Here is the thing most people don’t know, and plenty of agencies won’t tell you: if you hold a British passport, you almost certainly do not need a traditional “Umrah visa” any more. The Electronic Visa Waiver (EVW) — a $31 government document we arrange for around £55 all-in — lets you travel to Saudi Arabia and perform Umrah. Outside the Hajj window, that’s it. That’s the whole secret.
Saudi Arabia has overhauled entry for British travellers several times in recent years: first the tourist eVisa at over £100, then the far cheaper EVW. The rules moved faster than most advice online, which is why so much of what you’ll read elsewhere — including talk of £200 Umrah visas as the default — is simply out of date.
We’ve been arranging Saudi travel since 2015 — thousands of applications across the team. In practice the process with us is: you WhatsApp us a photo of your passport and a digital passport photo, we file the application through our company account the same working day, and your approval usually lands within a day or two.
Who needs this
Eligibility overview
Every non-Saudi needs some form of entry permission, but which one matters. British passport holders: the EVW covers tourism, family visits and Umrah — for most of our clients it’s the right answer and the cheapest by far. The tourist eVisa (roughly £110+) still exists and includes basic medical insurance, which the EVW does not — some travellers, particularly older pilgrims, choose it for that alone. The traditional Umrah visa through the embassy route (£200 or so) is an old-school process we’d honestly steer most people away from — we can arrange it via a specialist partner if your circumstances genuinely require it, but for a British passport holder it’s usually money spent on nothing the EVW doesn’t already give you. Other nationalities: rules vary sharply and change often — message us with your passport details and we’ll tell you straight, including when the honest answer is that you don’t need to pay us at all.
Documents required
What you'll need
- Passport with at least 6 months’ validity — a clear photo of the photo page, sent by WhatsApp, is all we need to start
- Digital passport-size photo with a white background (a phone photo against a white wall usually passes)
- Your travel dates and where you’ll be staying
- Home address and contact details
- Vaccination certificates where required — UK travellers can check current requirements via NaTHNaC or their GP
- Any additional document required by the authorities
Processing time
How long does it take?
EVW and tourist eVisa approvals typically come through within 24–72 hours; we file the same working day you send your documents. The traditional embassy-route Umrah visa is slower and seasonal. One timing rule matters more than any other: during the Hajj window each year, Umrah is suspended — you can still get an EVW or visit visa, but you cannot perform Umrah on it until the season reopens. In Ramadan, everything — approvals, flights, hotels — gets busier and dearer, so start weeks ahead, not days.
Common mistakes
Why applications are refused
- Refusals are genuinely rare on the EVW and tourist eVisa — the great majority sail through
- Certain nationalities face stricter, less predictable screening, and Saudi Arabia does not give reasons when it refuses
- Details that don’t match the passport exactly — the classic avoidable error
- Attempting to perform Umrah during the Hajj suspension window on a visit document
Common questions
FAQs
Yes — outside the Hajj season, the EVW permits Umrah for British passport holders. This is the single fact that surprises our clients most, usually followed by “why did nobody tell me it was this cheap?”