Obtaining Saudi Arabian Driving License (Dec 2023 — Jan 2024)
السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته
مرحبا بك!
Greetings, everyone!
I am a new student of a university in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. I am going to start to share some of my experience living here. It may not be in a sequential order, because I write when I have time and mood only. Today, it is about how to obtain the driving license.
Some of you may hold International Driving License, and may wonder whether it can be used in Saudi Arabia. Personally, I also have it but I have not come across a situation when I need or should use it. I also hear some conflicting statements from various people, such as it only valid for 1 year since arrival at the Kingdom, not valid at all, or can be used everywhere.
As I plan to hopefully insya Allah stay here for the near and not-so-near future, I think it will be beneficial to hold the Kingdom driving license. Here are the steps of my journey. Please note that there may be some difference for each branches.
Registration and Choosing Driving School
1. Open your Absher account (using web browser or desktop view)
2. Choose “Appointment” or “مواعيد” with the calendar logo
3. Choose المرور or “Traffic”with the car logo
4. Click “proceed”
5. Now, book for the placement test. Select the available driving school and test date.
The most popular one is in Takhassusi street (تخصصي) but there are many alternatives. Make sure to check the location before selecting, because you will come here at least 4 times in 2 months span. Too far from your house can be costly in terms of money and time.
I chose South Riyadh Driving School (جنوب الرياض) because it is reachable by using the Riyadh Bus (number 680, albeit you need to walk around 20 minutes from the bus stop). The driving school also have some staffs which can speak English, so it may help (or not, depend on your language skill). The driving instructor that taught me only know Arabic, so I depend on my limited Arabic and observation skills since it is practical lesson.
If there is no available date in your intended driving school, you can wait until Thursday at noon for new batch of appointments (no guarantee, though).
Placement Test and Payment
At the chosen date, print the appointment paper and come to the driving school. Bring along Iqama and make sure your phone has internet connection. After arrived at the driving school, come to the Registration Center and you will be asked to create an account on the driving school website. Prepare the QR code.
Then, proceed to the placement test site. The instructor will ask you to drive around the school track for up to several laps, and give you grade between Expert/Intermediate/Beginner.
Pro Tips: Before step on the pedal gas, check the near and far side mirror, also back mirror. Adjust the seat and seatbelt.
After get the assignment grade, you are obliged to attend the driving school. Login to your account the driving school’s website, and choose the date for the theoretical test and practical training lesson. Important: Choose the online theoretical lessons so you do not need to come to the school. Then, go to the payment room to pay the money for the driving lesson.
Please note that the better your driving skills, the less hours of training will be needed, so the driving lesson will cost less. I forgot the exact number, but Expert costs around 690 SAR for 4 hours theoretical lessons and 2 hours driving practice. For intermediate (900 SAR), and beginner (1200 SAR) I do not know the hours requirements.
Theoretical Lessons
Check your account and watch the theoretical driving lessons. Read the guidebook to be familiar with the rules and situation and prepared for the test. You should finish the lessons before the date of theoretical test.
Theoretical Test
After finishing the lessons, come to the driving school for the theoretical test. You need to pass certain score to pass the test (I forgot the number, but I got 26/30).
Practical Driving Lesson
You are required to come to the driving school at least around 30 minutes before. Then, you will work together with 1 instructor. He will drive around the track first, then ask you to drive by yourself. The instructor will also teach you on how to reverse park, diagonal park, and parallel park. It will take around 2 hours in a single meeting.
After finishing the practical lesson, around 1–2 days later the exam date will appear in your driving school account, which is around 1–2 weeks from your practical lesson. Check regularly to select your desired date.
Medical Checkup
Before doing the exam, you should do a medical checkup first. It consists of 2 parts: Eye exam and blood test. Both of them are standard ones, and can be done anywhere. The driving school also have clinic, and it costs around 150 SAR there. For me, as a student, I do it in the university hospital, so I can do it for free. Make sure you receive the SMS notification that you have an active medical checkup result.
Practical Exam
The long-awaited time has come. Here, all of your acquired skills will be tested. But actually, it depends on the instructor and your apparent skills. If he thinks that you are well-skilled, he will only ask you to drive around the track (as I did it). So, I cannot tell more in this part.
After the exam, go to the payment center to pay the fee (50 SAR per year, for 5 or 10 years option, with 20 SAR printing fee). Then go to the printing center to get your driving license.
And it is done! You can drive and rent a car and do many things with the license (not much actually, beside driving and renting car). You can also receive fines or punishment if you violate traffic law, and caught by the camera or speed sensor. Your driving license can be suspended or rescinded if you exceed certain amount of violation points.
If you need further information, I will be glad to help! Please contact me at Instagram @hafizhinsan
