Bahrain Raises Consular Fees, Allows Payment in Local Currency

TDT | Manama

Email: mail@newsofbahrain.com

Dr AbdullatifAl Zayani, Minister of Foreign Affairrs, has announced significant revisions to consular fees.  The new regulations, effective upon publication in the official gazette, affect a total of 107 transactions, encompassing 71 civil and 36 commercial services. The most substantial changes impact commercial transactions. 

Fees for these services have been raised by as much as 400%, with many previously costing between BD 10and BD 20.  Under the new structure, most commercial transaction fees are standardised at BD 40, regardless of whether the applicant is Bahraini or foreign. Commercial transactions subject to the increased fees include the authentication of commercial agreements, labour recruitment agreements, company bylaws, commercial invoices, tenders and related documents, company sales or liquidation, investment authorisations, ship and trademark registration, share transfers, real estate sales and purchase authorisations, commercial agencies, registers, manufacturing certificates, and other similar services. 

Civil transactions, on the other hand, will see fees ranging from BD 10 to BD 20 per transaction. These include the authentication of school and university certificates, graduation statements, medical reports, school records, certificates of good conduct, marriage certificates, ownership certificates, fingerprint certificates, vehicle registrations, and other similar documents. A notable adjustment concerns the authentication of commercial invoices. 

The new fee structure is tiered based on invoice value: BD 10 for invoices under BD 1,000; increasing incrementally with invoice value to BD 200 for invoices exceeding BD 100,000; and finally, reaching 0.20%of the invoice value for amounts over BD 200,000. The Undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs forConsular and Administrative Affairs has been tasked with implementing the decree.  The revised fee schedule will come into effect immediately upon its official publication.