Saudi Arabia’s New 1-Year Multiple-Entry Visa for Umrah: What It Really Means for Pakistani Pilgrims

Saudi Arabia rolled out a new Umrah visa on 19 July 2026: one year, multiple entries. The newly introduced eVisa is valid for 365 days from the day it is issued, and pilgrims can stay up to 90 days total across that window. For pilgrims from countries like Pakistan, this replaces a visa that only ever worked once. However, one rule remains the same. All subsequent Umrahs require a new Nusuk permit and a purchased service package.

If you have ever sat through the paperwork of applying for Umrah more than once a year, you can understand why this is being talked about in every Pakistani travel office and by pilgrims who go frequently to Haramain right now. Here is what the visa actually changes, and what it doesn’t.

What Is the 1-Year Multiple-Entry Visa?

It is basically a single visa that stays valid for a full year and can be used for more than one Umrah trip during that time, instead of a visa tied to a single visit. Multiple-entry, one-year Umrah access is not new to Saudi Arabia’s visa system as a whole; travelers from the roughly 60-plus countries eligible for the Saudi tourist eVisa, along with GCC residents, have had a version of this for a while. What’s new is that this flexibility now applies to the dedicated Umrah visa category itself, the one used by pilgrims from countries not on the eVisa list.

How Long Is It Valid, and How Many Days Can I Stay?

• Validity: The visa is valid for 365 days from the issuance date (not from the date you arrive in Saudi Arabia)
• Stay allowance: up to 90 days total, usable across the entire 365-day period.

How the days are counted: every day spent in Saudi Arabia is subtracted from that 90-day pool. Three trips of 30 days use up the same allowance as one continuous 90-day stay.

Why This Matters More for Pakistani Pilgrims Than the Headline Suggests

Pakistan is not on the eVisa list of Saudi Arabia. Pakistani pilgrims have generally gone through the dedicated Umrah visa route applied for through licensed agents, historically single-entry, and tied to one trip. Every additional Umrah meant starting the process again from scratch.

This announcement is significant because it extends multiple-entry flexibility to that Umrah visa category itself. A family that wants to send an elderly parent for Ramadan and then again in Shaban, or a pilgrim who wants to travel during a work leave in autumn and again in spring, no longer needs two separate visa applications to do it.

Do I Need a New Permit for Every Trip?

Yes. The visa gets you into the country. It does not get you into Masjid al-Haram or Masjid an-Nabawi.

For the first Umrah, the process works the way it always has. For every Umrah after that, pilgrims must go through the Nusuk app, request a fresh Umrah permit, and purchase the relevant service package before that trip. Skip this step and the visa in your passport will not matter, as you won’t be allowed into the mosques.

This is in line with the way Nusuk has been operating since the summer of 2025, when the system was made obligatory for reservations of a place to stay and when finalizing all the arrangements connected with applying for an Umrah visa. The multiple-entry visa removes the need to reapply for the visa itself. It does not remove Nusuk from the picture.

1-Year Multiple-Entry Visa vs. Tourist eVisa vs. the Old Single-Entry Umrah Visa

What This Visa Does Not Cover

Always remember that 1-Year Multiple-Entry Visa does not cover Hajj. It is an Umrah visa. Hajj still requires its own separate permit and falls under an entirely different quota and application system.

Saudi Arabia still closes Umrah entirely in the weeks before Hajj each year, and every pilgrim regardless of visa type has to be out of the country by the season’s exit deadline. A multiple-entry visa does not override the annual shutdown; it just means you do not need a new visa when the season reopens, assuming your 365 days haven’t run out.

Keep your Nusuk account active and have your documents ready for every trip. Accommodation and transport bookings aren’t a side step; they’re what actually makes the permit valid.

Track your remaining days too. You have only got 90 to work with across the full year, so this change helps most if you are planning, not deciding two weeks out.

We will be following how Saudi authorities and Pakistani travel agencies implement this over the coming weeks, since rollout details for a policy this fresh tend to shift before they settle.

What Pakistani Pilgrims Should Actually Do With This Information

If you’re planning more than one Umrah this year, ask your travel agent directly whether the multiple-entry option is being issued yet for Pakistani applicants, and what it costs compared to the standard single-entry route. Given how recently this was announced, expect some inconsistency at the agent level for the first few weeks while everyone catches up.