Nurse jobs in Saudi Arabia are open to foreign nurses, but you cannot start work until the Saudi Commission for Health Specialties (SCFHS) has classified and registered you. You do this online on Mumaris Plus (also written Mumaris+), the SCFHS portal. A company called Dataflow checks your degree, licence and experience letters with the people who issued them. SCFHS then gives you a professional grade and decides whether you need an assessment or exam. Non-Saudi nurses need at least one year of experience. Under Saudi labour law, your employer pays the recruitment, work permit and residence permit (iqama) fees, not you.
This guide covers the steps in order, what each one costs where SCFHS publishes it, and how to look for a job at the same time. We checked every source on 16 October 2026. Rules and fees change, so check the SCFHS pages linked here before you pay anything. This is general information, not legal advice.
Nurse jobs in Saudi Arabia for foreigners: the short version
| Step | Who you deal with | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Create a Mumaris Plus account | SCFHS | You register on the portal and apply for Professional Classification |
| 2. Primary source verification | Dataflow | Dataflow confirms your documents directly with your university, regulator and employers |
| 3. Classification decision | SCFHS | SCFHS gives you a grade and a route: direct decision, practical assessment or exam |
| 4. Exam, if needed | Prometric or Pearson VUE | You book only after SCFHS issues your permit |
| 5. Job offer and visa | Your employer | The employer recruits you and pays the visa, work permit and iqama fees |
| 6. Professional Registration | SCFHS | Once you live in Saudi Arabia legally, you register. Registration lasts two years |
You can do steps 1 to 4 from your home country. SCFHS says Professional Classification “does not require obtaining a valid work permit inside the Kingdom during the first stage of application” (SCFHS Mumaris FAQ).
What SCFHS is and why you need it
SCFHS licenses every health practitioner in Saudi Arabia, including nurses, midwives and nursing technicians. It has two separate services, and people often mix them up:
- Professional Classification gives you your professional grade, based on your qualification and experience. You can apply from abroad.
- Professional Registration records you in the SCFHS database so you can practise. It needs a lawful residence in the Kingdom and lasts two years (SCFHS Mumaris FAQ).
Employers in job ads often say “SCFHS licence required” or “SCFHS eligible”. Eligible usually means you have, or can get, a classification. Ask the recruiter which one they mean.
Mumaris Plus: registration, login and applying
Mumaris Plus is the SCFHS online system. The SCFHS service guide gives its address as portal.scfhs.org.sa (SCFHS service guide). The FAQ describes the first step as creating a Mumaris Plus account, or logging in if you already have one, and then applying for Professional Classification. If your qualification is not already on the SCFHS list, you apply for a qualification study first.
Mumaris Plus registration
To register, you need an email address you check often. SCFHS sends exam links and notices to the email on your Mumaris Plus account, and its FAQ tells you to check your junk folder if a link does not arrive. Use your name exactly as it appears in your passport, because Dataflow will compare every document with your passport.
Documents for classification
The SCFHS classification requirements (SCFHS requirements) ask for:
- Your nursing qualification certificates, showing the issue date, graduation date, title and specialty, plus all earlier qualifications.
- A verification result from a company SCFHS approves for qualifications earned outside Saudi Arabia. If you apply on a bachelor’s degree only, the bachelor’s certificate must be verified.
- A valid professional registration from the official authority in your country, with a verification letter. If your country has no such body, a letter from its Ministry of Health.
- At least one year of experience for non-Saudis (graduates of Saudi universities are an exception).
- An employment letter issued within the last three months, from HR or the facility, confirming your clinical practice, category and start date.
- A medical report if you are over 65.
Mumaris Plus results
SCFHS says assessment results take at most 14 working days to be approved and appear in Mumaris Plus. Your classification decision also shows in your account.
Dataflow Saudi: the verification step
“Dataflow” is the DataFlow Group, the verification company that SCFHS names in its FAQ. Dataflow contacts your university, nursing council and past employers directly to confirm your documents. This is called primary source verification (PSV).
