eSIM for Umrah and Hajj: stay connected in Makkah

An eSIM for Umrah gives you mobile data the moment your plane lands in Saudi Arabia. You can load your Nusuk permits, message your group on WhatsApp and tell your family you've arrived. You install it at home on Wi-Fi, switch it on when you land, and keep your home SIM in your phone for bank codes.

For most trips, data is a convenience. On Umrah or Hajj, it's close to essential. Permits for Umrah and for the Rawdah in Madinah are issued through Saudi Arabia's official Nusuk platform. The Rawdah permit service is listed as free on the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah's site.

Below: what Nusuk needs from your phone and how the networks behave around the Haram. Then how an eSIM compares with a local SIM or roaming, including Gulf roaming packs, and a checklist for before you fly.

Do you need an eSIM for Umrah?

You don't strictly need one, but you do need mobile data from the moment you arrive. A travel eSIM is the simplest way to get it if you're coming from abroad. The alternatives are buying a Saudi SIM at the airport, or paying your home network's roaming charges.

Here's who benefits most:

• Pilgrims flying in from outside the Gulf, for example from the UK, Europe, North America or Asia. Your home plan probably charges a lot for Saudi Arabia, and a local SIM means queues and registration after a long flight.
• Pilgrims from other Gulf countries. Your home network may sell GCC roaming packs. They're convenient, but compare the total for your stay. See the Gulf section below.
• Groups and families. Each person with their own data stays reachable when the group gets separated in the crowds.

If you live in Saudi Arabia and have a Saudi SIM, you don't need any of this. Your normal plan works in Makkah and Madinah.

What do you need the Nusuk app for?

Nusuk is Saudi Arabia's official platform for pilgrims. As of November 2026, you use it to book your Umrah permit and a separate permit to pray in the Rawdah at Masjid an-Nabawi. During Hajj, it carries your digital Nusuk card. All of these need an internet connection.

Umrah permits

You book a date and time slot for Umrah in Nusuk, and the permit appears in your bookings. Saudi Arabia pauses Umrah permits around Hajj each year. In 2026, permits issued through Nusuk were suspended from 18 April to 31 May.

Rawdah permits

The Rawdah needs its own permit, booked in Nusuk separately from your Umrah permit. The ministry's service page lists the steps: choose the Rawdah permit service, pick a date and an open time slot, then issue the permit. It lists visitors among those who can use it. Popular slots can go quickly, so many pilgrims check the app regularly in the days before they reach Madinah.

The Nusuk card for Hajj

For Hajj, the Nusuk card is a smart ID issued by the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah. Gulf News describes it as mandatory for every registered pilgrim from arrival to departure. It holds the pilgrim's accommodation details and service provider, and it's used for access to sites such as Mina, Arafat and Muzdalifah. International pilgrims can open a digital version in the Nusuk app.

What this means for your phone:

1. Set up Nusuk at home, on Wi-Fi, where it's calm and the connection is fast.
2. Have data when you land. You may need to check a booking soon after arrival, before you've found Wi-Fi.
3. Open permits before you reach the gates. Signal can be slow in dense crowds, so load the booking while you're still at the hotel.
4. Keep the phone charged. A flat phone means no permit on screen.

Who can perform Hajj, and when is the next season?

Hajj can only be performed with an official Hajj permit. For the 2026 season, tourist e-visas, visit visas and Umrah visas were not valid for Hajj. International pilgrims register either through the Nusuk Hajj platform or through their own country's official Hajj mission, depending on where they live.

Wego's guide says pilgrims living in the US, Canada, Europe and Australia, among other countries, register and buy their Hajj package through Nusuk Hajj. Pilgrims from other countries apply through their national Hajj mission, which has its own quota and selection process. Check which route applies to you well in advance.

Dates for the 1448 AH season

Dates based on the Hijri calendar can move by a day, depending on the sighting of the moon. Your travel agent or group organiser will confirm your exact dates.

Which mobile networks work in Makkah and Madinah?

Saudi Arabia has three main mobile networks: stc, Mobily and Zain. All three cover Makkah, Madinah and Jeddah with 4G and 5G. A travel eSIM connects to one of them as a visitor. Each plan on our Saudi Arabia page shows which network it uses, and whether it supports 5G.

