Saudi Gazette THERE is no exemption for the newborns in the new dependent fee for expatriates working in the private sector, according to the General Directorate of Passports (Jawazat). The fee will be levied after registration of birth with retrospective effect from the date of birth, the Jawazat said in a statement issued on Wednesday. The fees will be levied annually in advance against any dependent or companion of an expatriate worker in the private sector at the time of issuance or renewal of ‘Resident’ (muqeem) identity or issuance of an exit and re-entry visa or a final exit visa. The fee will be non-refundable. The payment of the fee is applicable to all nationalities but there will be an exemption for those who already enjoy exemption from payment of iqama fee. The monthly fee per head is SR100 effective from July 2017 and this will be increased to SR200, SR300, and SR400 from the first day of July 2018, 2019 and 2020 respectively. Jawazat started levying the dependent fee under a mechanism introduced in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance and the National Information Center in pursuant with an earlier Cabinet decision approving the Fiscal Balancing Program of 2020. Under it fees will be levied on all dependents (tabie) and companions (murafiq) of expatriates working in the private sector gradually way and on annual basis. The fee shall be paid in the category of ‘Associate Fees for a Specific Associate or All Associates’ in the Alien Control segment in the government services section of SADAD bills available at online systems of all local banks in the Kingdom. “All necessary adjustments have been made on automated iqama system (residency permit) to cope with the new amendments,” the statement said. Regarding the issuance of a final exit visa for an expatriate worker or his dependent and/or a companion, fee will be paid for the period from July 1, 2017 until the date of the issuance of the final exit visa (departure date). In case the validity of the final exit visa exceeds the validity period of iqama, the fee for the overlapping period between validity of the visa and iqama shall be paid, the Jawazat statement said. According to the Cabinet decision, the associates include dependents — wife, sons under 18, and daughters; and companions who are sons above 18 years of age, second, third, or fourth wife or wives, father, mother, father-in-law, mother-in-law, domestic workers and any expatriate whose name is registered in the system as sponsored by an expatriate worker.