Bahrain CV format: how to write a CV for jobs in Manama and across Bahrain

What LMRA checks before it issues a work permit

Every expatriate in Bahrain's private sector needs a work permit from the LMRA, and the employer, not the worker, applies through the authority's Expat Management System. The LMRA's service page lists what it needs for a new permit: the passport, valid for at least six months, with the first name and the father's or family name on the first page, and for Indian and Pakistani nationals also the page with the father's or spouse's name and the old passport number; a medical report no older than two months, done at a centre accredited by the Gulf Health Council (Wafid) when the worker is abroad; and, for specialised occupations such as teachers, doctors, engineers and some banking roles, an approval letter or no-objection certificate from the relevant authority. The employer chooses a permit period that matches the contract. LMRA quotes three working days for workers already in Bahrain and 21 working days for workers abroad, and charges a BHD 30 advertisement fee on applications from abroad. The labour market law also cancels a permit obtained with false documents or information (Law 19/2006, Article 26). The tips below are practice.

• Spell your name in the CV header exactly as in your passport, in the same order, because the permit and residence card will follow the passport.
• Use a job title that matches the occupation you are being hired for; if it is a regulated profession, say which licence or approval you hold or have applied for.
• If you have lived in Bahrain before, note it: LMRA reuses your old personal number when an employer applies for you again.

Bahrainisation: the 21-day wait and the Bahraini hiring rate

Bahrain gives its citizens a first chance at private-sector jobs. In a written reply to Parliament reported by the Gulf Daily News in February 2026, the labour minister said that when an employer wants to recruit a worker from outside Bahrain, approval of the work permit is delayed for 21 days, during which the vacancy must be advertised in local Arabic-language newspapers for seven days and qualified Bahraini candidates must be interviewed; suitable vacancies also go on the National Employment Platform. The same reply counted 505,998 expatriates working legally in the private sector under 2,582 job titles. Each employer also has a Bahrainisation target rate set by its approved business activities, which it can look up on the LMRA website. Under the Parallel Bahrainisation System, applied to new permits from 2 May 2016 and to renewals from 2 May 2017, an employer below its rate can still obtain permits by paying an extra fee per permit, or it can hire Bahrainis to meet the rate. The rate also matters when you change jobs, because LMRA can refuse a transfer if the new employer lacks the required Bahrainisation quota. The tips below are practice.

• Bahraini candidates should register as job seekers with the Ministry of Labour; graduates of foreign universities attach proof that they have asked for their qualification to be verified.
• Expatriates applying from abroad should make clear in the summary what they offer that a local candidate may not, such as a licence, a rare specialism or years in a named system.
• If you are already in Bahrain, say so at the top with your permit status, because the 21-day advertising period applies to recruitment from outside Bahrain.

Degrees: validation rather than equivalency since 2022

Bahrain changed how it checks degrees in 2022. The Ministry of Education's page on the national portal says that, on the government's instructions to simplify services, the old endorsement and evaluation of qualifications was replaced by validation procedures run with partners in the public and private sectors, and that applications under the old system were evaluated only until 26 November 2022. According to the Gulf Daily News of 31 August 2022, the ministry gave the checking of certificates to two specialised private firms, scrapped the rule that matched foreign degrees to local standards and kept only a check of core credentials, and exempted graduates of the University of Bahrain and Bahrain Polytechnic. Bahrain Business Gate reported in November 2022 that the National Health Regulatory Authority (NHRA) and the engineering council oversee medical and engineering degrees, the justice ministry checks law degrees, and for other fields verification is not mandatory for private employers, who may still use firms accredited by the ministry. Checks may tighten: in December 2025 a parliamentary committee backed a proposal for the LMRA to coordinate with the bodies that assess qualifications so that credentials are verified before permits are issued, while the LMRA said licensed professions already need the regulator's confirmation. As practice, list each degree with its exact title, university, country, mode of study and year, so that it can be matched with a verification report.

Attesting documents: when the apostille is enough

Unlike Kuwait, Bahrain is a party to the Hague Apostille Convention. The convention's status table, last updated on 30 June 2026, shows that Bahrain acceded on 10 April 2013 and that it entered into force there on 31 December 2013, so a public document from another member country can carry an apostille instead of a chain of embassy stamps. Bahrain's Ministry of Foreign Affairs offers both routes on the national portal: ordinary legalisation, where a document issued abroad is first legalised by the foreign ministry of the country of origin, and the apostille. Its legalisation offices include one in the LMRA building and one at the Bahrain Chamber. The education ministry's school-equivalency service shows how the two routes meet in practice: certificates need the stamps of the issuing country's education and foreign ministries and of the Bahraini embassy there, unless they carry an apostille, in which case they can be submitted directly. Workers in the LMRA's Registered Worker scheme, which issues permits through labour registration centres and links them to vocational standards, attach their professional certificates approved by their embassy where needed. As practice, ask your employer whether your permit needs an attested degree or a verification report, finish that step before you apply, and keep the reference numbers ready.

