Your Iqama (Residence Permit) is the document you need to keep with you every time. If at any point in time, you are found without having legal Iqama with you, you will be fine which may vary according to the frequency you have caught in.

Please remember, you are not living in your own country, neither are you living in some European or American country where the provision of residence permit number will be enough for the proof that you are a legal resident of the company. You will have to produce your Original Iqama to the officer asking for it.

What is the fine if caught without Iqama for the first time?

If you are caught for the first time without Iqama and your Iqama is still valid, you would be detained and locked up in a Jail. After that, you would be allowed to call to someone who has access to your Original Iqama.

Let’s say, you have Iqama at home so you can call your brother or friend to pick it from there and bring it to the Police station. After producing the original iqama, you would be released and the government will impose a fine penalty of SR 1,000/- for not producing the Iqama on demand.

Recently it has been published in the Saudi Gazette that there will be no more detention in case an employee is caught without Iqama.

What is the fine if caught without Iqama for the second time?

If you are caught for the second time without Iqama, it means you are in habit of making violations of the Law. The Same procedure would be followed with the exception of the amount of iqama fine. This time, SR 2000 Iqama fine will be imposed for the repeated violation.

A warning will be given that if the mistake is repeated the third time, consequences may lead to deportation.

What is the fine if caught without Iqama for the third time?

If you are caught without Iqama for the third time, consequences are really very serious. This time you will have to call your Kafeel along with the original Iqama.

A fine of SR 3,000/- will be imposed upon the person making the violation. Moreover, the government will make arrangements for the deportation. 

Gulf News has reported that a plan to ban the deported expatriates from one GCC country from entering on work visas in any other GCC country has been finalized.  To know about the status of the implementation, click on this link “GCC Wide Ban on Deported Expatriates of GCC Countries”

What if my Iqama is under renewal?

A couple of years ago, sponsors used to hand over a letter to their employees stating that their Iqama is under renewal. At that time, this letter used to be treated a piece of sufficient evidence in lieu of Iqama. However, now the Iqama renewal process is online so this letter would not be acceptable to any authority.

What if my Iqama is lost?

We have explained in detail in this article about the procedure you need to adopt in case Iqama is lost. If any official asks you about the Iqama, you can show him the police report if it is recently generated.

Again, if a police report is more than one month old, that official has every right to declining this report as replacement of producing Iqama on demand.