Guide summary: This guide begins when the newborn has the civil, passport and entry records needed for Saudi residence. The sponsoring parent then prepares the child’s linked Absher record, insurance and any case-specific requirements, pays only the amounts displayed by official systems, and uses Family Member Services → Iqama Issuance. Registering a Saudi birth and obtaining an entry visa for a child born abroad are separate processes.
What this guide covers
This is the canonical guide to the child’s first dependant Iqama. It does not replace the Civil Affairs process for registering a birth or obtaining a Saudi birth certificate. It also does not explain how to obtain the child’s national passport or a Saudi residence entry visa overseas.
The General Directorate of Passports’ official service allows a beneficiary to issue an Iqama for an electronically registered family member through Absher. The person must be in Saudi Arabia and hold a valid passport. A child who is still abroad cannot receive an Iqama through this workflow merely because a parent is resident in the Kingdom.
Identify the newborn’s route
Child born in Saudi Arabia
Complete the hospital notification and Civil Affairs birth registration first, then obtain the child’s passport from the relevant nationality authority. Check that the Arabic and English names, dates, parents and nationality are consistent across the birth record and passport. Birth registration is evidence of the birth; it is not the Iqama application.
Child born outside Saudi Arabia
Obtain the child’s passport and the correct Saudi permission for residence, then ensure the child enters Saudi Arabia lawfully and the border record is linked. This article starts after entry. A visit visa is not a shortcut to dependant residence, and the Iqama-issuance service cannot be used to invent a missing residence-entry record.
Prepare the child’s record
- The child’s valid passport and, for an overseas-born child, the residence entry and border details.
- The registered Saudi birth record for a child born in the Kingdom, or the accepted foreign birth evidence for the applicable case.
- The sponsoring parent’s valid Iqama and active Absher account.
- Health insurance recorded against the child where required by the live service.
- A recent photograph and any age-appropriate biometric requirement displayed by Absher. Do not apply an adult fingerprint rule automatically to a newborn.
- A current delivery address if postal delivery is offered.
- Marriage, translation, authentication or name-correction documents only where the record or official case handler requests them.
Absher’s general Iqama service conditions also refer to payment of issuance charges, any recorded delay penalty and applicable traffic violations, as well as medical requirements. For a newborn, follow the requirements actually attached to the child’s record. Do not pay a fixed ‘newborn Iqama fee’ copied from an old guide. Use the amount, if any, generated by the official service or government-payment channel and keep the receipt.
Issue the Iqama in Absher
- Sign in to the sponsoring parent’s official Absher Individuals account and complete the one-time-code check.
- Open Family Member Services, not Worker Services.
- Select Iqama Issuance and read the current instructions and conditions.
- Choose the newborn by name or linked border/identity record. Stop if the child is missing or another person’s details appear.
- Resolve each prerequisite shown. If payment is requested, use the official government-payment reference and verify the child or sponsor identifiers and displayed amount before authorising it.
- Check the child’s name, passport number, nationality, date of birth, sex and parent relationship carefully, then submit.
- Save the confirmation and request delivery through the official option where available.
- After issuance, view the digital record and check every detail. Report an error promptly rather than allowing it to flow into insurance, travel or school records.
Limits and common problems
Do not upload a bundle through Tawasul merely because an old article says every newborn needs a manual request. The standard online route should be tried when the child is correctly registered and eligible. Equally, do not keep resubmitting when the passport, border number, birth record or insurance has not linked: the source record normally needs correction.
This guide does not state a universal deadline, penalty, processing time or document list for every newborn case. The live service and an official response for the named child take priority, particularly for late registration, children born abroad, mixed-nationality families, absent parents, custody issues or conflicting names.
When to get help
Contact the hospital or Civil Affairs if the Saudi birth notification or certificate is wrong. Contact the child’s embassy or passport authority for passport problems. Use Absher support for a missing family-member service or technical failure. Use Tawasul or visit Jawazat when the official system directs you there, when the child’s entry or family link is missing, or when an eligible record remains blocked after the underlying source has been corrected.