Dataflow’s own FAQ for SCFHS applicants (Dataflow SCFHS FAQ) says:
- Documents: a passport copy, your degree, professional qualifications, transcript, employment certificate, health licences and good standing certificate, plus a name change certificate if names differ.
- No attestation needed: Dataflow does not need apostilled, translated or physical copies. Your employer or SCFHS may still ask for attested originals.
- Time: usually 15 to 25 working days from payment and a complete submission. Late replies from your university or employer, or missing documents, add delays.
- Fees: they depend on the package and the number of documents, and show on screen before you pay. Some universities and councils charge their own fee to release a verification.
- Late documents: anything added after you apply costs extra and delays the report.
- Status: if you applied before 10 March 2026, you check at dataflowstatus.com with your case number and passport number. Later applications are tracked from your Dataflow account.
- Appeals: if your report says “Discrepancy” or “Unable to Verify”, you can ask for one free re-verification within 180 days.
Before you pay Dataflow, collect all your experience letters. Missing employers are the most common reason a file stalls, and adding them later costs more.
SCFHS fees for nurses
SCFHS links its fee schedule from the registration service guide (SCFHS service guide). The schedule (SCFHS fee table, in Arabic) lists these amounts for a new classification and registration in nursing. Each total is a SAR 200 administrative fee, a classification fee and a registration fee.
| Nursing grade (our translation) | Admin fee | Classification | Registration | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nursing Technician | SAR 200 | SAR 400 | SAR 160 | SAR 760 |
| Nurse Specialist | SAR 200 | SAR 900 | SAR 240 | SAR 1,340 |
| Senior Nurse Specialist | SAR 200 | SAR 900 | SAR 320 | SAR 1,420 |
| Nursing Consultant | SAR 200 | SAR 1,300 | SAR 400 | SAR 1,900 |
The amounts are the same whether your route is a direct decision, an assessment or an exam (one row for Nurse Specialist by exam shows a total of SAR 1,430 although its parts add up to SAR 1,340). Dataflow’s fee and any exam booking fee are separate. You pay SCFHS through SADAD. SCFHS has a refund service, and its guide says you get 50% back if you cancel within one month of paying and before the professional assessment (SCFHS refund guide).
Which grade you get depends on your degree and experience, and SCFHS decides it. The fee table is dated January 2024, so check the amount shown in Mumaris Plus before you pay.
The SCFHS exam and other routes
SCFHS lists four routes and the service time for each (SCFHS service guide):
| Route | Service time |
|---|---|
| Direct decision | 7 business days |
| Practical (oral) assessment | 45 business days |
| Electronic written exam (Prometric, Pearson VUE) | 30 business days |
| National electronic licensing exam | 60 business days |
The oral assessment has 1 to 4 stations, each with an examiner, and the link arrives by email 48 hours before the test. The Saudi Nursing Licensure Examination (SNLE) is for candidates with a BSN or equivalent. You apply online, receive a scheduling permit, then book a Prometric centre in Saudi Arabia or abroad. Results come 2 to 6 weeks after the testing window closes, and you may sit the SNLE up to four times a year (SNLE applicant guide).
For exam format, pass marks and how SCFHS compares with Qatar, Oman and Bahrain, read our Prometric exam guide for Gulf nurses. The guide forbids sharing or memorising exam questions, so avoid anyone selling “recalls”.
Finding a nurse job in Saudi Arabia
Employers recruit in two ways: directly through their own careers pages, and through licensed recruitment agencies in your home country. Large government and semi-government hospital groups, military and National Guard hospitals and private chains all hire foreign nurses. Most ads ask for a bachelor’s degree, a licence from your home country, recent acute-care experience and SCFHS eligibility.