Engineers: a CRPEP licence and a month-by-month CV

Engineering is the one field where Bahrain spells out what the CV must contain. The national portal's service page for an engineer's licence from the Council for Regulating the Practice of Engineering Professions (CRPEP) asks for a detailed CV that sets out engineering experience in chronological order by month and year, together with the engineering degree, transcripts for every year of study, professional memberships, the employer's request letter and a job description listing the duties. Degrees from universities outside Bahrain, and the two longest relevant experience certificates gained outside Bahrain, must be verified by DataFlow Group or QuadraBay. A non-Bahraini applicant needs a valid contract with a company practising engineering in Bahrain and at least five consecutive years of professional engineering experience after graduation, and submits a good conduct certificate from the Interior Ministry after approval. The council issues licences in four categories based on years of experience, and it has warned that anyone doing engineering work under any job title, including a manager who designs layouts, consults, inspects or supervises operations, must be licensed, with prison and a fine of up to BD5,000 for violations, according to the Gulf Daily News in October 2020. The tips below are practice.

• Give every engineering role a start and end month, not just a year, and show unbroken experience where you have it, because the five years must be consecutive.
• Under each role, write the duties you actually performed in engineering terms, matching the job description your employer will submit.
• List professional memberships and any earlier licence with its number, since the council asks for copies of both.

Doctors and nurses: NHRA licensing comes first

Every health professional in Bahrain needs an NHRA licence, and LMRA treats doctors as an occupation that needs the regulator's approval. NHRA's Physicians Qualification Requirements, last updated in January 2024, say that licensing documents, including degrees, experience certificates, licences and the certificate of good standing, are verified directly with the issuing source, and that the certificate of good standing must be no older than six months and come from the regulator in the country of last employment. All physicians must pass NHRA's Bahrain Licensure Examination; only Bahraini or GCC nationals with a valid GCC licence are exempt. Non-Bahraini physicians must be no older than 65, unless exempted. NHRA counts as experience only salaried or contracted clinical work, not volunteer jobs, observerships, clinical attachments or electives. The Nursing Qualification Requirements, last updated in October 2022, require the Bahrain Nursing Licensure Examination, with the same exemption for Bahraini and GCC nationals holding a valid GCC licence, and at least six months of continuous work within the last three years where experience is needed. The tips below are practice.

• Keep observerships and volunteer clinical work in a separate section so that they are not read as counted experience.
• Write each post with the facility name, country, exact title and dates, because the experience certificates behind them will be verified with the facility.
• State the licensing exam you have passed and its date, since NHRA results are valid for five years.

Contract, probation and notice under Labour Law 36/2012

Private-sector jobs fall under Law 36/2012, the Labour Law for the Private Sector; the English text with its amendments is published by the Legislation and Legal Opinion Commission. The contract must be written in Arabic, or come with an Arabic version if drawn up in another language (Article 19), and it records the worker's name, date of birth, qualifications, occupation, nationality and identification details (Article 20). Probation is allowed only if the contract says so and may not exceed three months, or six months for occupations named by ministerial resolution; either side may end the contract during probation with one day's notice, and a worker may be put on probation only once by the same employer (Article 21). Either party may end an open-ended contract with 30 days' notice, and a longer period may be agreed when the employer is the one ending it; a worker given notice by the employer may take one paid day, or eight paid hours, a week to look for a job (Article 99). On request, the employer must give a free certificate stating the dates, type of job, wage, experience and skills (Article 13). A non-compete clause is valid only if the worker was at least 18 when signing, and it is limited to one year and to the place and type of work needed to protect the employer (Article 73). The tips below are practice.

• Write a notice period of 30 days, or the longer period in your contract, and no more than 90 days if you are transferring, since LMRA works within that range.
• Ask for the Article 13 certificate when you leave each job; it is free and confirms the dates and title on your CV.
• Never inflate a qualification or reference: under Article 107 an employer may dismiss a worker without notice or compensation for false certificates or references.

Changing employer and occupation inside Bahrain

Bahrain allows expatriates to move between employers more freely than some neighbours. The labour market law lets a worker transfer to another employer without the current employer's consent after at least one year in the current job (Law 19/2006, Article 25). The LMRA's transfer service sets out the steps: the worker serves the notice in the contract, 30 days or up to 90, and sends the resignation through Bahrain Post or attaches a no-objection or termination letter from the employer. Before 12 months under the current permit, the employer must approve the transfer; after 12 months, if the employer does not act within seven days, the system approves it once the notice ends. A transfer is not allowed in the last three months of the permit without the employer's consent, and the new employer must have the required Bahrainisation quota and apply at least a month before the transfer date. Employers can also change a worker's occupation without cancelling the permit, but specialised occupations need an approval no older than six months from the competent authority. The tips below are practice.

• If you are already in Bahrain, state in the header when you will complete 12 months under your current permit, because it decides whether your employer's approval is needed.
• If your permit occupation differs from the job you want, mention that the role needs an occupation change and, for regulated roles, a fresh approval.

Layout and honesty: what works with Bahrain employers

These points are practice. For the general layout of a Gulf CV, with experience in reverse order, dated roles and a clear skills section, see our UAE, Saudi, Qatar, Oman and Kuwait CV pages linked below; the same structure works in Bahrain. We found no reliable Bahraini source on whether a CV should include a photo, date of birth or marital status, so we make no recommendation on them; your date of birth and nationality will in any case go into the Arabic contract under Article 20 of the Labour Law. What Bahrain adds is a set of checks your CV should survive: the passport spelling LMRA uses, the regulator's approval for licensed jobs, the engineering council's month-by-month experience, NHRA's verification of every certificate, and the Labour Law's power to dismiss for false certificates. An Arabic version helps for many local roles because the contract is in Arabic. If you already work in Bahrain and have a problem with wages, your contract or your employer, the Ministry of Labour registers private-sector labour complaints free of charge on 17873637 and 17873919, and the LMRA runs the 995 hotline through its Expat Protection Centre.