What happens at the busiest times

Millions of phones in a small area put real pressure on any network. Saudi operators add capacity around the holy sites each Hajj season. Even so, you can expect:

• Good service in hotels, across most of Makkah and Madinah, and at quieter times of day.
• Slower data in and right around Masjid al-Haram and Masjid an-Nabawi at prayer times, on Fridays, in the last ten nights of Ramadan, and during Hajj.
• Messages still getting through when video calls and uploads struggle. Text and voice notes need very little data.

A tip most guides miss: try another network

If your plan lists more than one Saudi network and one is struggling, you can choose another by hand in your phone's settings. On iPhone, it's Settings, Mobile Service, your eSIM line, then Network Selection. Switch back to Automatic when you move on. How to choose a network.

eSIM, local SIM or roaming: which is best for Umrah?

For most pilgrims flying in from outside the Gulf, a travel eSIM is the easiest option. It works from the moment you land, without a shop visit. A local SIM can work out cheaper but needs registration on arrival. Home roaming is the simplest, but often the most expensive.

The big advantage of an eSIM here is timing. After a long flight and immigration, you can message your family and your group straight away and head to your hotel, without looking for a SIM counter.

Coming from the UAE or another Gulf country?

Gulf networks sell roaming packs that cover Saudi Arabia, because so many residents travel there. They're easy to add, but they're priced per day or per short pack, so it's worth working out the total for your stay and comparing it with an eSIM.

Here's what two UAE networks published, checked on 1 November 2026:

Networks in Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman sell similar packs, so check your own network's app. Also look at the slow speed after any daily cap. At 64 Kbps, messages work, but loading a permit or a map can be slow.

A worked example

Suppose you live in Dubai and are going on Umrah for five days. On e&'s daily pack, five days of use is 5 × AED 35 = AED 175. That gives you 500MB of full-speed data each day. On du, the 10-day GCC bundle is AED 199 for unlimited data, or two 3-day bundles are AED 198 for 10GB. These are our calculations from the networks' published prices.

Compare those totals with a five-day or one-week plan on our Saudi Arabia page. Look at both the price and the speed after any daily allowance. On a kimsim Unlimited plan, you get a daily full-speed allowance, then 1 Mbps until the next day starts.

A pilgrim's phone checklist

This is our own checklist, built from the official Nusuk and roaming information above. Work through it in the week before you fly.

How to set up your eSIM for Umrah, step by step

Setting up takes about ten minutes at home, on Wi-Fi. The eSIM does your data, and your home SIM stays on for texts with its data roaming off. With kimsim, the plan only starts when it first connects to a network in Saudi Arabia, so you can install it days or weeks ahead.

At home, before you fly

1. Check your phone supports eSIM and is unlocked. Use our phone check.
2. Choose your plan. Count every day you'll be in Saudi Arabia, including the days in Madinah and Jeddah, and think about how often you'll video call home.
3. Install it on Wi-Fi. Follow the iPhone guide or the Android guide.
4. Rename the line, for example to "Saudi data", so it's easy to find. How to rename it.
5. Leave the eSIM line switched off until you land. When plans start.
6. Set up Nusuk and your WhatsApp groups while you still have home Wi-Fi.

When you land in Jeddah or Madinah

1. Switch on the eSIM line and choose it for mobile data. How to choose your data line.
2. Turn on Data Roaming for the eSIM line. Your phone treats a travel eSIM as roaming, so it won't connect without this. You won't be charged roaming by us. Why it's needed.
3. Turn off Data Roaming on your home line, but leave the line on for texts.
4. On iPhone, leave "Allow Mobile Data Switching" off, so the phone doesn't fall back to your home line.
5. Send your "arrived safely" message.

If you see signal bars but no internet, wait two minutes, then restart the phone. That fixes most first-connection problems. More in no signal on arrival.

Do WhatsApp calls work in Saudi Arabia?

