How To Transfer Vehicle Ownership In Saudi Arabia – 2023

The Absher has made it quite easy to transfer car ownership through its dedicated online service. You just need to follow certain steps starting with paying car transfer fee and ending with handing over the vehicle to the buyer.

This guide will help both buyers and sellers to successfully transfer vehicle ownership without visiting Moroor office and also without the involvement of any agent.

First of all, the most important thing is that both the seller and buyer should pay and clear their traffic violation dues or fines to avoid any issues which may cause difficulties at the time of istimara transfer.

How to transfer car ownership through Absher

Steps for Successful Vehicle Transfer

1. The purchaser pays the vehicle transfer fee via SADAD (online banking) and informs the seller.
2. The seller then makes a sell request through the Absher platform.
3. The buyer accepts the request received in his Absher account.
4. The buyer sends the vehicle payment to the account given by Absher.
5. The Seller handovers the keys and delivers the vehicle.
6. After taking over the car, the buyer collects Istimara from Muroor(General Traffic Department).

Requirements And Conditions

Below are the requirements and conditions for vehicle ownership transfer in Saudi Arabia.

1. Both buyer and seller must have an Absher account.
2. Buyer and seller must update their address information in Absher.
3. The buyer must provide Iqama number and date of birth to the seller.
4. The seller provides Sequence number of the vehicle to the buyer.
5. Both buyer and seller will share the IBAN number of the bank on the Absher Portal.
6. The price range of the vehicle must be within limits of 5000 -200,000 Riyals.
7. The seller should make sure that Motor Vehicle Periodic Inspection (Fahas) is valid.
8. It is essential for the buyer to purchase third-party comprehensive vehicle insurance
9. Muroor allows only 2 cars/vehicles in the buyer’s name at a time. If you already have 2 vehicles in your name, you won’t be able to transfer the 3rd car.

Above all conditions are necessary. In case any of the above conditions is not met, the Absher will show an error message(“request was unsuccessful, please try again“), hence the transfer procedure will not complete.

Moreover, you can transfer your car manually at the Muroor office if you face any difficulty in the online process.

Vehicle Transfer Procedure

1. Pay Transfer Fees in Saudi Arabia

The car ownership transfer procedure starts by paying the transfer fee (150 Riyals) through SADAD. In addition to that, the service charges are 230 Riyals that Absher collects at the completion of the transfer procedure.

Once the buyer pays the fee (see below the method to pay the fee in this article), inform the seller so that he may initiate the next process as described below.

2. Generating Transfer Vehicle Ownership Request

The seller will create istimara transfer request online through the Absher portal. Here are the steps,

• Firstly, login to your Absher account. https://www.absher.sa/
• Click on the “Vehicle Ownership Transfer” available under “Other Services“.

• Now click on “Seller” on the next page

• Under ‘New Request’ tab, select the vehicle you want to transfer istimara.

• Now enter the following details.
  • Vehicle Price
  • Confirm Vehicle Price
  • Buyer’s Iqama Number
  • Buyer’s Date of Birth

• Select the bank from drop down menu of ‘Bank Name’
• Enter IBAN of the seller
• City: Select the region/city of the seller (Example: For Bahrah, select Jeddah)
• District: Write the exact name of your city.

• Click on continue.

• Accept terms and conditions and click on ‘Continue’

On the next page, the following message appears; “The vehicle ownership transfer request has been issued successfully. The buyer can accept or reject the request through Absher platform within 1 hour”

3. Accepting/Rejecting Vehicle Ownership Request

The buyer will accept the request on the Absher web portal within limited time upon the creation of the request. However, the reject option for the buyer is available as well.

Now the buyer has to follow the following step respectively;

• Log in to Absher account https://absher.sa/
• Click on the “Vehicle Ownership Transfer” available under “Other Services“.
• Now click on “Buyer” on the next page
• After that, Accept car transfer request.

• On the next page, Select the bank from the drop-down menu of ‘Bank Name’.
• Enter the IBAN.
• City: Select the region/city of the buyer.
• District: Write the exact name of the city and click Continue.
• On the next page, you can watch vehicle details and seller information.

• After authenticity of the seller details, it’s time to accept the ‘contract’ and ‘terms and conditions’
• Click on ‘view contract‘ to download and print the PDF file.
• Click on ‘Confirm‘ to finalize and accept the vehicle transfer ownership request successfully.

4. Payment Of the Vehicle’s Price

Further, The Absher platform will display the Absher account’s IBAN number( usually SABB bank) for the payment. The buyer has only 72 hours for payment in the given bank.

