If you fly from London, Manchester, New York, Washington or Toronto to Pakistan with Saudia (or flynas), you can break the journey in Jeddah or Riyadh for up to 96 hours on a stopover transit eVisa and perform Umrah during it. The visa is applied for inside the airline booking, is issued by the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and allows Umrah once you have booked a permit on Nusuk. It cannot be used for Hajj.
For British, American and Canadian Pakistanis visiting family, this turns a connection into an Umrah without a separate trip, and without a Pakistani operator, because you are not travelling on a Pakistan-issued Umrah visa.
The rules, from Saudia's own page
- Stay: up to 96 hours (4 days) in Saudi Arabia, not extendable.
- Validity: 90 days from issue; one stopover per booking.
- Itinerary: a genuine connection — an international departure and a different final destination (for example London → Jeddah → Islamabad). A return trip to Saudi Arabia alone does not qualify.
- Passport: valid for at least six months with no restrictions.
- Onward: a confirmed ticket to your final destination and the right to enter it — for Pakistan that means a Pakistani passport, a NICOP, or a Pakistani visa. Entry rules for Pakistan.
- Cost: Saudia charges the visa, service, medical and insurance fees set by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; 2026 guides report roughly SAR 40 plus about SAR 13 for the medical cover. Entry is still at the passport officer’s discretion.
- Umrah: allowed, but book your Umrah (and Rawdah) permit on Nusuk before going to Makkah or Madinah. Not valid for Hajj.
How to book it
- Search your whole trip on Saudia — for example Manchester to Lahore — and choose the stopover option: Jeddah for Umrah, and the length of stay (up to 96 hours).
- During booking, apply for the stopover transit visa on the extras page. Have a passport-style photo ready at 200 × 200 pixels, under 20 KB.
- Pay the flight and visa together. The visa and insurance arrive by email.
- Book the Umrah permit on the Nusuk app for your dates, and a hotel in Makkah. Four days allows one unhurried Umrah; Madinah as well needs tight planning (the Haramain train links Jeddah, Makkah and Madinah).
The visa is applied for in your own name during the booking on Saudia’s website (Saudia also points travellers to the Visit Saudi platform). If you would rather we issue the ticket, ask us first to confirm that the stopover visa can be added to an agency-issued ticket for your route; we will not issue until that is clear.
Who it suits, and who it does not
- Suits: UK, US and Canadian families flying home to Pakistan who want one Umrah on the way, with a four-day window.
- May suit: Pakistani passport holders living in the UK, USA or Canada — but check eligibility during the Saudia booking before paying for anything else (see below).
- Does not suit: parents living in Pakistan who want to go for Umrah and come back — that is a return trip, which needs a proper Umrah visa through a licensed operator. See Umrah for parents.
- Does not suit: Ramadan’s last ten nights or a 10–14 night Umrah. Four days is the ceiling.
- Hajj season: Saudi Arabia pauses Umrah permits around Hajj (in 2026 from 18 April to 31 May), so a stopover then will not include Umrah.
Which passports are eligible
UK, US and Canadian passports are eligible. In April 2025 Saudi Arabia was reported to limit the e-stopover visa to journeys to or from a “Group A” list of countries (the UK, the USA and Canada are on it; Pakistan is not), and to require travellers of other nationalities to hold a visa for one of those countries that they have already used (Malay Mail, citing Saudia, 8 April 2025). Saudia’s own page in September 2026 says travellers whose nationality is not eligible can still apply for the stopover visa while booking a Saudia journey. If you travel on a Pakistani passport, the application during booking is the test: do not pay for a Makkah hotel until the visa is issued.
Health requirements
Saudi health rules ask pilgrims from countries where polio still circulates to show a polio dose taken between four weeks and 12 months before arrival, and meningitis ACWY is required for Hajj and Hajj areas. If you are flying out of the UK, USA or Canada, check the current Nusuk health guidance before you go. Pakistan’s new NADRA-integrated vaccination card is a rule for pilgrims departing Pakistan (from 25 September 2026, Umrah flights from Karachi), not for flights from abroad.
Facts on this page were checked on 23 September 2026 against: saudia.com · saudipedia.com · gulfnews.com · umrah.guide · malaymail.com · hajj.nusuk.sa · khaleejtimes.com