Umrah Guide - enggsajjad/psa GitHub Wiki

How to perform Umrah from Germany:

How?

Umrah From Germany

There are multiple steps in the process of going to Umrah from Germany with variable conditions.

The major steps are:

1. Getting Visa

a. With German Nationality/Permanent Residence (PR)

The process is simple and straightforward if you have German nationality/PR. You can simply go to the official website of Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) at the following link. https://visa.mofa.gov.sa/ The steps of the online application at the above link are self-explanatory. The positive thing is that you will get an e-visa in only 110 Euros valid for one year and multi entries are possible.

b. With Blue Card and Pakistani Passport

I have come across many people in my surroundings who were somehow able to get the e-visa by giving details of the blue card instead of PR during online application using the above link of MoFA. I was not able to get that chance and was clearly refused, saying that this option is only for German nationals or PR holders. Therefore, I don’t recommend trying this option for blue card holders because the 110 Euro fee paid online is not refundable.

c. All other Pakistani passport-holder residents in Germany

Get the umrah e-visa from Pakistan. As Pakistanis, we are eligible for the Umrah visa, which is easy to get. You don’t have to give biometric fingerprints which means it can be processed remotely. You can easily get it sitting in Germany. It takes around 2 weeks (not fixed), is for three months and it is a single-entry visa. You must get it through the agents. You have to send them a picture of your valid passport and your passport-size picture (some time they take the picture from the passport copy). The cost is about 900 SAR (around 230-250 euros) including hotel bookings and transportation, but it varies from agent to agent. You will get an umrah e-visa which can be printed out and taken with you during travel. You can then travel from anywhere (I went from Vienna). I am 100% sure, even a student can get this visa. If you want to try the agent which I found most competitive in price and service, the details of contact are as follows: Mamoon (00923224014394)
On the other hand, Check24, Booking.com OR agoda can used for booking hotel yourself.

d. Any Muslim travelling through Saudi air lines (Saudia, flynas etc)

This is a quick short term travel option which can be used while transiting through Saudi Arabia. Saudi government allows you to stay for maximum of 96 hours during your transit. All the information can be taken from the on-arrival visa desk at any of the Saudi airports.

2. Travelling to/from Saudi Arabia(Makkah and Madina)

There is an affordable option for travelling to Saudi Arabia by Wizz Air. The only issue is it does not fly from Germany rather you need to travel first to nearby destinations like Vienna or Milan to use it. I with my family travelled to Vienna and then we took the flight to Jeddah. Its price is sometimes unbelievably low, and I will highly recommend that singles or a group of bachelors take this flight because it does not have baggage allowance and if you take baggage the ticket amount does not stay competitive any more.

3. Residence/food in Saudi Arabia (Makkah and Madinah)

If you have taken the option of an agent and he has taken care of your residence, then he will give you a voucher with all the details like dates of stay and addresses of the hotel.

  1. The first thing to do when you in Saudi Arabia is to convert Euro to SAR on the airport because this is where you get the bet rate. Almost (100 * days of stay * number of travelers) SAR will be enough for your stay including food.
  2. Second thing is to buy a sim (I bought Zain company connection with 4-week package for 35 SAR).
  3. Normally the Pakistani restaurants are available in the locality of the hotels so you don’t need to worry about food. Al-Baik is a nice option if you want to try fast food. The nice thing is everywhere and anytime you find any food is Halal.
  4. Important Things to keep in mind. • Get yourself registered with the “NUSUK” application available on android for an opportunity to recite Nawafil in Rayaz-ul-Jannah. • The important places to visit during your stay in Madina are: Jannat Al Baqi: You can do it after any prayer. It is near the green dome. Women are not allowed. Masjid Quba: The first mosque of Islam. Go there with wudhu from Hotel and pray 2 nawafil. Sawab is equal to one umrah. Uhud Mountain: There is a mosque there so you can pray too. This is the far away so use Uber. You can do this ziarat in 2-3 hours. Masjid Qiblatain: the place where the Qibla was changed in the middle of prayers. Do pray here. Medan-d-Badar: It is more than 100 Km away from Masjid-e-Nabvi. The economical option is to use the bus service which can be asked about at the hotel reception. Alternatively, the following link can be used to take bus service. [https://city-sightseeing.com/.../hop-on-hop-off-al-madinah]

The important places to visit during your stay in Makkah are:

Gaar-e-Hira, Gaar-e-Saur, Arafat, Jabal-Ar-Rahmah, Mina Valley, Jamarat and Mina, Masjid Aisha. For more detailed description of everything you can go the following link which I myself used to educate me before starting my process. https://www.facebook.com/groups/pakinde/permalink/1269569477278389/