IOR/R/15/2/1391-1409

The British Agency, Bahrain maintained the residency register and also birth, marriage and death registers for British and British Indian subjects living in Bahrain. Other foreign nationals resident in Bahrain and entitled to British protection could voluntarily register themselves and their children as British protected persons.

In his official capacity as registrar for the Bahrain registration district, the Political Agent, Bahrain solemnized civil marriages in Bahrain between Christian subjects and issued birth, marriage and death certificates. These registers and other records kept by the British Agency, Bahrain provided the total number of British, British Indians and British protected persons living in the Bahrain registration district. The Political Agent, Bahrain had to regularly submit these figures to the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, Bushire, in the form of quarterly and annual statistical returns, reporting any problems in maintaining registrations and compiling reliable statistics.

The Political Agent, Bahrain was also responsible for the following: issuing British documents of travel, identity, introduction and recommendation to Bahrain residents and others travelling abroad and returning to Bahrain; the receipt and refunding of the mandatory Repatriation Guarantee money deposits paid by Bahrain businesses and private residents who recruited domestic servants and other workers from foreign countries and brought them to Bahrain.

The Political Agent, Bahrain also worked closely with the Bahrain State authorities over repatriations and deportations of foreigners from Bahrain; passport controls over foreign visitors to Bahrain from Persia and other neighbouring countries.