Laura Alho, a Finnish national is the first European woman in Saudi Arabia to have received her driving license in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. She is also the author of a magazine called “Blue Abaya” which was also the first travel blog in Saudi Arabia that had been launched 8 years back in the year of 2010.

The minute she got her Saudi driving license, she seemed to be very excited and took to Twitter posting, “Got my Saudi driving license today! They told me I was the first European woman to get the license today.”

“I’d like to express my thanks to Moroor traffic office in #Riyadh today for a job well done. The process of converting a foreign license to #Saudi one and the driving test went smoothly-all very well organized. Everyone was friendly, supportive and smiling!”

The Finnish expat also volunteered to help other expat women to help convert their foreign driving license to the Saudi much ahead of the lift of the driving ban of June 24.

She also posted, “Converting a foreign license to the Saudi license is possible for women of any nationality with a valid driving license. You will not have to ‘give up’ or surrender your existing license to get a Saudi license. The process is very similar to the one that foreign men go through to obtain the Saudi driving license. Both Saudi women who have obtained a license from a foreign country and expats can apply for the Saudi driving license with this same procedure.”

Also adding, “For the women who do not have valid licenses (license expired) or don’t know how to drive, you’ll need to enroll in the driving schools first.”

She also mentions the necessary documents that were needed for getting the license which was a scanned copy the ID, a scanned copy of the valid driving license, a scanned copy of the translation of driving license (both front and back) and a medical report.

“They will show you the map of what you need to drive and perform on the test track. A 8-circle, 3-point turns and then in the end a parallel park. During the driving test, you will follow the course which includes performing two skills: the three point turn and parallel parking. You have to get 75 per cent to pass,” she said.

“The driving instructor does not enter the car with you, he will follow next to the car to evaluate the test. The one we had was very helpful and kept explaining what to do next.”