My iqama has expired in Saudi Arabia: what do I do?
Tell your employer today, and get the iqama renewed. Check any fine with your employer or on Absher before anyone pays. On the work permit side, overdue work permit fees must be paid off when the licence is renewed.
Checked 8 November 2026
If this is you
Your iqama has passed its end date and you are still in Saudi Arabia.
If you miss it
The Labour Law says your employer pays the iqama and work permit fees and their renewal, and fines caused by the employer's delay. Check any fine with your employer or on Absher before anyone pays.
Official page: Absher. Check any fine with your employer or on Absher before anyone pays.
What to do now
- Find the end date printed on your iqama.
- Tell your employer today, in writing if you can. Ask who will renew it and when.
- If you are a domestic worker, ask your household employer to renew it from their Absher account.
- Before anyone pays, check any fine with your employer or on Absher.
- If your employer will not renew it, or asks you to pay, see where to complain.
- Keep the receipt and the new end date.
This also affects
The fine
Check any fine with your employer or on Absher before anyone pays.
If it stays expired
For a company worker, Absher's guide lists paying the iqama fee and any delay fine as conditions of renewal, so the renewal waits until they are paid.
If your employer will not renew it, or asks you to pay, see where to complain.
What is paid at renewal
HRSD's fee rules say that overdue work permit fees must be paid off when the licence is renewed.
The same rules say that fees for earlier years are charged at today's rate. They also say that overdue amounts cannot be paid in instalments.
Read the amount on the payment screen before anyone pays.
Who renews it
- Company worker: the business owner renews the worker's iqama online on Absher Business, under My Business Services, then Iqama Renewal.
- Domestic worker: the employer renews a domestic worker's iqama from their own Absher account (Workers, Services, Issue Resident ID), once it has under 14 months left.
Who pays to renew your iqama has both routes.
Absher's company guide says that before the employer renews: the worker is in Saudi Arabia, fees and any delay fine are paid, traffic fines are paid, fingerprints and photo are done, the medical is passed, medical insurance is in place, the passport is valid and the worker is not registered as absent from work.