Umrah packages for overseas Pakistanis
The short answer. Umrah is not quota bound. There is no national allocation, no ballot and no waiting list, which is the single biggest difference from Hajj and the reason an overseas Pakistani can usually go whenever they decide to. We file the visa from Pakistan, and in a number of countries it can also be filed locally where you live; which route suits you depends on where you are resident, so ask before you pay anybody. What genuinely changes when you book from abroad is the flight and the paperwork.
Every year we take calls from Dubai, London, Toronto, Houston and Sydney that start the same way: I am Pakistani, I live abroad, can you do my Umrah?
For Hajj the answer depends on which document you hold, and we wrote that out in full in Hajj from abroad for overseas Pakistanis.
For Umrah it is simpler. Here is the whole picture.
Why Umrah is easier than Hajj for you
No quota. Hajj seats are allocated by Saudi Arabia to countries, which is why Hajj involves schemes, ballots and a number that runs out. Umrah has none of that.
No nationality bar. We arrange Umrah for travellers of any nationality, so a Pakistani passport, a NICOP, a POC, a British or Canadian passport, none of it closes a door the way it can for Hajj.
No season you must wait for. Umrah runs through the year. Your constraint is your own calendar and the hotel prices in the month you pick, not an allocation.
The visa route, said plainly
We file from Pakistan. That is what our office does and it is what most of our overseas families use.
In a number of countries it can also be filed where you live. Both routes exist. Which one is right for you depends on your country of residence and sometimes on your residency status within it.
So the honest instruction is this: tell us where you are resident before you pay anything, and we will tell you which route we would use for you. Anybody who answers that question confidently without asking where you live is not answering your question.
What actually changes when you book from abroad
Three things, and none of them is the Umrah itself.
The flight. A package priced from Pakistan assumes a Pakistani departure. If you are flying from Manchester or Melbourne, say so in the first message, because it changes the structure of the package and not just the price.
The paperwork. Scans first, and originals or couriers only where something genuinely needs them. Ask at the start which items will need a physical original, so that it is not discovered in the final week.
The hours. Tell us your city and we will call at an hour that suits you. Most of our overseas families run the whole thing on WhatsApp, which is the honest answer to "how will we stay in touch".
Everything else, the hotels, the distance from the Haram, the room, the nights, the transport between Makkah and Madinah, is identical to what a family in Karachi buys. What is included in an Umrah package.
Flight, or land only
Decide which you are asking for, because the two quotes are not comparable:
- The full package, flight included.
- Land only: the visa, the hotels and the ground arrangements, with you
buying your own ticket. Overseas travellers often prefer this, because they
can use miles or a fare from their own city.
Tell us which you want and we will price that. A quote for one compared against a quote for the other is how people end up thinking an honest agency is expensive.
Paying a company you cannot walk into
This is the real difference, and it deserves more care than the visa question.
- Pay the registered company, against a receipt. Never a personal account,
whatever reason is given. This one line is most of the protection.
- Get it in writing, in one message you keep: the hotels by name, the room,
the nights, what is excluded, the cancellation terms.
- Check the licence rather than the logo.
How to verify an Umrah travel agency
A family travelling from two countries
Parents from Karachi, children from abroad, everybody wanting the same hotel and the same days. This comes up constantly, it is usually arrangeable, and it is almost never arrangeable late.
Raise it in the first conversation and give us both sets of dates.
Your country
- Umrah from the UK
- Umrah from the USA
- Umrah from Canada
- Umrah from Australia
- Umrah from the UAE
- Can overseas Pakistanis book through a Pakistani agency
- Booking from abroad with a Pakistani passport
Ask us
Tell us where you are resident, where each traveller is flying from, your dates and the ages. We will tell you which visa route we would use, what the package includes, what it does not, and whether a different week would serve you better. Our departures are on the Umrah packages page, and WhatsApp works from anywhere.