لَبَّيْكَ ٱللَّٰهُمَّ لَبَّيْكَ
لَبَّيْكَ ٱللَّٰهُمَّ لَبَّيْكَ
Stay informed with the latest Umrah visa rules, updates and regulations. Please review the details below carefully before making any travel plans.
As of July 2026, Saudi Arabia offers a new one year, multiple entry Umrah visa allowing stays of up to 90 days total across the year, alongside the older single trip visa with a 30 day entry window. All pilgrims, regardless of visa type, must book accommodation, transport and an Umrah permit through the Nusuk platform before every visit.
We at Ziyuf Al Rahman speak to UK families every week who almost booked flights before checking whether their old visa knowledge still applied. Saudi Arabia rolled out a new visa structure on 20 July 2026, and it changes how often you can travel and how long you can stay. Getting this wrong does not just cost you money. It can mean a rejected application days before you were meant to fly.
The single biggest shift landed on 20 July 2026, when Saudi Arabia introduced the multiple entry Umrah visa lasting a full 365 days. Before this, every pilgrim from the UK had to apply fresh each time, even for a quick second trip within the same year. Now you can travel more than once on the same visa, as long as your total time in the Kingdom across all visits stays under 90 days.
This new multi entry visa does not work during Hajj season. If you are planning a Hajj trip, you still need a separate Hajj visa entirely. The multi entry option is purely for Umrah outside that blackout window, and it sits alongside the older single entry Umrah visa, which still expires 30 days after issuance if you have not entered the country by then.
Since 10 June 2025, Saudi authorities closed off the option to apply for a visa without a confirmed travel package. You cannot just get a visa and figure out hotels later. Every application now needs proof of booked accommodation, transport and flights lodged through the Nusuk platform before Saudi authorities will even process your paperwork.
This trips up more UK applicants than any other rule. We have had customers ring us in a panic because their agent submitted a visa application with a “pending” hotel booking, and it got rejected outright. Nusuk wants everything locked in first, not promised for later.
You are not limited to one visa type. Depending on your plans, you have real choices here.
Before 2025, pilgrims from the UK could book a “visa only” service and sort out hotels on arrival or through a separate agent later. That flexibility is gone. Every step now happens in one linked sequence: booking first, documents second, visa third. On top of that, the entry window used to be more generous. Now if you delay past 30 days from issuance on the single entry visa, it simply cancels, and you start the whole process again.
Most rejections we handle at Ziyuf Al Rahman trace back to timing, not paperwork quality. A family from Cheadle once booked their hotel through a third party website that was not registered on Nusuk, and the whole application stalled for two weeks while they scrambled to rebook. Another common slip: people assume their old Umrah visa from 2024 still works the same way, forgetting that visa only bookings without confirmed accommodation have not been accepted since June 2025.
Passport validity catches people out too. Your passport needs at least 6 months remaining from your entry date into Saudi Arabia, not from your application date. We always tell clients to check this first, because renewing a UK passport can take weeks during busy travel seasons.
Keep this simple and you will avoid nearly every delay we see.
Health cover comes bundled automatically with the Saudi tourist e-visa, which is a genuine convenience if you are choosing between visa types. If you go through the dedicated Umrah visa route instead, check with your provider whether insurance is included, since this varies and it is not something to assume.
The meningitis vaccine remains important for anyone travelling from the UK. Saudi border authorities sometimes check for this certificate on arrival, and turning up without one can mean being refused entry at the airport, not just a paperwork headache back home.
We have guided pilgrims through Umrah for years, and the pattern is always the same: people who plan their booking sequence properly glide through the process, and people who try shortcuts end up stressed right before a trip that is meant to bring them peace. Getting your documents and bookings aligned with Nusuk is not bureaucracy for its own sake. It protects your journey and keeps your focus where it belongs, on the actual pilgrimage.
Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Hajj and Umrah, alongside the General Authority of Civil Aviation, jointly oversee these entry rules, and both bodies publish updates directly through the Nusuk platform rather than through third party sites. That is why we always point our own clients back to Nusuk and official Saudi travel advisories first, and treat other guides, including this one, as a starting point rather than the final word.
If tracking visa fees, booking reference numbers and vaccination timelines feels like a lot on top of everything else in your life, that is exactly where we step in. At Ziyuf Al Rahman, we handle your Nusuk booking, your accommodation, your transport and your documents together, in the right order, so nothing gets submitted incomplete and rejected. Get in touch with our team today and we will walk you through exactly what your specific trip needs, step by step.
No, and this trips up more people than you would think. The multi entry Umrah visa launched on 20 July 2026 works for Umrah trips throughout the year, but it stops working the moment Hajj season begins. Saudi Arabia treats Hajj as a completely separate entry category with its own quota system, its own visa, and its own booking pathway through the Nusuk Hajj portal rather than the Umrah one. If your dates land anywhere near Hajj season, check with your agent before assuming your existing Umrah visa will carry you through.
Budget between £80 and £250 depending on your route and how fast you need it. The core government fee sits around SAR 300, and mandatory medical insurance adds another SAR 100 to 180 on top, bringing the official total to roughly SAR 400 to 480. UK applicants going through a travel agent typically pay between £80 and £150 for standard processing, though urgent processing within 24 hours can push that to £200 to £300, and same day emergency visas run £500 to £700. The Saudi tourist eVisa route, which also covers Umrah outside Hajj season, comes in around SAR 535 with insurance already bundled in.
No, and this is the change that catches out the most UK families. Since 10 June 2025, Saudi Arabia removed the visa only application route entirely. Every application now needs a valid Booking Reference Number linking your confirmed hotel, ground transport and return flight before Nusuk will even process your paperwork. If that reference number is missing or points to an unverified booking, your application simply will not move forward, regardless of how complete your other documents are.
Your single entry Umrah visa cancels on its own, no letter or warning involved. You would need to submit a fresh application from scratch, pay the visa fee again, and wait through the full 1 to 3 day processing window a second time. This is why we always tell clients not to apply too early. Get your travel dates locked first, then start the visa process once you know you can enter within that 30 day window.
Most rejections come down to small, avoidable errors rather than anything serious. The most common causes include a passport number typed incorrectly, your name not matching your passport exactly, an expired or damaged passport with fewer than six months left, and a passport photo that does not meet the plain background requirement. Using an unlicensed agent is another frequent cause, since Nusuk checks whether your agency is accredited by the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah before it will approve bookings tied to that agent. Double check every field against your passport before you submit, and confirm your agent’s accreditation directly rather than taking their word for it.
For many UK travellers, yes, particularly if you want flexibility. The tourist eVisa allows multiple entries over a full year with stays up to 90 days each visit, and it comes with basic medical insurance already built into the price. The trade off is that only the dedicated Umrah specific visa lets you legally carry Zamzam water home with you, so if that matters to you, factor it into your choice.
