Sunday – Friday 8am to 8pm
Sunday – Friday 8am to 8pm
Saudi Arabia licenses every doctor through one national regulator, the Saudi Commission for Health Specialties (SCFHS). We match internationally trained doctors to Saudi hospital groups and handle SCFHS licensing, from Mumaris Plus through DataFlow to the Prometric exam, in around five to eight months. Recognised doctors from several countries skip the exam and finish faster.
The Saudi Commission for Health Specialties is the single authority that licenses and classifies every doctor in the Kingdom, so one SCFHS licence works nationwide rather than being tied to a city or region. This is a genuine difference from the UAE, where each emirate licenses separately, and a UAE licence from the DHA, DOH, or MOHAP does not carry into Saudi Arabia. Doctors moving from the Emirates start a fresh SCFHS application, though their DataFlow verification and documents transfer across.
SCFHS assigns each doctor a professional classification of general practitioner, specialist, or consultant, based on your qualifications, training, and experience. That classification decides both the roles you can hold and whether you need to sit the licensing exam. Because the licence is national, a doctor classified for a role in Riyadh can move to Jeddah or the Eastern Province on the same registration, which is why many doctors treat the whole Kingdom, rather than a single city, as their search area.
Saudi Arabia's hospital sector spans large government systems and major private groups, and both recruit internationally trained doctors. The Ministry of National Guard Health Affairs runs major tertiary and academic hospitals, and the private sector includes groups such as Dr Sulaiman Al Habib and Fakeeh Care, whose hospitals hire Western-trained consultants. The two main destinations for international doctors are the capital and the west coast.
The largest hospital market, with the widest range of government, military, university, and private roles, including the flagship Dr Sulaiman Al Habib hospital in Olaya.
Medical job consultancy in Riyadh →The main healthcare hub on Saudi Arabia's west coast, mixing teaching hospitals with large private groups such as Dr. Soliman Fakeeh Hospital.
Medical job consultancy in Jeddah →See current Saudi vacancies and check your SCFHS eligibility.
Recruitment across these systems runs strongest in cardiology, oncology, paediatrics, emergency medicine, internal medicine, and the surgical specialties.
SCFHS licensing follows five clear stages, all managed through the Mumaris Plus portal at scfhs.org.sa. Knowing the sequence in advance is what keeps the timeline predictable.
Create your profile on the SCFHS portal and begin your application.
Primary source verification usually takes around six to eight weeks and produces your eligibility number.
SCFHS reviews your credentials and assigns your grade, which confirms whether you need to sit the exam.
The Saudi Medical Licensure Examination, a computer-based test of four hours and thirty minutes, with a pass valid for two years.
Complete professional registration on Mumaris Plus, and the licence activates once a hospital sponsors you.
Results of the Prometric exam are normally posted within seven to ten working days. Full detail on documents and stages is in the SCFHS licensing guide.
Many recognised doctors are exempt from the exam and classify directly. The SCFHS does not require the exam for doctors who completed their training in the UK, Ireland, France, the USA, Canada, Australia, or Saudi Arabia. Doctors who trained elsewhere usually sit the specialty-specific Prometric test before classification.
The exam requirement is confirmed at the classification stage, once SCFHS has reviewed your credentials against your grade and specialty. This is the point at which a consultancy that runs SCFHS applications daily can tell you early whether you are on the exempt path or the exam path, which changes your timeline.
The full SCFHS process typically takes around five to eight months for a first-time applicant, from creating your Mumaris Plus profile to holding an active registration. Doctors who are exempt from the exam often complete it faster. DataFlow verification is the main early variable at six to eight weeks, driven by how quickly your training institutions respond.
Starting the SCFHS application at the same time as your job search is what compresses this. The final registration stage needs a valid Iqama with authorised-to-work status, which usually means you have already secured a position with a sponsoring Saudi employer, so the licence activates once a hospital makes an offer.
Doctors in Saudi Arabia earn tax-free salaries, with government systems and private groups structuring packages differently. Government employers such as the National Guard hospitals offer structured pay and strong benefits, while private groups negotiate individually and often add performance-linked elements. Packages commonly include accommodation or a housing allowance, annual flights, medical insurance, and end-of-service benefits.
Pay is set by specialty, grade, and employer rather than a national scale, so consultant and senior surgical roles sit at the top of the range. The Saudi salary guides set out what doctors earn across grades and specialties in more detail.
A single national regulator means one consultancy and one licence can open roles across Riyadh, Jeddah, and the wider Kingdom at once. The team checks your eligibility against your grade and specialty, tells you early whether you are exam-exempt, prepares your documents to the SCFHS checklist, and puts your CV to Saudi hospital groups while DataFlow is still running. Hospitals pay the placement fee, so this support costs the doctor nothing, and one team stays with you from the eligibility check through licensing, interview, and contract. For doctors weighing Saudi Arabia against the Emirates, the same team also covers roles across the UAE and Qatar.
Book a free consultation to confirm your SCFHS classification and hear which Saudi hospitals are recruiting in your specialty. The team reviews your qualifications, tells you whether you qualify for exam exemption, and sets out your Mumaris Plus and licensing timeline in one call.
Our office is located in Jumeirah Lakes Towers, Dubai. Consultations run in person at the office, or by phone and video for doctors still overseas, Sunday to Friday, 8am to 8pm, so your licensing and interviews can begin before you relocate.
Allocation Assist Middle East
Jumeirah Lakes Towers, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Phone: +971 4 273 3477
Hours: Sunday to Friday, 8am to 8pm
Founder and CEO, Allocation Assist Middle East. Emilie founded Allocation Assist in 2015 after seeing how much internationally trained doctors needed clear, reliable guidance to relocate and license in the UAE. She graduated from the University of Hertfordshire with First Class Honours in Nursing and worked in the Acute Medical Unit and Emergency Department at Royal Free Hospital NHS Trust before founding the consultancy.
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