Your baby will have a birth certificate issued in Arabic after their birth, so it is your job to then have that translated into English or your native language. After that, you'll need their passport, a residency visa and an Emirates ID in order to receive legal residency status for your child in Dubai and the UAE.

Giving birth in Dubai in 2026 involves navigating a world-class healthcare system paired with strict legal requirements. The most important fact for expatriates is that the UAE follows the principle of jus sanguinis (right of blood), meaning a baby born on Emirati soil does not automatically receive UAE citizenship unless one parent is an Emirati national. For foreign parents, the baby inherits the parents' nationality. To register the birth, an attested marriage certificate is mandatory; hospitals cannot issue a birth notification without one. Once born, parents have 30 days to register the birth with the Dubai Health Authority to obtain a birth certificate. Following this, there is a "race against the clock" (usually 120 days) to obtain a passport from the home country's consulate and apply for a residency visa for the newborn. Failure to secure the baby's legal status within this timeframe can lead to significant daily fines. The cost of a private delivery package typically ranges from AED 10,000 to AED 30,000, while complex cases or luxury suites can exceed AED 50,000.