Pilgrims often ask whether they can simply buy an Umrah visa and arrange everything else themselves. The short answer is no, and the reason is structural: the Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah administers pilgrim bookings and permits through its Nusuk platform, and the visa is assessed against confirmed arrangements registered there.
What Nusuk is
Nusuk is the official Saudi platform for pilgrim registration, bookings and permits. It handles the registration of pilgrims, the confirmation of accommodation and travel arrangements, and the issuing of permits for specific acts of worship — most visibly, the time-slot permits for visiting the Rawdah in Masjid an-Nabawi.
Why the visa and the package are linked
Because the application is assessed against confirmed accommodation registered on the platform, the visa cannot sensibly be separated from the booking. A traveller with no registered accommodation has nothing for the application to be assessed against.
This is why reputable agencies arrange the visa as part of a package, and why an offer of a standalone Umrah visa with no accommodation should be treated with caution.
Rawdah permits
Access to the Riyadul Jannah — the area between the Prophet's ﷺ pulpit and his blessed chamber — is managed through allocated time slots booked on the platform. Slots are released in advance and are taken quickly, particularly in Ramadan.
Book as soon as slots open for your dates. Men and women have separate allocated times, and visiting outside your allocated slot is not permitted. We book Rawdah slots for our pilgrims as part of the arrangements.
What you need for registration
- A machine-readable passport with sufficient remaining validity
- A photograph meeting the required specification
- Confirmed accommodation in Makkah and Madinah
- Confirmed inbound and return flights
- Vaccination documentation in the currently accepted format
Common problems
- Name mismatches. The name on the registration must match the passport exactly, including the order of names.
- Photograph specification. Rejected photographs are a frequent cause of delay and easily avoided.
- Passport validity. Check before you book, not after.
- Leaving Rawdah slots too late. They go quickly; book as soon as they open.
- Assuming last season's rules apply. The platform and its requirements have changed repeatedly.
How we handle it
Registration, accommodation confirmation, visa submission and Rawdah slot booking are all handled as part of your package. You send us your documents; we check them against the current requirements before anything is submitted, which is where most avoidable delays are caught.
See our Umrah visa page for the documentation detail, or contact our team.
Need help with your travel plans?
Our consultants can answer your questions and arrange the whole trip.
Frequently Asked Questions
In practice, no. The application is assessed against confirmed accommodation registered on the official platform, which is why the visa is arranged as part of a package.
Rawdah permits are issued as time slots through the official platform, with separate allocations for men and women. Slots are taken quickly. We book these for our pilgrims as part of the arrangements.
When you book with us, we handle the registration and booking confirmation as part of the package.
