Umrah with children and minors: visa, permit, vaccines

What each child needs

A family Umrah is prepared child by child. For the Umrah visa for children as for everything else, each minor has their own passport, visa, permit where required and vaccination certificate. The table gives the source for each item and how certain it is.

Swipe the table to see every column

The child's visa: the same routes as adults

A child obtains the tourist eVisa through the same routes as an adult. If their nationality is on the eVisa list, the application is straightforward; our eligibility checker gives the answer for each country.

The parents' residence matters too. First-degree relatives of permanent residents of the United States, the United Kingdom or the European Union, and of holders of a US, UK or Schengen visa already used, can obtain the eVisa. The same applies to first-degree family accompanying a resident of a Gulf country. Details in our guide eVisa by residence. For the Gulf residents route, the firm Deloitte specifies that the applicant must be at least 18 and that, when travelling with children under 18, the parents apply first.

Within a family, passports do not always share the same nationality. Each then follows its own route, and our guide eVisa or Nusuk helps you choose for each traveller.

Minors: how we handle children

At myumrahvisa, a minor is always attached to an adult in the same request. We enter the adult first, then the minor with them. If the adult goes through a route other than the eVisa, the attached minor follows in principle.

For the Umrah visa, a minor under 16 is attached to an adult in the same request. This rule of our service may change with the official rules. Individual travellers request this visa from their account, by filling in the request form: see the Umrah visa page.

The Nusuk permit for children

The Umrah permit is booked in the Nusuk app once the visas have been issued. According to HalalBooking's guide, the adult adds companions to their account: name, passport, nationality, date of birth, relationship and sex. Each companion must hold their own valid visa.

The same guide states that children aged 5 and over need their own permit, and that a permit may not be required below 5, depending on the season and the rule in force. The official FAQ, for its part, mentions a minimum age of 5 for a visa or permit, in an answer written during the Covid period. Elsewhere, however, the same guide says that children under 12 may not need a separate permit: the two thresholds contradict each other.

Only one permit is active at a time for each person; to change the time slot, you cancel before the scheduled time and book a new one. The steps are in our guide booking your Umrah permit.

Vaccines in detail

For the 1447 period, the Saudi Ministry of Health accepts a quadrivalent (ACYW) or pentavalent (ACYWX) conjugate vaccine received within the last 5 years, or a quadrivalent polysaccharide vaccine received within the last 3 years. In both cases, it must have been received at least 10 days before arrival.

The certificate must show the vaccine's name and date; if the type is not stated, the ministry treats it as valid for three years only from the vaccination date. Choosing the right vaccine for the child's age is a matter for your doctor or a travel vaccination centre, based on the version in force for your season.

According to the same ministry document (1447 version), other vaccines depend on the country of departure or on the traveller's situation; these lists change every season:

• Polio: at least one vaccine dose, whatever the age, for anyone arriving from certain countries, including Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nigeria, Indonesia, Palestine, Yemen and some twenty other African countries; the ministry recommends receiving it at least 4 weeks before arrival.
• Yellow fever: for travellers over 9 months old arriving from 41 countries and territories in Africa and South America, including French Guiana; the certificate is valid for life, from 10 days after vaccination.
• Covid: proof of vaccination or immunity for people over 65, pregnant women and people with certain chronic conditions (heart, lungs, kidneys, inherited blood disorders, immune deficiency, cancer, neurological diseases).

On site: children at the mosques

The official FAQ states that children are admitted to the courtyards of the Grand Mosque in Makkah and the Prophet's Mosque. Praying in the Rawdah requires a permit booked in the app, as for any visitor.

Before you leave: the checklist

1. 1

   Check every passport

   Look at the expiry date of each child's passport: at least 6 months of validity. If a passport needs renewing, do it before any visa application.

2. 2

   Find each traveller's route

   Nationality first, then the parents' residence: go through it passport by passport with our checker.

3. 3

   Book the vaccination appointments

   The vaccine must be received at least 10 days before arrival: book the appointment well before that and keep the certificates.

4. 4

   Apply for the visas together

   Submit the adults' and children's passports in the same request, so that each minor is attached to their adult.

5. 5

   Book the Nusuk permits

   Once the visas are issued, add the children as companions and check in the app which of them need a permit.

6. 6

   Keep copies

   Passports, visas, vaccination certificates and bookings: one paper copy and one on your phone, separate from the originals.

What myumrahvisa does for you

We apply for the tourist eVisa on behalf of individuals, with up to 4 passports per order, for example two parents and two children. A member of our team reviews each file, checks that each minor is attached to an adult, enters the application on the official portal and sends you the visas. Agencies submit the families in their groups in the same way.

If no route applies to a traveller, we say so clearly and nothing is charged.