The New 365-Day Multiple-Entry Umrah Visa: What It Means for You and Your Family

For expats living in Saudi Arabia whose family members back home have always wanted to perform Umrah — but found the visa process a hurdle every single time — a recent change makes this considerably easier. Saudi Arabia now offers a multiple-entry Umrah visa valid for a full 365 days, letting eligible visitors come and go for pilgrimage purposes without reapplying every time.

What the New Multiple-Entry Umrah Visa Offers

Previously, most Umrah visas were single-entry, meaning a visit, once completed and the visitor departed, required an entirely fresh application for any future trip. The new multiple-entry format changes that significantly: a single approved visa remains valid for a full year, during which the holder can enter and exit Saudi Arabia multiple times for the purpose of performing Umrah, without needing to restart the application process for each visit.

This is a meaningful simplification for anyone who might want to perform Umrah more than once within a year — a common wish for many Muslim families, particularly those with relatives working abroad who want to combine a visit to see family with a pilgrimage during the same trip, potentially more than once across the year.

Why This Matters if You Live in Saudi Arabia

If you're an expat resident, this update is directly useful for your own visiting family members: a parent, sibling, or spouse back home no longer needs to go through a full visa application every single time they want to combine a family visit with Umrah. One approved visa can cover multiple trips across the year, which meaningfully reduces both the paperwork and the cost of repeated applications for families who like to visit more than once annually.

Who Can Apply

Eligibility for Umrah visas generally follows the same broad framework as before — Muslim visitors from eligible countries applying through the standard Umrah visa channels, whether through the official Nusuk platform, authorized travel agents, or their national Hajj/Umrah coordination bodies where applicable. The key change here is the VALIDITY AND ENTRY STRUCTURE of the visa once approved (multiple entries over 365 days), not a fundamentally different eligibility pool — if your family member could apply for an Umrah visa before, they're very likely still eligible under this improved format.

How to Apply

The application process itself follows the now-familiar digital-first approach:

• Nusuk platform — the official Saudi platform for Umrah and pilgrimage-related visa applications, where most individual applicants will start.
• Authorized travel agents — many families still prefer working through a licensed agent in their home country, who handles the application on their behalf alongside flight and accommodation arrangements.
• Passport and standard documentation — a valid passport with sufficient remaining validity, a recent photo, and any health/vaccination documentation currently required (which can shift, so checking the latest requirement close to the travel date is worth doing).

What the Visa Does and Doesn't Allow

It's worth being clear-eyed about scope: an Umrah visa, multiple-entry or not, is specifically for pilgrimage and directly related travel — it does not permit employment, residency, or open-ended tourism unrelated to the pilgrimage purpose. Visitors are generally expected to observe the specific itinerary and duration norms tied to Umrah travel for each individual visit within the year, even though the overall visa validity spans 365 days. If a family member wants to combine their trip with broader tourism unrelated to Umrah, or wants to stay long-term, that requires a different visa category entirely (the standard tourist eVisa, or a family/residency visa depending on the goal).

Hosting Family on an Umrah Visit

If your visiting family member's Umrah visa trip includes time staying with you as a resident, it's worth keeping a few practical things in mind:

• Keep your own residency documents (Iqama) and their visa confirmation easily accessible during their stay, in case of any routine check.
• Plan around Umrah-specific logistics (Ihram requirements, transport to Makkah/Madinah) separately from ordinary family-visit sightseeing, since these have their own specific customs and expectations.
• If they plan to make more than one Umrah trip within the year under the same visa, keep a note of exactly when the visa was first issued, since the 365-day window is counted from that original approval date.

A Genuinely Useful Change

For expat families spread across countries, small simplifications like this one carry real, tangible value — fewer repeated applications, lower cumulative cost, and an easier path for loved ones to combine visiting you with a meaningful spiritual trip more than once across a year. If you have family who've been wanting to make Umrah a more regular part of their visits to see you in Saudi Arabia, this is a good moment to look into it together.