On Nurse Jobs World on 16 October 2026 we listed 1 open nursing job in Saudi Arabia, a Staff Nurse role in Riyadh with Fresenius Medical Care (Saudi Arabia nursing jobs). That is a small number. We list jobs only from employers’ own career sites, and few Saudi hospitals publish theirs in a form we can read yet. You can also look at jobs open to applicants abroad and jobs with visa sponsorship across all countries.
Practical points:
- Start SCFHS before you have an offer. Classification and Dataflow take weeks. A recruiter is much more interested when you can say “Dataflow submitted” or “classification approved”.
- Keep your home licence active. SCFHS asks for a valid registration from your country.
- Ask for the offer in writing: basic salary, housing (provided or allowance), transport, flights, annual leave, contract length and who pays for SCFHS and Dataflow.
Nurse salary in Saudi Arabia
SCFHS and the Saudi government do not publish one nursing pay scale that covers foreign nurses in private hospitals, and we found no official salary table we could quote. Pay depends on your grade, specialty, employer and nationality-based package. Your package matters more than the basic figure: compare housing, flights and end-of-service benefits, not just the monthly salary. Never accept a figure that only a recruiter gives you verbally.
Who pays: Article 40 of the Saudi Labor Law
The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development (HRSD) publishes Article 40 of the Labor Law. It says the employer bears “the fees for the recruitment of the non-Saudi worker, the residence fees, the work permit and their renewal”, fines caused by the employer, profession change fees, exit and re-entry fees, and the ticket home when the job ends (HRSD, Article 40). You pay your own way home only if you are unfit for work or leave without a legitimate reason.
So an agency that asks you to pay for your Saudi visa or iqama is asking for money the law puts on the employer. Read our guide to ethical nurse recruitment and scams before you sign anything. SCFHS and Dataflow fees are a separate matter: some employers repay them, others do not, so ask.
After you arrive: registration and renewal
Once you have a residence permit, you apply for Professional Registration in Mumaris Plus. You upload your employment letter and iqama, pay, and SCFHS issues your registration card (SCFHS service guide).
The FAQ sets the renewal rules:
- Apply to renew three months before your registration ends.
- You need continuing professional development (CPD) hours: 20 for technicians and 40 for specialists, which you can track in your Mumaris Plus account. If you are short, SCFHS renews for one year only, once.
- A late fine applies, and if your registration has been expired for more than a year, you apply as a new registration.
The fee schedule adds a SAR 150 charge to update a registration more than three months before it expires.
Frequently asked questions
Can foreigners get nurse jobs in Saudi Arabia?
Yes. Foreign nurses work across Saudi government and private hospitals. You need an SCFHS classification and registration, at least one year of post-qualification experience, a valid licence from your own country, and a job offer from an employer who sponsors your work visa.
What is SCFHS Mumaris Plus?
Mumaris Plus is the Saudi Commission for Health Specialties’ online portal, at portal.scfhs.org.sa. You use it to register, apply for Professional Classification and Registration, pay fees, receive exam links and results, and renew. Log in with the account you created; SCFHS support is on 920019393.
How long does Dataflow take for Saudi Arabia?
Dataflow says verification for SCFHS usually takes 15 to 25 working days from payment and a complete submission. It can take longer if your university or past employer replies late, or if you add documents after applying, which also costs extra.
How much are the SCFHS fees for nurses?
The SCFHS fee schedule lists SAR 760 for a Nursing Technician and SAR 1,340 for a Nurse Specialist, covering the admin, classification and registration fees. Dataflow and exam fees are on top. Confirm the amount in Mumaris Plus before paying, as the published table dates from 2024.
Do I have to pay for my Saudi work visa?
No. Article 40 of the Saudi Labor Law puts recruitment fees, the work permit, the residence permit (iqama) and their renewal on the employer. Be careful with any agency that asks you to pay for these.
Is there an SCFHS exam for nurses?
It depends on your route. SCFHS may decide directly, ask for a practical assessment, or require a written exam at Prometric or Pearson VUE. The Saudi Nursing Licensure Examination (SNLE) is for BSN graduates, and you can take it up to four times a year.