WhatsApp messages and voice notes work in Saudi Arabia, but WhatsApp voice and video calls are not officially allowed. When Saudi Arabia lifted its ban on internet calling in September 2017, apps such as FaceTime, Skype and Telegram were allowed, but WhatsApp calls stayed blocked. In March 2024 the regulator said WhatsApp calls were still restricted. Some travellers report WhatsApp calls connecting, but don't plan around it: use FaceTime, or your home line, for calls home, and keep WhatsApp for messages and voice notes. At the busiest times around the Haram, voice notes and messages are often more reliable than live calls anyway.

A travel eSIM is an extra line, so your normal number stays with you:

• WhatsApp messages, iMessage, FaceTime and Telegram keep working on your usual number, over the eSIM's data (WhatsApp calls are restricted in Saudi Arabia, see above). Your group can reach you on the number they already have.
• Bank and verification texts still arrive on your home SIM if you leave that line on.
• Normal calls and texts on your home number are charged by your home network at its roaming rates. More on calls and texts.

Travel eSIMs, including ours, are data only, with no Saudi phone number. More in our guide to WhatsApp with a travel eSIM.

How much data do you need for Umrah?

Many travellers use around 3 to 7 GB a week for maps, messages and some social media. Pilgrims often use less, because so much of the day is spent in prayer rather than on the phone. Video calls home and sharing lots of video use much more.

These are rough figures, and real use depends on your apps and settings. Our guide to how much data you need breaks it down further.

Suppose you're on a 10-night Umrah, five nights in Makkah and five in Madinah. You message your family and group daily, use Nusuk and maps, and make a 20-minute video call home most evenings. A plan of around 5 to 10 GB would cover that comfortably. If you'd rather not count, an Unlimited plan gives you a daily full-speed allowance, then keeps you online at 1 Mbps. If you run low on a fixed plan, you can top up the same eSIM.

Common mistakes pilgrims make with their phones

Most phone problems on Umrah come from a few avoidable slips:

1. Leaving everything until you land. Installing an eSIM and signing in to Nusuk are much easier on home Wi-Fi than in an arrivals hall.
2. Waiting until the gate to open a permit. In dense crowds the signal can be slow. Load it at the hotel.
3. Turning the eSIM on during a stop-over. If you fly via Dubai, Doha or Istanbul on a regional plan that covers that country, the plan can start there. Keep it off until you land in Saudi Arabia. More on plans starting early.
4. Leaving Data Roaming on for your home line. Background apps then use your home network's data at its roaming rates.
5. Relying on one phone for the whole group. If that person gets separated, nobody can load permits or reach the hotel.
6. Deleting the eSIM to "fix" it. A deleted eSIM usually can't be reinstalled. Restart the phone first. If you've deleted it.

Practical tips in Makkah and Madinah

A little preparation keeps your phone useful without taking your attention from worship:

• Carry a power bank. Long days, heat and a phone searching for signal in a crowd all drain batteries. Check your airline's rules for power banks in hand luggage.
• Save key details offline. Screenshot your hotel address, your group leader's number, your flights and your visa.
• Use Low Power Mode in the crowds. A phone hunting for signal uses more battery.
• Respect the space. Many pilgrims keep their phones away during tawaf and prayer. Follow the guidance of staff in the mosques on photography and filming.

Combining Umrah with another country

A Saudi-only plan won't work outside Saudi Arabia. If you're adding a stop in Dubai, Doha, Istanbul or Amman, buy a separate eSIM for that country, or a regional plan that lists every country on your trip. A regional plan starts when it first connects in any covered country. How regional plans work.

How we put this guide together

On 1 November 2026 we checked the Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah's Rawdah permit page. We also checked news reports on the 2026 Umrah pause, the 1448 AH Umrah calendar and the Nusuk card. We also checked du's and e&'s own roaming pages. Some sources couldn't be opened that day, and the claims that rely on them are marked for checking. The worked examples are our own arithmetic from published prices. Facts about kimsim come from our help centre. kimsim sells travel eSIMs, including the Saudi Arabia plans mentioned here. This guide is about staying connected. For religious guidance, please ask a qualified scholar or your group organiser.

New to eSIMs? Read what an eSIM is, or check your phone with the phone check.