Before you start

A valid Iqama — the process cannot be started without one and stalls if it lapses
Your original foreign licence, unexpired
Confirmation that the issuing country is on Muroor's approved list, if you want to skip the practical test
An active Absher account with the app installed for appointment booking

Step-by-step

1
Check the approved-country list before you plan anything
Muroor maintains a list — commonly described as around 47 countries and territories, and including the US, UK, EU states, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the GCC — whose licences convert without a road test. It is managed bilaterally and changes, so verify the current position rather than relying on a blog. If you are not on it you face an assessment and a short course instead.
OnlineWho: YouSame dayFree to check
2
Get a certified Arabic translation of your licence
A licensed translation office must produce the Arabic version; the traffic office will not accept the original alone or a translation you made yourself. Jeddah has plenty of accredited offices, several clustered near the Muroor branches. Keep both the original and the translation together for the appointment.
In personWho: You, at a licensed translation officeSame day to a few daysRoughly SAR 100 and up, varies by office
3
Do the Efada medical, including the blood test
An Efada-approved centre checks eyesight and colour vision and takes blood to record your blood group, which is then printed on the licence. Results push electronically into the Absher/Seha system — you do not carry a paper report to the traffic office. Experienced drivers cannot skip this.
In personWho: You, at an Efada-approved medical centreAbout an hour; report appears shortly afterCommonly SAR 115–250 depending on the centre
4
Book 'Replace Foreign Driving Licence' on Absher
In the Absher app, Appointments then Traffic, choose the foreign-licence replacement service and pick a Jeddah centre. Upload both sides of your licence and the Arabic translation. Booking is instant but the slot may be weeks out, and women's slots have historically been scarcer — book before the translation is even finished.
Mobile appWho: YouInstant to book; days or weeks to the appointmentBooking fee around SAR 50
5
Attend, pay through SADAD, and collect the card
Bring the Iqama, the original licence, the translation and photographs. Approved-country holders are processed without a road test and the card is usually issued the same day. Non-approved-country holders take a short assessment and, if they pass, a reduced course before testing. The fee is paid through SADAD, the national bill-payment rail.
In personWho: You, at the Muroor office or driving schoolOften same-day issuanceRoughly SAR 80 for 2 years, 200 for 5, 400 for 10
6
Set your navigation to avoid Mecca if you are not Muslim
Routes south and east of Jeddah — to Taif, to Al-Baha, to the mountains — can be plotted straight through Makkah by a mapping app that does not know the restriction. Checkpoints on the expressway will turn you onto the bypass, which costs time and can be tense if you have not planned for it. Check the route before you set off rather than at the barrier.
Mobile appWho: YouBefore every long drive inlandFree

Documents you’ll need

Valid Iqama, original
Original foreign driving licence plus a certified Arabic translation
Efada medical record — transmitted electronically, not on paper
Passport and passport-sized photographs as requested

Things most newcomers don’t know

Whether your country is on the approved list is the entire decision — everything else is admin.

On the list, conversion is paperwork, a medical and a fee, done in a morning. Off it, you sit an assessment and then a shortened course before testing, which turns a one-week errand into a multi-week one with school bookings involved. The list is bilateral and has changed over time, so an expat forum post from three years ago is not evidence. Check it in Absher or at Muroor before you build a timeline around it.

Source: General Department of Traffic (Muroor) via Absher

Your blood type ends up on the licence, which is why the medical is not skippable.

The Efada check bundles eyesight, colour vision and a blood draw, and the blood group is printed on the card — it exists to help emergency responders at a crash site. That design decision is why a 30-year driver converting a clean licence still has to attend a clinic. Do it before the Absher appointment, because the traffic office reads the result from the system and will not proceed without it.

Source: Efada / Absher licence service

Jeddah's real driving hazard is water, not traffic.

The city floods in short violent bursts and the drainage retrofit is still incomplete — deadly floods in 2009, 2011, November 2022 and January 2023. Underpasses fill fast and cars are routinely lost in them. The local rule is simple and worth internalising before the first storm: when it rains hard, do not enter an underpass, and do not attempt standing water of unknown depth on a road you do not know.

Source: Jeddah Stormwater Drainage Programme; 2022–23 flood reporting

A mapping app will route a non-Muslim driver straight into Mecca, and the checkpoint will not.

Mecca's whole municipal area lies inside the Haram boundary that non-Muslims may not enter, and the Jeddah–Makkah expressway carries police checkpoints where non-Muslim drivers are directed onto the signed bypass. Consumer navigation does not model this reliably. The failure mode is not danger so much as an hour lost and an awkward conversation on a road with nowhere to turn around.

Source: Saudi Ministry of Interior checkpoint practice; Highway 40 bypass

Common mistakes to avoid

Assuming your country is on the approved list because a friend from a neighbouring country converted easily.
Turning up at Muroor with the original licence but no certified Arabic translation.
Trying to start the process before the Iqama is issued, or after letting it lapse — the system simply refuses.
Forgetting to re-link the licence to a new Iqama number after a residency renewal or a change of employer.
Driving into a flooded underpass during a Jeddah storm, which is how people die here in the rain.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.