and is due to be implemented in
October.
Yet representatives of the
business community have
sounded a note of caution over the announcement.
“We do not have the information yet
on how much the visa fees are going to
increase, but if it is marginal then its
fair,” said Four Star Hotel Committee
chairman Hameed Al Halwachi.
“Bahrain needs inbound business
however and we should not – at this
stage – be looking at increasing costs.”
Mr Al Hawachi called on the government to consult with various organisations, such as the hotels committees,
before making sweeping decisions that
could affect so many sectors of the
economy.
“We would like to sit and share our
views with them,” he said.
Meanwhile, Manama Suq committee
vice-chairman Mahmood Al Namliti
predicted that the business community
would have mixed reactions to a fees
increase.
“I personally do not understand what
is happening, as on the one hand we are
revising our visa policy to allow more
people to visit the country and then, on
the other, we increase the visa fees,” he
said.
He was referring to a decision announced last month that Bahrain would
be extending its visa-on-arrival facility
to nationals of nearly 100 countries.
“We welcome the fact the new visa
fees do not apply to labourers and domestic workers, but one should also not
forget that Bahrain needs new projects
and more tourists,” he added.
According to the Economic Development Board, the new visa-on-arrival
policy to be implemented next year has
the potential to attract more than 2.5 billion people, who will be able to obtain a
one-month visa with the ability to renew
it for another three months.
Changing trends in the country’s investor base, including a 58 per cent increase in the number of international investors who own businesses in Bahrain,
50pc rise in Arab investors and 17pc in
non-residence equity owners between
2005 and 2012, was given as the reason
for the move.
n A marginal increase will be fair, says a
[email protected]
hotel association representative
jailed for
five years
TWO Bahrainis have been
jailed for five years for forging
visa applications for two expatriate workers.
The man, 54, and woman, 32,
were convicted of forgery by the
High Criminal Court yesterday.
They were arrested after a
Bahraini man submitted requests for a work visa in 2011,
but was told he had been granted two visas the previous year.
Labour officials launched an
investigation and found that
the man’s signature was forged
on the 2010 documents, which
were processed by a known
clearance clerk.
The 54-year-old man claimed
he was paid by the woman to
hand over applications for a
nurse and driver.
“The woman gave me forms
for a nurse and a driver which
were approved,” he said in his
statement to the Public Prosecution.
“She paid me BD60 for the
visas and BD20 for my work.
“I never knew anything about
this woman again until February 2011 when I was called by
authorities.”
The woman earlier denied
the charges at the Public Prosecution and in court.