The move is intended to facilitate ease of access for other pilgrims who wish to undertake Umrah during the holy month.

Pilgrims are not allowed to repeat Umrah during Ramadan, Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Hajj and Umrah announced, stressing that they have the right to perform it once during the holy month.

The decision was made to ensure that all other pilgrims have an equal opportunity to perform Umrah throughout the Holy Month in a convenient and comfortable manner.

The ministry also stated that in order to perform Umrah, pilgrims must receive a permit through the Nusuk app, emphasising that they give “importance of their commitment to the specified time.”

The Umrah date cannot be changed, but pilgrims can cancel their appointment through the Nusuk app before entering the permit time, at which point they can apply for a new permit.

The ministry added that if pilgrims are unable to book a reservation for their preferred date and time, they can search for alternative timings as the appointments are periodically updated.

Digital reforms

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s economic reform plan aims to increase the number of Umrah and Hajj pilgrims to 30 million each year, which would generate some 50 billion riyals ($13.32 billion) in revenue by 2030.

The Umrah, which may be conducted at any time of the year and is considered the smaller pilgrimage as compared to the Hajj, attracted roughly 19 million pilgrims annually before the Covid-19 pandemic.