Birth Certificate

How to get Birth Certificate for newborn baby in Saudi Arabia

A new baby in family is a great news. If you are blessed with a child in Saudi Arabia, here is what you need to do in order to obtain the birth certificate for him/her.

The hospital, where the child is born, will issue you a birth notification. You will get a day or two to decide the name of newborn and share it with hospital's relevant staff. They will issue the birth notification having information of father and mother (their nationality, passport and iqama numbers), along with foot-prints of newborn child. Most importantly, it will mention the name (first name only) of the newborn.

Note that this is NOT the birth certificate. It is just a requirement for the birth certificate. In Saudi Arabia, the department of Civil Affairs, which is known as "Ahwal Madaniya" in Arabic; is the authority that issues the official birth certificate. You need to find out (check with hospital staff who issued birth notification) the location of Civil Affairs office in your city. They have implemented an online system to get the appointment for submitting your application.

A sample Birth Certificate (provisional) issued by Civil Affairs department

Getting an appointment at Civil Affairs

Google for the Ministry of Interior Saudi Arabia and you will find the link to its site. Select the "Individual" tab, and look for the "Appointment Services" link. You will be taken to a screen to provide your ID and date of birth. Next, it will give you option to select the sector, district, city, office and service for your appointment. Even though there is an option for English language, the contents of drop-down lists will still be in Arabic. You can also choose your preferred time slot. It will give you a grid for all reservation windows in a week. You can choose one that suits you and proceed. Take a print of the reservation confirmation.

A screenshot of Civil Affair's website for Appointments

According to Ministry of Interior's web site, below documents are required to obtain the birth certificate (provisional) for your child:-

Non-Saudis requirements for obtaining Birth Certificate:

1. Original Birth Report by the relevant hospital.
2. Parents' original passports and a copy of each.
3. Parents' original Residence Permits and a copy of each.
4. All documents provided must be valid.
5. The specified # (87)-application form duly filled.

A provisional Birth Certificate valid for one year will be issued for the newborn. The original Birth Certificate is issued after a year having required medical vaccinations are completed.

Yes, the original passport of father is also required. Usually expat workers' passport is in custody of their sponsors so you will need to get it for this task. Reach the Civial Affairs office on appointment date and time. Take photocopies of all of above mentioned documents also. You will be issued a manual (hand-written) provisional birth certificate for your newborn on the same day. You have now completed major requirement to apply for your child's passport and Iqama (Saudi Residence Permit).

Note: Civil Affairs department does not charge any fee for issuing birth certificates. However, try getting the birth certificate for your newborn as soon as possible. If you keep delaying it for a year or more, you will have to pay some penalty fee as well as some further documents.