If you performed Umrah a few years ago and are planning to go again, be careful about assuming the paperwork works the way it did last time. The entry rules for British travellers to Saudi Arabia have changed more in the past eighteen months than in the decade before it, and one of the routes many UK pilgrims used has been withdrawn altogether.
None of it is difficult once you know the current position, but the details matter, and getting them wrong can mean a refused application or a wasted booking. Anyone looking at Umrah Packages UK operators will find that most now handle the visa as part of the booking, which is the simplest route for the majority of people. If you are arranging things yourself, here is what the landscape looks like at the time of writing.
The Electronic Visa Waiver has gone
The biggest change is that the Electronic Visa Waiver, introduced for British and Northern Irish passport holders in 2023, was discontinued on 1 July 2026. It has been replaced by the Saudi Electronic Travel Authorisation, usually shortened to ETA.
The ETA is applied for online through Saudi Arabia’s unified visa portal and is tied to your passport rather than issued as a sticker or stamp. It allows multiple entries, with a cumulative stay of up to 180 days across a one-year validity period, and it covers tourism, business, short-term study and Umrah outside the Hajj season.
Two points catch people out. The ETA does not include medical insurance, unlike some of the dedicated Umrah visa routes, so check your own cover before you travel. And it is based on nationality, not residence: a UK resident holding a non-British passport does not qualify through living here and will need a different route.
The routes available to British pilgrims
There are broadly three ways in, and the right one depends on your circumstances.
The Saudi ETA, for British passport holders, applied for online and generally approved quickly. The Saudi tourist eVisa, a one-year multiple-entry visa open to around sixty eligible nationalities including the UK, which also allows you to visit other parts of the country. And the dedicated Umrah visa, arranged through a licensed agent, which is the traditional route and remains the one most pilgrims travelling on a package use. A one-year, multiple-entry Umrah visa was also introduced in July 2026, valid for 365 days from issue with a combined stay of up to 90 days across that year.
The step people forget
Here is the single most common misunderstanding, and it is worth stating plainly: the visa is not the finish line. Whichever route you use to obtain an Umrah Visa from UK, you also need permits booked through Nusuk, Saudi Arabia’s official pilgrimage platform. The Umrah permit reserves your slot to perform the rites at Masjid al-Haram, and a separate permit is needed to pray in the Rawdah at the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah. Gate staff check them. Operators such as Islamic Travel Agency handle the visa and the Nusuk bookings together as one chain, which is largely why package bookings run more smoothly than piecing it together yourself.
Rawdah slots in particular are released on a rolling basis and are often taken within minutes, so set up your Nusuk profile as soon as your visa is approved rather than waiting until you land.
Bookings must now match your application
Since 2025, applications for the dedicated Umrah visa have required verified accommodation and transport bookings linked through the Nusuk system. Standalone applications without that linked booking are refused.
This is the practical reason booking everything through one licensed agent has become the path of least resistance. When the visa, the hotel and the transport all sit in a single record, they match. When they are arranged separately by different parties, mismatches cause rejections, and sorting one out at short notice is not a pleasant experience.
What you will need to hand
The standard requirements are straightforward. A passport valid for at least six months beyond your arrival date. A clear digital passport-style photograph, since blurred uploads are a frequent cause of delay. Confirmed accommodation and transport details where your route requires them. Proof of the meningitis vaccination, which is a requirement for pilgrims and must be dated in advance of arrival.
On age, you must be 18 to travel to Saudi Arabia on your own; under-18s travel with a parent or an approved legal guardian.
Timing, and the Hajj window
Umrah can be performed at almost any point in the year, with one important exception. Each year there is a suspension around the Hajj season, and Umrah visa issuance closes some weeks beforehand. In 2026 that cut-off fell on 20 March. Access to Makkah is also restricted for anyone not holding Hajj status in the weeks around the pilgrimage itself.
It is worth being clear that none of the routes above covers Hajj. Hajj is explicitly excluded from both the ETA and the tourist eVisa, and runs on its own visa allocated through national quotas and licensed channels. Attempting Hajj on any other status carries serious penalties, including multi-year entry bans.
Check before you book
Everything above reflects the position at the time of writing, and that is the most important caveat in this article. Saudi entry rules are set by the Saudi authorities and have been changing at short notice, sometimes with only weeks of warning. Before you pay for anything, confirm the current requirements through the official Saudi visa portal, the Nusuk platform, UK government travel advice, or a licensed operator who deals with it week in and week out.
For most British pilgrims, the honest answer is that the visa is no longer the hard part. Getting the visa, the permits and the bookings to line up with each other is. That is the piece worth handing to someone who does it every day.
Author bio
This article was contributed in partnership with Islamic Travel Agency, a UK-based Hajj and Umrah travel operator. Visa rules change at short notice; always confirm current requirements with official sources before booking.
