Pharmacist to Saudi Arabia: SCFHS classification, DataFlow verification and the SPLE, step by step

The path, step by step

The Saudi Commission for Health Specialties (SCFHS) classifies and registers health practitioners, and the Saudi Licensure Examination for Pharmacists (SPLE) is its pharmacist exam. The order below follows SCFHS and DataFlow's own instructions. Each step says where to click and what to upload.

1. Check that you qualify and what applies to you

   The SPLE is open to pharmacists with a recognised primary degree, and to students in the internship year or one year from graduation (SPLE Applicant Guide, September 2025). For classification of a foreign qualification SCFHS asks for at least 1 year of experience for non-Saudis (classification requirements). We found no official SCFHS list of foreign pharmacists who are exempt from the SPLE, so treat the SPLE as required unless SCFHS tells you otherwise in Mumaris Plus.

2. Register on Mumaris Plus and apply for classification

   Open portal.scfhs.org.sa (Mumaris Plus), create your account and complete your profile. First-time applicants apply for Classification there, inside or outside the Kingdom. If your qualification is not on SCFHS's recognised list, apply first for a Qualification Study (Mumaris FAQ). SCFHS's FAQ says the final DataFlow report must be attached; it does not confirm that you can submit the classification request before the report is issued, so plan on waiting for it. We could not see the screens behind the login, so follow the on-screen prompts and the FAQ.

3. Start the DataFlow verification

   DataFlow checks your degree and license with the issuing bodies. Review your classification in Mumaris Plus first, because you submit documents according to it (DataFlow SCFHS reference kit). Then go to app.dataflowgroup.com, register with email and mobile, enter the OTP, choose Saudi Arabia and SCFHS, enter your details, upload your passport, degree, license and experience certificate, sign the Letter of Authorisation, pay and keep the receipt.

4. Complete your classification

   Once the DataFlow report reaches SCFHS, finish the Mumaris Plus request. SCFHS asks for: verification of the foreign degree by an SCFHS-approved verification company, an academic record showing the programme and its practical components, your valid home-country registration certificate with a verification letter (or a Ministry of Health letter if your country has no registering body), and an employment identification letter issued within the last 3 months (classification requirements).

5. Apply for the SPLE and get your scheduling permit

   Apply through the SCFHS e-application during an open registration period. When your application is processed, SCFHS emails a scheduling permit with an eligibility period (SPLE Applicant Guide). The SCFHS exam dates page listed exam periods of 1 to 24 November 2026, 1 to 24 December 2026 and 3 to 21 January 2027 as open for registration when we checked. That page covers all professional licensure exams (it links the SPLE guide for pharmacists), so confirm your dates in Mumaris Plus.

6. Book your seat on Prometric

   With the permit, schedule the test on Prometric at an SCFHS-approved centre, locally or abroad. Scheduling opens no more than about 3 months ahead. Your name on the permit must match your passport exactly, and you must bring an unexpired passport (a Saudi national or residence ID is accepted only in Saudi Arabia). Whether a centre in Egypt offers the SPLE is not confirmed: check the centre list while scheduling.

7. Sit the SPLE

   The exam has 200 four-option questions in two blocks of 100 questions, 120 minutes each, with a 30-minute break. Up to 10% of items may be pilot questions. The pass mark is a scaled score of 536 on a 200-800 scale. Centres open at 07:30, and arriving more than 30 minutes late counts as an attempt unless SCFHS accepts a documented excuse. Results arrive 2 to 6 weeks after the testing window closes. Reproducing or discussing exam items, including in prep groups, is prohibited.

8. Register your license and link it to an employer

   After you pass, you register in Mumaris Plus. Registration for a non-Saudi requires lawful residence in Saudi Arabia, and renewal needs an iqama or ID and a job letter from your employer (Mumaris FAQ). We could not confirm the initial registration fee or whether an employer letter is needed at first registration. Your registration card is in Mumaris Plus under My Certificates.

9. Keep the license alive: CPD and renewal

   Registration lasts 2 years. Pharmacists need 40 CPD hours. If you are short, SCFHS allows a one-time 1-year renewal. Renewal opens 3 months before expiry and a fine applies if you are more than 31 days late (re-registration requirements).

Who this guide is for

Pharmacists with a pharmacy degree from outside Saudi Arabia, including Egyptian graduates, who want to work as a pharmacist in the Kingdom. Pharmacy technicians and assistants are not covered here.

Saudi university graduates are excepted from the one-year experience rule for classification. Check your own case in Mumaris Plus.

