How to register a birth in the UAE

When it comes to paperwork and processes in UAE, we know it can be very overwhelming, especially when you have just given birth. From birth notices to passports, visas and emirates ID, there are quite a few steps to make sure your newest family member is sorted with all their papers in order. 

First things first, your marriage certificate. If you were not married in the UAE, you would need to make sure that your marriage certificate is attested by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) and to do that it must first be attested in the country, it was issued. Once that is done you can to apply for attestation at MOFA. We suggest you get these papers in order while you are still pregnant and they can take a little bit of time.

Once your baby arrives, you will have 30 days in which to get a birth certificate before you start incurring fines. Depending on if you gave birth in either a government hospital or private will depend upon the process of getting the birth certificate. For government hospitals, they will automatically issue you a certificate, but for private, you will need to apply to the Ministry of Health (MOH) to obtain one. Keep in mind that all private hospitals will issue you a Notification of Birth in Arabic, this is not the same as the birth certificate. 

To apply for the birth certificate, you will need the following documents

1. Original and copies of parents’ passports with residence permits

2. Original (attested) marriage certificate

3. The discharge summary from the hospital for mother and child

4. Notification of Birth (from the hospital)

You might be reading all of this and feeling like it all sounds a bit complicated and a lot of running around which you probably don’t want to be doing so soon after delivering your baby. In this case, we would recommend using a door- to door service called Baby Steps that offers a simple, reliable way of processing the newborn birth certificate, they will collect and return all documents to your door. The service starts at AED 570 and takes two to three working days.

Passport, Visa and Emirates ID.

From the day your baby is born, you will have 120 days to process their passport, residency visa and Emirates ID. If you are to exceed the 120 days, you may face fines of up to AED100 per day.

Passport

Ideally, before your baby is born, it is wise to check with your embassy what the procedure and timeline are for overseas passport applications. The details and fees will vary from country to country, but in most cases, you should allow for up to 10 -12 weeks, which is why we recommend you start this as soon as possible.

The Visa

All ex-pats living in the UAE no matter the age require a residency visa. The good news is that Baby Steps can also arrange this for you once you have baby’s passport. The fees for this service start from AED 1,750 and usually takes between takes five-ten working days. You may also be able to ask the help of your companies HR or PRO who may be able to aide with this process. If you want to do it yourself, you would need to visit the Tasheel office to have an application prepared, which the typist will complete for you, after which you would submit the along with the below documents to the Ministry of Immigration.

1. Sponsor’s original passport (father)

2. Mother’s passport copy with visa page (coloured copy – high resolution)

3. Baby’s passport original

4. Typing of the Emirates ID for baby

5. Baby’s Arabic and English original birth certificates

6. Two photos of the baby (eyes open and white background)

7. Tenancy contract registered with EJARI.

8. Both parents’ original Emirates IDs

9. Original marriage certificate attested in MOFA UAE

10. Salary certificate from the company

11. Labour contract (Dubai visa/Non-Free Zone visa)

12. Salary certificate (From the Free Zone Authority if you work in one)

The Emirates ID

Once you have the visa, visit your nearest Emirates ID Authority and apply for your newborn. To do this, you will need:

1. Application form for ID card

2. Original birth certificate or father’s original passport or Emirates ID

3. Copy of father’s Emirates ID card

4. Baby’s birth certificate issued by the UAE’s Ministry of Health

5. Baby’s passport

6. Residence visa for the newborn issued by the UAE’s Ministry of Interior

7. Passport photo of the baby (eyes open and a white background)

We hope this makes things a little easier for you and gives you more time to focus on your new bundle of joy rather than daunting paperwork!