Umrah from Canada for Pakistani passport holders
The short answer. Canada's quiet months and the Umrah quiet months line up better than almost anywhere else, which is the one real advantage you have: travelling in the Canadian winter is often when the close hotels in Makkah are cheapest. The flight is the dominant cost, so many Canadian travellers buy their own ticket and take the visa, hotels and ground arrangements from us. We file the visa from Pakistan, and in a number of countries it can also be filed locally, so tell us your residency first.
The winter advantage, and the one warning
For a Canadian family the winter is often the sensible time to go. It is a quiet season in Makkah, which means the same money puts you markedly closer to the Haram than the same money would in Ramadan.
The warning is physical rather than financial. You are leaving a Canadian winter and arriving somewhere considerably warmer, and the whole trip is spent walking. Plan for it: water, sensible footwear you have already worn, and no ambitious first day.
December and winter Umrah and the preparation checklist.
If your dates are tied to the March break instead, expect to pay more or stay further out. That is not an agency's doing, it is the season.
Start with the flight
From Canada the fare and the routing decide more than anything an agency controls, so decide in this order:
- What can you get from your own airport, and on what routing?
- Is the whole journey on one ticket? On one ticket a missed connection is
the airline's responsibility and the bags are checked through. On two
separate tickets it is yours to solve, in a transit airport, in Ihram.
- Then price the Saudi end.
Which is why land only fits many Canadian travellers: the visa, the hotels and the ground arrangements from us, the ticket bought by you. Say which you want, because a land only quote and a full package quote are not comparable numbers.
Where the visa is filed
We file from Pakistan. In a number of countries it can also be filed where you live, so both routes exist and the right one depends on your residency. Tell us where you are resident before you pay anybody.
The overview is in Umrah packages for overseas Pakistanis.
The documents question, which matters more in Canada
Ask this in your first message: which items need a physical original, and which can be a scan?
Scans first, couriers only where something genuinely needs them. It matters here because distance and winter both slow a courier down, and an item discovered in the final week becomes an emergency rather than an errand.
Keep copies of everything you send and note the date you sent it.
The passport question
Many Pakistani families in Canada hold both passports, or a Canadian passport and a NICOP. Settle before booking: which document are you travelling on, and is every record spelled the way that document spells it?
The ticket, the visa and the hotel must match the document you present. Send a scan of the one you intend to use.
Umrah is not quota bound and no nationality is barred. Hajj is different, and we set that out in Hajj from abroad for overseas Pakistanis.
A family travelling from two countries
Parents from Karachi, children from Toronto, Mississauga or Calgary, everybody wanting the same hotel and the same days. One of the commonest things we arrange and one of the least arrangeable late. Give both sets of dates at the start.
Umrah for families and Umrah for elderly pilgrims.
Paying us from Canada
- To the registered company, against a receipt. Never a personal account,
whatever reason is given.
- Everything in writing first, in one message you keep: hotels by name, the
room, the nights, the exclusions, the cancellation terms. Ours are on the
cancellation and refunds page.
- Ask us what we can accept from Canada before you send anything.
- Check the licence, not the logo:
how to verify an Umrah travel agency
What to ask, in one message
- Which hotel in Makkah, by name, and how many minutes to the Haram?
- How many share the room at this price?
- Nights in Makkah, nights in Madinah?
- Is this land only or flight included?
- What is not included, and what are the cancellation terms?
- Who do I call in Saudi Arabia, and at what hour is it answered?
Before you commit
Passport expiry for every traveller, the vaccination with the waiting period started early, and names spelled identically across passport, NICOP and NADRA. The full order of operations is in Umrah booking from abroad with a Pakistani passport.
Ask us
Tell us your city, which passport each traveller will use, your dates and the ages, and whether you want land only or the flight included. We will price that and say what it leaves out. Our departures are on the Umrah packages page, and WhatsApp works across the time difference better than anything else.