• The payment can be transferred through online banking as well as through ATM machines.
  • While adding the beneficiary make sure to type;
  • First name field: ‘Account’
  • Last name field: ‘Dhamen’
• On the other hand, make payments during banking hours to ensure an easy money transfer process.
• The total payment is transferred to the government bank account, which will check and deduct 230 Riyals as “Absher service charges” and then transfer the rest of the amount to the seller’s account.

5. Vehicle Delivery To The Buyer

Absher sends an SMS to both Buyer and seller as a result of the successful transfer of funds.

• Now, the seller has to log in to the Absher account to deliver the vehicle to the buyer.

• The buyer will receive OTP to share it with the seller to ‘submit‘ in order to complete the delivery.
• However, share OTP once you take hold of the vehicle. In the meantime, Absher will release the payment to the seller from the Absher account.

Finally, The online process to transfer car ownership in Saudi Arabia is successfully complete.

Car Ownership Transfer Fee in Saudi Arabia

Vehicle	Ownership Transfer Fee
Car	150 Riyals
Private SUV	150 Riyals
Motor Bike	150 Riyals
Taxi	300 riyals
Public Bus	300 Riyals

car ownership transfer fee in Saudi Arabia

How To Pay Car Transfer Fee Online

These are the steps to pay the car ownership transfer fee for Al RAJHI bank customers. However, the procedure is almost similar for other bank account holders.

• Download and install the app on your device.
• Login to your account and click on the upper left corner of the homepage.
• Select the Payment option. after that click on the “Government payments” option.
• Moving onto the next page see for the services and press motor vehicle and then press on the “Transfer Owner” option,
• Select transaction type as Payment
• Afterward fill in the seller’s Iqama number, Vehicle sequence number, and buyer’s Iqama number.

How To Get Istimara After The Transfer

After successfully transferring ownership of the vehicle you can collect Istimara. However, before visiting the Muroor office you need to book an appointment for the vehicle registration card.

You can also request for Postal delivery of new istimara in the following way through Absher App;

• Open Absher app click on the Request postal document delivery.
• press “+” button and select your Saudia national Address.
• Confirm your phone number.
• Meanwhile you will receive an SMS that contains a link to the delivery service. Pay delivery chargers that are 17.25 riyals
• The istimara will be delivered within a few days at your given address.

Transfer of Vehicle ownership of a Leased Vehicle.

You can transfer ownership of the vehicle in Saudi Arabia even if you have leased a car from the bank. Here is the guide;

• You must acquire a valid Fahas(Motor Vehicle Periodic Inspection).
• Buy insurance in your name.
• Make all the payments to the bank in case of dues.
• Submit all of the above-required documents to the bank.
• The transfer fee payable to the bank is around 550 riyals.
• After that, you can get Istimara about two weeks after the submission of the documents.

Faqs

Is it possible to transfer car ownership without inspection?

Motor Vehicle Periodic Inspection-MVPI ensures the health and safety of the vehicle. In Saudi Arabia, Moroor doesn’t allow car ownership transfer without a valid Fahas. And the seller is responsible to obtain Fahas before selling the vehicle.

How long does it take to transfer car ownership?

If all requirements and conditions are met and both the buyer and seller access their Absher while present at the same place, the vehicle ownership transfer procedure takes almost 15-30 minutes.

Who pays car transfer fees buyer or seller?

The buyer is responsible for paying the ownership transfer fee as well as buying the vehicle insurance. While the seller pays the Fahas fee.

Is it possible to transfer the ownership of the car while the iqama is expired in Saudi Arabia?

Until, unless the seller has access to his Absher account, the car ownership transfer is possible even if the iqama has expired. Furthermore, If the seller is out of KSA and his iqama has also expired yet the transfer is still possible.

However, the procedure to transfer car ownership can be done through an authorized showroom by visiting his office. Either the buyer or seller should be physically present there. The agent will charge a nominal fee for the transfer procedure.

Can I sell my car if my istimara is expired?

It’s a pre-requisite to have a valid istimara at the time of vehicle transfer. You can read more about how to renew istimara online through Absher.

Also Read:

• What is Istimara – Vehicle Registration in Saudi Arabia
• Vehicle Registration – How To Check Istimara Expiry Date In KSA
• How To Refund Money From Absher in Saudi Arabia
• How To Renew Istimara – Vehicle Registration Renewal in Saudi Arabia
• How To Check Iqama Transfer Fee and Payment Procedure