Newborn Iqama in Saudi Arabia: Add Your Baby After Passport

Short answer: after your baby has a Saudi birth certificate and an Indian passport, the head of the family (usually the father) adds the baby to the family record in Absher using the “Add Newborn” service (إضافة مولود), and the baby gets a dependent Iqama. Jawazat charges no fee to add a dependent born in Saudi Arabia, but the monthly dependent fee and health insurance apply.

Last checked: November 2026.

This is the last step of three. If you have not finished the first two, start here:

1. Get the Saudi birth certificate
2. Get the Indian passport for your newborn
3. Add the baby to your Iqama (this guide)

The full timeline at a glance

Step 1: Register the birth (birth certificate)

Absher’s Register Newborn service lets resident parents register the birth online and have the Saudi birth certificate delivered to their national address. You select the newborn, confirm the details, choose your address and pay the delivery fee (my.gov.sa). Absher’s service guide says that for a resident’s baby, registration through this online service must be within 30 days of the birth. Full steps, including the office route, are in our birth certificate guide.

Step 2: Add the baby to health insurance (do this in the first month)

Your baby needs active health insurance before the Iqama can be issued. The law says a residence permit may not be granted without a health insurance policy (CHI).

• The baby’s treatment is covered on the mother’s policy for up to 30 days from birth.
• You must tell your employer within 30 days of the birth so the baby is added to a policy from the date of birth. Give the insurer the birth notification or birth certificate.
• For private-sector workers, the employer pays the premium for employees and their dependents. It cannot charge you for it.

All three points come from the Insurance Authority’s FAQ (ia.gov.sa). If both parents work, the IA says children are insured as dependents under the father, unless the mother’s employer chooses to add them. Check the result with our guide to checking health insurance by Iqama (use the mother’s or baby’s number as the insurer advises).

Step 3: Indian passport

Every child born in Saudi Arabia to Indian parents must be registered with the Indian Embassy in Riyadh or the Consulate in Jeddah within one year of birth, and gets a separate passport; a child cannot be added to a parent’s passport (Embassy of India). The Embassy also says there is no need to bring the baby to the passport centre. The citizenship registration and the passport are applied for together through VFS. Our newborn passport guide has the documents, fees and steps. You cannot add the baby to your Iqama without the baby’s own passport.

Step 4: Add the newborn to your Iqama in Absher

Absher lists an e-service called “إضافة مولود” (Add Newborn), which it describes as letting the resident head of household add a newborn born inside Saudi Arabia. Use it once the passport is ready.

1. Pay any fees shown first. The Jawazat fee to add a dependent born in the Kingdom is free (Jawazat fees). The monthly dependent fee still applies to the baby as a dependent; see Iqama fees and the dependent fee. Pay government fees through your bank’s SADAD government payments if Absher asks for them.
2. Log in to Absher Individuals (website or app) with the head of family’s account and approve the login in Nafath or by SMS code.
3. Open the family members services and choose Add Newborn. Menu names can change, so search the services list for “newborn” or “مولود” if you can’t see it.
4. Select the baby and enter the passport details exactly as printed in the Indian passport.
5. Read the conditions on screen. Absher shows the conditions for the service before you submit. If it lists a problem (for example insurance or unpaid fees), fix it and try again.
6. Submit and save the reference number.
7. Get the Iqama. Absher has a separate service, “طلب توصيل هوية مقيم” (request delivery of resident ID), which the employer or head of family can use to have the Iqama card delivered. Check your family members list in Absher to confirm the baby now shows an Iqama number.

We could not open the Add Newborn service screen itself (it needs a login), so the exact fields may differ slightly from the steps above.

If Add Newborn is not available for your case

Absher also has Tawasul (تواصل), which lets you send a request to Jawazat online and track it. Many residents have used Tawasul for newborn Iqama requests by uploading the documents as one PDF. If Tawasul does not work for you, book a Jawazat appointment through Absher and take the documents in person.

Documents to keep ready

• Baby’s Saudi birth certificate
• Baby’s Indian passport
• Health insurance covering the baby
• Father’s and mother’s Iqama and passport copies
• Recent photo of the baby on a white background
• Marriage certificate (needed in earlier steps; keep a copy)

Absher may not ask for all of these online, but Jawazat can ask for them if you go in person or use Tawasul.

Common problems and fixes

FAQs

How much does a newborn Iqama cost?

Jawazat lists “adding a dependent born in the Kingdom” as free. You still pay the monthly dependent fee for the baby, and the employer pays health insurance for private-sector workers’ dependents.

Is there a deadline to add a newborn to the Iqama?

We could not find an official deadline on Jawazat’s website. Older Jawazat answers quoted in the press mention a fine for adding a Saudi-born child more than a year after birth. Remember the other deadlines: 30 days to register the birth online, 30 days to tell your employer for insurance, and one year to register the birth with the Indian Embassy. Add the baby as soon as the passport arrives.

Can the mother add the baby if she sponsors the family?

Absher describes Add Newborn as a service for the resident head of household. If the mother sponsors the children on her own work visa, ask Jawazat (call 992 or use Tawasul) which account should add the baby.

Can my baby travel before the Iqama is issued?

Plan travel after the Iqama is issued. Exit re-entry visas for family members are issued in Absher for people on your family record, so the baby must be added first.

Sources: Embassy of India Riyadh, Birth Registration & Passport for new born (eoiriyadh.gov.in); National Portal, Register Newborn Service (my.gov.sa/en/services/112099); Absher public services list incl. “إضافة مولود”, “تواصل” and “طلب توصيل هوية مقيم” (absher.sa); Jawazat fees (gdp.gov.sa); Insurance Authority FAQ (ia.gov.sa); Cooperative Health Insurance Law, Article 3 (chi.gov.sa).