Without a doubt, one of the most popular questions we receive at MuslimTravelGirl.com is whether you can get an Umrah visa without a package.
You might have heard that many agents will say that you cannot do a do it yourself Umrah for the simple reason that they will refuse you an Umrah visa.
Worth the view always!
The reason why Umrah agents don’t want to give you only Umrah visas is that they don’t make money from it.
The majority of the income for agents comes from hotels and flights as the Umrah visa fees are pretty much standard and receiving £20 won’t make a big difference for them.
However think of the option where they book hundreds of flights and book thousands of hotels, they can negotiate better prices and receive higher commissions.
I know this because my blog also earns a commission from affiliate sites albeit I save you money.
Especially the younger Millennial Muslim generation is less likely to book a package but rather an Umrah on your own.
This, of course, means less money for the agents.
Umrah Visa Without Package
The very short answer to this question is yes and no. It really depends on where you are based whether you will be able to get an Umrah visa without a package.
It is definitely not impossible as many agents around the world make it sound.
I have a whole course and I have helped thousands of people go for Umrah without a package and save thousands.
You will need to be very persistent if you don’t have a relationship with an Umrah agent but the first time I did this 5 years ago I have to call at least ten agents until someone told me they can issue me the visa.
Five years later and this agent has received hundreds of customers from this website because they are reliable and offer good customer service.
The rejection of Umrah visa on its own is very common sadly in Asian countries such as Malaysia, India, Pakistan and even in South Africa where an Umrah visa is very hard to get unless you know an agent.
I have heard of success stories in South Africa for booking flights with your agent and him giving you the visa.
However, those living in the West such as the USA and UK and Europe have fewer problems when it comes to Umrah visas and for sure you can receive an Umrah visa without a hotel booked by an agent.
You will need however to show you have booked your hotel when asking for the Umrah visa from your agent.
If you are living in the UK or the USA you can check this post here for the details of agents who can help you.
Also, if you have agents in your respective country that you can use and are happy with who issue Umrah only visas then please email me via the contact form.
Insha’Allah you will be receiving a lot of sadaqah.
I get asked a lot: “ Can I apply for an Umrah visa myself ”
Please note that you cannot apply for an Umrah visa yourself, you need to go via a reputable agent.
Also important is that if you are a convert when applying for your visa you will need your conversion certificate showing that you are Muslim.
If you don’t have one you can request one from your local mosque.
Nothing better than praying with a view like this
Umrah Visa Prices
The Umrah visa fees, I have covered very extensively here, however they are similar prices everywhere in the world.
For example, the umrah visa fee from the USA is around $150 and from the UK the Umrah visa fee is £100. Just do the exchange of these rates to find how much it will be in your country.
Also if you have been the previous year don’t forget that the Saudi government imposes an extra fee of 2000 SAR per person, even for young children.
Use this calendar here to check the Hijri year if like me you find it confusing.
Umrah Visa Fee 2000SAR
With great sadness, the agents I work with have said ( without being confirmed 100% by the Saudi government) that the 2000SAR Umrah fee will continue in a worse format.
Previously those going for Umrah every other year, would not pay the extra 2000 SAR Umrah fee.
However, with this new season, it seems that everyone who has been for Umrah once before will have to pay the 2000SAR fee.
This is a very hefty price for anyone. It seems that Europe, the UK and potentially the USA and other countries are affected.
For more information, we will have to wait and see. As there is no official announcement yet.
If you want to check the details you can visit the Saudi Hajj ministry site here and do so.
I find this fee to be ridiculous, to be honest especially because it will restrict people from going as Umrah is already expensive.
However, I have even more now see the benefit of a Do-It-Yourself Umrah and at least save the fees associated with agents.
Currently, Saudi checks the passport details to decide whether to charge you a fee or not, so I can see that one loophole will be on the renewal of your passport. 😉
This way potentially every 10 years or less you can have an Umrah free visa without the extra fee.
How to plan a Do It Yourself Umrah package
My life passion is to help Muslims go on DIY packages and there is so much information here on this.
Yes, you will need an agent for the Umrah visa but after this, you can save a lot of money by doing it yourself.
Personally, I have saved over £30,000 over my Umrah’s and I even have a course on how to achieve the best results coming soon. You can sign up for the newsletter to find out more.
The biggest savings of Umrah and of course where agents make money is from the hotels and flights because of its economies of scale.
But now imagine booking your flights on sale and finding cheap hotels in Makkah.
There are so many new amazing budget hotels in Makkah starting from as little as £50 per night that it’s hardly any spending.
Here are some posts that can help you plan your own DIY Umrah package.
If you are looking for transportation options you might want to look at the transport post below.