Nobody thinks about their Iqama until the moment they actually need it. You’re at the bank opening an account, or topping up your mobile line, or booking a ticket home, and the person across the counter asks when it expires. And you go blank. Then comes that little knot in the stomach. Did it lapse? When did I even last check?
You can skip all of that. Checking your Iqama takes two minutes, it doesn’t cost a single riyal, and you can do it lying in bed if you want. No agent. No office. No middleman charging you for a two-tap job.
These are the ways that work in 2026. Some need an Absher login, some don’t.
Keep these ready
Your Iqama card, mainly. That 10-digit number does most of the work. Checking for someone else, or you only have their passport in hand? Then the passport number and nationality will do instead. And whatever method you pick, keep your phone next to you, because most of them text a code before they let you in.
Also, and people forget this, checking is free. Always. You pay to renew the thing. Never to look at it.
Absher (what most people use)
Absher is the Ministry of Interior’s platform. If you’ve got an account, it shows you pretty much everything.
The website version: head to absher.sa, choose Individuals, log in with your username or Iqama number and password. Enter the code they text over. Then it’s My Services, Passports, Resident ID Services, and the Iqama expiry inquiry. Punch in your number, type the image code, hit view. Your expiry date pops up in both Hijri and Gregorian.
Code not arriving? Don’t hammer the button. Give it a minute, ask again. If it’s still dead, your registered number is probably out of date, and that’s a proper fix, not something you can dodge.
Personally I’d just use the app. Download “Absher Individuals,” log in, tap your name at the top, and there it is. Switch on fingerprint or Face ID while you’re in the settings. Next time it’s a five-second thing.
And poke around a bit while you’re logged in. Absher isn’t only the expiry date. Number of SIMs registered on your Iqama, your dependents, traffic fines, exit and re-entry status, it’s all sitting in there. Worth a look. People find things they had no idea were on their file.
No Absher? HRSD has you covered
Loads of people don’t have a working Absher login. Totally fine. The labour ministry site, hrsd.gov.sa (half the office still calls it MOL), lets you check with just your Iqama number and a captcha. No account needed. Shows the expiry in both calendars.
One catch. It runs a day or two behind. Renewed yesterday and it still says expired? Relax. Give it a day.
Only a passport number? Muqeem
Maybe you’re checking on a relative back home, or you haven’t even landed yet and there’s no card to read from. Muqeem, over at muqeem.sa, runs off the passport number and nationality. It’s an ELM service, an official MOI partner, mostly used by companies for their staff, but it works fine for a personal check too. Details in, captcha done, answer out.
The easy one: Tawakkalna
You almost certainly already have Tawakkalna on your phone for something. Open it. Your digital Iqama is right there in the profile, expiry and all, along with your profession and sponsor. Plenty of offices now take that digital ID instead of the plastic card. Easiest check on the whole list, and there’s nothing wrong with easy when it does the job.
Reading it, and the mistake everyone makes
Valid or Expired, plus a date. Watch the date, though. The Hijri and Gregorian numbers won’t match, so read the one you actually plan your life around, or you’ll scare yourself by a couple of weeks for nothing.
Now the big one. A valid Iqama does not mean you can travel. Your exit and re-entry permit, and your visa, are separate things. I once watched a guy get turned around at Jeddah airport holding a perfectly valid Iqama, because his re-entry visa had quietly run out and nobody thought to check. So before you book anything, check both. Both.
Don’t leave the renewal late
Checking is really about catching the renewal in time. Officially you’re supposed to renew at least three days before expiry. Three days. That’s mad, don’t work to that. Miss it and the first fine matches your renewal cost. Miss it again and it doubles. Keep missing it and you’re not talking about fines anymore, you’re talking about deportation. On top of that, an expired Iqama can freeze your bank and lock you out of Absher until it’s cleared.
So don’t gamble with it. Check once a month, and get the renewal moving around 60 to 90 days out, so your sponsor has room to pay and file without a last-minute mess.
When it won’t work
“No record found” is nearly always a typo, or the nationality doesn’t match the file. Check that before assuming the worst. Captcha refusing you? It’s just gone stale on the screen, refresh and retype it. “Service unavailable” at 2am is usually maintenance on their side, so come back in fifteen.
And only ever type your details into absher.sa, hrsd.gov.sa or muqeem.sa. Those “instant Iqama check” sites floating around, ignore them completely. Your Iqama and passport numbers are not something to hand over to a website you found on the third page of Google.
That’s the whole thing. Two minutes a month, and you’re never the one stuck at the counter guessing.