Before you start

A signed offer from an employer registered with the LMRA and holding available quota
Attested degree certificates for professional and regulated roles
Passport valid well beyond six months
A medical examination — before travel in some countries, and again in Bahrain

Step-by-step

1
Employer applies to the LMRA for the work permit
The company applies through its LMRA account against its expatriate quota. Bahrainisation ratios cap how many non-Bahrainis a firm may hold in each activity, so the availability of a permit is a fact about the employer, not about you. Ask whether the quota exists before you resign anywhere.
Via employerWho: Your employer's PROWeeksEmployer-borne, including a recurring monthly LMRA levy per expatriate worker
2
Enter on the work visa and complete the Bahraini medical
You arrive on the visa the permit generates, then complete the required medical examination at an approved centre. This gates the residence permit, so book it in your first days rather than your first month.
In personWho: YouFirst weekModest; usually employer-paid
3
NPRA issues the residence permit
The residence permit is a separate document from a separate authority. It is easy to assume the LMRA permit is your residence — it is not, and the two can fall out of step if an employer cancels one and not the other. Get sight of both.
Via employerWho: Employer, with you attending where requiredDays to a few weeks after the medicalEmployer-borne
4
Register for the CPR card and get the number in writing
Biometrics and registration on the Central Population Register produce the CPR card. Nothing else in Bahrain works without the number — not a bank account, not a lease registration, not a SIM in your name, not a driving licence. Photograph the card the day you receive it.
In personWho: YouSame week as the residence permitSmall government fee
5
Set up bahrain.bh and the eKey login
The national portal handles traffic fines, EWA, lease registration checks and most government payments, authenticated by an eKey tied to your CPR. Setting it up early turns half a dozen counter visits into phone taps. Do it before you need it.
OnlineWho: YouSame day as the CPRFree
6
Confirm your family's route before you move them
Dependant residence requires your own permit and CPR, income sufficient in NPRA's assessment, and attested marriage and birth certificates. Attestation from your home country is the bottleneck and cannot be done retrospectively at speed. Start it before you fly.
In personWho: You, with your employer's PROBegin before departure; weeks after your own CPRPer-dependant fees plus attestation costs abroad

Documents you’ll need

Passport with the work visa
Attested degree certificates and professional registrations
Bahraini medical clearance
LMRA work permit and NPRA residence permit — both, separately
CPR card

Things most newcomers don’t know

The Flexible Work Permit is closed, and the internet has not caught up.

Between 2017 and 2022 Bahrain ran the only genuine self-sponsorship permit for ordinary workers in the Gulf — the flexi permit let you hold residence and work for whoever you liked. The LMRA discontinued applications and issuance in October 2022 and gave existing holders a three-month grace period. Pages published this year still describe it as available, complete with fee tables. If a plan for moving to Bahrain depends on the flexi permit, that plan does not exist.

Source: LMRA; Fragomen, October 2022

Two authorities issue your two documents, and one can lapse without the other.

The LMRA grants the right to work; NPRA grants the right to be here. Most Gulf systems bundle these. In Bahrain an employer can cancel an LMRA permit on termination while the NPRA residence still shows as valid for a period, which gives people a false sense of how much time they have. When anything changes with your employment, ask specifically about both records rather than about 'your visa'.

Source: LMRA and NPRA service definitions

There is no exit permit, and that is a bigger deal than it sounds.

Anyone moving from Saudi Arabia will have organised their life around exit and re-entry permissions. Bahrain has no equivalent: a valid residence permit lets you leave and return without asking anyone. It removes an entire category of admin and makes regional travel and short-notice trips home genuinely straightforward, which is one of the quiet reasons people who have worked across the Gulf tend to rate Bahrain highly.

Source: NPRA residence permit conditions

Golden Residency is tested on basic salary over five years, not on your package.

NPRA's employee route requires five continuous years of Bahraini residence and an average basic monthly salary of at least BD 2,000 across that period. Gulf packages are frequently structured with a modest basic and large housing and transport allowances, which is efficient for the employer and can quietly disqualify you from the only permanent status Bahrain offers. If long-term residence matters to you, the basic-versus-allowance split at offer stage is the decision that determines it.

Source: NPRA — Golden Residency conditions

Common mistakes to avoid

Planning a move around the flexi permit, which has been closed to new applicants since October 2022.
Assuming the LMRA work permit and the NPRA residence permit are one document.
Delaying the CPR card and then finding the bank, the landlord and the phone shop all refuse you.
Accepting an allowance-heavy package without realising basic salary is what Golden Residency is measured on.
Leaving marriage and birth certificate attestation until after you have arrived.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.