Documents checklist

• Passport scan (mandatory for DataFlow), and a name-change certificate if your names differ across documents (DataFlow SCFHS FAQ).
• Degree or diploma and transcript; the academic record must show the programme, its duration and the practical or internship components (classification requirements).
• Internship or clinical training completion certificate, if your programme had one.
• Valid professional registration certificate from your home-country authority, with a verification letter. For Egyptians, whether this means the Ministry of Health practice licence or the pharmacists' syndicate registration is not confirmed on an official page; ask SCFHS in Mumaris Plus. If your country has no registering body, a Ministry of Health letter is accepted.
• Good standing certificate, health licence(s) and an experience certificate with exact dates. If you have no license from your last country of work, DataFlow asks for an endorsement letter plus the experience certificate.
• Employment identification letter issued within 3 months before you apply, from the personnel department or a facility representative.
• Legalisation: DataFlow does not require attestation, apostille, translation or paper copies for the verification, but the regulator or employer may ask for them. We found no official SCFHS statement on attestation of Egyptian degrees, so ask before you spend on it.
• Medical report only if you are over 65.

DataFlow primary source verification

DataFlow contacts your university, licensing authority and previous employers directly and also checks that the issuing authority is accredited. The pharmacist package covers one education document and one professional license (reference kit).

• Standard time: 15 to 25 working days from payment with complete documents (DataFlow FAQ). Express adds a fee and averages 14 working days.
• Send every document at once. Documents added later cost extra and slow the case.
• Refunds must be requested within 48 hours of payment. One free appeal is allowed within 180 days for a Discrepancy or Unable to Verify result (an Unable to Verify caused by missing information costs extra).
• For applications from 10 March 2026 you download the report from your DataFlow account, not from dataflowstatus.com. Support: scfhssupport@dataflowgroup.com.

The SPLE: format, booking and attempt rules

Everything here comes from the September 2025 applicant guide unless another link is given. You book and sit it at a Prometric centre.

The guide's reference list includes APhA Complete Review for Pharmacy, Comprehensive Pharmacy Review, Goodman and Gilman, DiPiro, Koda-Kimble, Aulton, Ansel, Shargel, Lexicomp, the SFDA drug list and the Ministry of Health immunisation schedule.

Two more rules from the same guide: you cannot sit the SPLE twice in the same testing window (the second sitting counts as an attempt and its result is invalid), and SCFHS offers an SPLE practice examination sampled from the real item bank, which you apply for on the SCFHS website.

Costs

Fees are in the currency shown and were seen on 31 October 2026. Anything marked not confirmed must be checked before you pay.

Issuing authorities such as your university or syndicate may add their own release fees to the DataFlow price.

Timeline from start to license

SCFHS publishes no end-to-end figure. These are the official component times, and the total is a third-party estimate.

The exam periods on the SCFHS dates page are roughly a month apart, so missing one delays your exam.

After you are licensed

• Registration lasts 2 years and non-Saudis need lawful residence (Mumaris FAQ).
• CPD: 40 hours for pharmacists. Hours earned outside Saudi Arabia are submitted through the recognition service in Mumaris Plus. Arabic or English certificates only, and degrees do not count (Mumaris FAQ).
• Renewal: apply from 3 months before expiry. You need a valid ID or iqama and an employer job letter less than 3 months old. A late fine applies after 31 days.
• If your registration expired more than a year ago you apply as a new registration, and if your experience since then is from outside Saudi Arabia you need re-classification first. If more than a year passes between classification and first registration, you also need re-classification. The FAQ says re-classification with new experience from abroad requires retaking the licensure exam (Mumaris FAQ).

Common pitfalls

• A name that differs between passport, permit and Prometric booking. Fix it before you book.
• Starting DataFlow before you have seen your classification, then uploading the wrong documents.
• Arriving more than 30 minutes late: it counts as an attempt.
• Missing documents sent one at a time, which adds fees and weeks.
• Relying on recalled questions. SCFHS treats discussing exam items as a prohibited act.

Your follow-up checklist

Tick these off as you go. Signed-in Egyptian accounts can track the same list in the MediHelp app and on the website, and the tick marks sync.

• Valid passport, with your name spelled the same on every document.
• Mumaris Plus account created and classification requested.
• Documents scanned and named: degree, transcript, home-country licence or registration, good standing, experience, passport.
• DataFlow case paid; case number saved.
• DataFlow report received and classification completed.
• SPLE registration period noted and application submitted.
• Scheduling permit received; expiry date written down.
• Prometric seat booked; confirmation and passport packed.
• Result received; Mumaris Plus registration and My Certificates checked.
• Employer letter and iqama ready; renewal date and CPD hours tracked.

What we could not confirm

• Screen-by-screen steps inside Mumaris Plus (login required).
• Whether any foreign pharmacist is exempt from the SPLE.
• The SPLE, classification and registration fees.
• Whether the SPLE is offered at a test centre in Egypt, and the length of the eligibility window.
• The conflicting attempt rules (see the exam table).