Umrah on the Saudi eVisa for Moroccans living abroad

This page is for Moroccans who have settled abroad, in Europe, in North America or further away, and who want to go on Umrah from the country where they live. It is also for the son or daughter in Lyon, Brussels or Montreal who is planning the trip for parents still living in Casablanca, Oujda or Agadir. The two cases do not follow the same route, and it helps to keep them apart from the start.

We set out what the Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah's own guide says, what a press source adds, and the points that no source we have read settles. Words such as ihram, miqat or Nusuk are explained in the guide's glossary.

Who can apply for the eVisa, per the official guide?

According to the ministry's Umrah guide (edition date not stated), the groups that can apply for the eVisa, which allows Umrah, include permanent residents of the European Union, North America, Oceania and some Asian countries, and holders of a valid US, UK or Schengen visa¹.

Read that list slowly, because it is built on two different ideas.

The first idea is where you live. The guide speaks of permanent residents of a region. For a Moroccan settled in France, Spain, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands or Germany, the word that matters is "permanent". The extract we read does not define it, and residence cards in European countries come in several kinds and durations. If your card is a long-term one, the guide's wording appears to describe you. If it is a short or temporary card, check the wording on the official application before you pay anything.

The second idea is what you already hold. The guide also lists holders of a valid US, UK or Schengen visa, according to the ministry's Umrah guide (edition date not stated)¹. Here the question is not where you live but which document is in your passport, and whether it is still valid on the day you apply.

Three practical situations follow from this:

• You live in an EU country with long-term residence. You are the case the guide describes most directly.
• You live in Canada or the United States. North America is named among the residence regions.
• You live in the United Kingdom. In the extract we hold, the UK is named only through its visas, according to the ministry's Umrah guide (edition date not stated)¹. Whether permanent residence in the UK is treated the same way as EU residence is something we could not confirm.

This passage does not mention nationality at all: it neither says that a Moroccan passport changes anything nor that it makes no difference. We list this under the open questions at the end of the page.

Can it be used for Umrah and for Hajj?

For Umrah, yes, outside the Hajj season; for Hajj, no: according to The National (2022), the Saudi tourist eVisa does not allow Hajj, which requires a dedicated visa².

The Umrah side has its own calendar. For the 1448 season, Nusuk permits and entry to Makkah opened on 1 June 2026⁴. Nusuk is the Saudi platform through which Umrah is booked; how to organise the stay once you are there is covered in the practical side of the Umrah steps.

The Hajj side is where a misunderstanding can become expensive. For Hajj 1447 (2026), the Saudi Ministry of Interior set fines of up to SAR 20,000 for anyone performing or trying to perform Hajj without a permit, including visit-visa holders entering or staying in Makkah and the holy sites, from 1 Dhul Qadah to 14 Dhul Hijjah⁶. The same decision provided deportation with a 10-year entry ban for residents and overstayers; the rules for Hajj 1448 were not yet published⁶.

In plain terms: the eVisa can open the door to Umrah, but it is not a way into Hajj. If anyone tells you otherwise, ask to see the official text.

Hajj for Moroccans goes through a national cycle run by the Ministry of Habous and Islamic Affairs, with its own conditions and lottery⁸. That cycle is described in our page on Morocco's Hajj lottery. Whether a Moroccan who lives abroad can take part in it is not stated in the sources we hold.

Travelling with parents who live in Morocco: which route for whom?

A common family situation: you live abroad, your parents live in Morocco, and you want to perform Umrah together.

The answer is that each person follows the route that matches their own situation. The guide's groups are defined by residence and by documents already held, according to the ministry's Umrah guide (edition date not stated)¹. Your parents' residence is Morocco, and for them the picture is different: as of 20 October 2026, we found no official source confirming that a Moroccan living in Morocco can get the Saudi tourist eVisa or apply alone as an individual pilgrim on Nusuk, and going through an approved Umrah provider remains the documented route¹. What the direct Nusuk Umrah service does and does not change for them is explained in our explainer on applying alone from Morocco.

The last row matters because it describes many parents who travel to Europe to see their children. We have not seen a source that settles it either way, so we do not tell you it works, and we do not tell you it fails.

Your parents' side of the journey, with its papers, hotel condition and insurance, has its own page: the papers for Moroccans travelling from Morocco. One rule there shapes joint plans. According to Gulf Business and Khaleej Times, citing the Saudi ministry, since 10 June 2025 an Umrah visa is issued only if the accommodation is registered on the Nusuk Masar platform, in a licensed hotel that confirms the booking electronically⁹. If you want to stay in the same hotel as your parents, agree on it before their file is put together, not after.

There are two ways to shape such a trip:

1. Travelling separately and meeting there. Your parents leave from Morocco on their own arrangements, you fly in from your country of residence, and you meet in Makkah or Madinah. Agree in advance on dates, the hotel and a meeting point, and keep each other's booking references on paper.
2. Travelling together. Even then, each person's papers follow their own residence, as described above, even if you sit side by side on the plane.

If your parents are older, plan the practical side early too: rest days between the rites, short walking distances and someone who can stay with them in the crowd. voyageomra.ma's page on Umrah with elderly parents covers that side of the trip.

Health rules on arrival

According to the Saudi Ministry of Health's official document for Umrah 1447 (2026), everyone coming to perform Umrah must be vaccinated against meningococcal disease, at least 10 days before arrival⁵. The document is addressed to everyone who comes for Umrah, so it makes no difference whether you travel on the eVisa or your parents on an Umrah visa⁵.

For readers who had their injection in Europe or North America, the certificate is the point to check. The Saudi Ministry of Health asks that the vaccination certificate clearly state the name, type and date of administration of the meningococcal vaccine⁵. Ask your doctor or travel clinic to fill those three lines legibly.

A few other points from the same Saudi health rules:

• These rules use the term "Umrah areas" for Makkah, Madinah, Jeddah and Taif⁵.
• The Umrah 1447 document requires polio vaccination for travellers from countries where wild or vaccine-derived poliovirus is circulating; we have not checked which countries are on that list⁵.
• Travellers coming from yellow-fever-affected areas must be vaccinated against yellow fever for Umrah⁵.
• Seasonal flu and COVID-19 vaccines are recommended for Umrah pilgrims but not made mandatory⁵.

The full health picture, including which types of injection count and for how long, is on our page on the meningitis rule and its gaps. For anything medical, your own doctor decides.

What should you do next?

1. Look at your residence card or the documents in your passport, and compare them with the guide's list above.
2. Ask your doctor for a meningitis certificate that shows the name, type and date of the injection.
3. If your parents are travelling from Morocco, read their side of the papers before you book anything joint.
4. Follow the season's opening and closing dates on the guide's official calendar, where every date carries its source and the day we last checked it.

If you would rather have someone put your parents' file together, the box below explains how to reach the publisher of this guide.