Nusuk App Guide: Permits, Bookings and Rawdah Slots

The Nusuk app is the official app of Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Hajj and Umrah, and it is where you get free Umrah and Rawdah permits. Visitors can register from abroad with a valid visa. The rule most likely to catch you out is this: after you book a Rawdah slot, you must confirm it in the app between 48 hours and 2 hours before your time. Your entry QR code only appears once you confirm. You do not need any permit simply to enter or pray in Masjid an-Nabawi in Madinah Munawwarah, which is open 24 hours.

Our top 10 apps for Umrah pilgrims introduces Nusuk alongside other useful apps. This guide covers Nusuk alone, in the detail you need before you travel. Much of it comes from the Arabic Rawdah page on Nusuk’s own website, whose answers are more detailed and more recent than most English guides.

What the Nusuk app does, and what needs a permit

Nusuk describes itself as the official platform under the supervision of the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah. The Ministry said in May 2026 that the app has more than 51 million users worldwide, 60% of them outside the Kingdom. The figures on Nusuk’s home page are undated and read differently: more than 26 million downloads, 17 million Umrah permits and 13 million Rawdah permits.

Other services in the app include Haramain train booking, maps, a feature called Nusuk AI, a shop for Umrah supplies, step-by-step ritual guides, prayer times, the Qibla direction, the Mushaf, and listings for more than 140 places in Makkah and Madinah. You can install it from the App Store, Google Play or Huawei’s AppGallery. Nusuk’s home page links to all three, and we list the official links on our downloads page.

Nusuk has several platforms. Do not mix them up

Much of the confusion online comes from one name being used for several separate services.

The short version for most readers: a visa or package may come from Nusuk Umrah or an agent, and the permits come from the Nusuk app. The visa stage depends on your route: the Umrah visa from Pakistan, the tourist visa for Umrah or the transit visa.

Creating your account

The Ministry’s FAQ says you can register from outside the Kingdom as a visitor if you hold a valid visa. It says you do not need a Saudi number or a Tawakkalna account. Have these ready, exactly as they appear on your documents:

• Passport number and visa number
• Date of birth and nationality
• A mobile number you can reach while travelling
• An email address you can open on your phone

Sources differ on the verification code. The Ministry’s FAQ says it goes to your email, while a February 2025 Gulf News walkthrough said SMS. Watch both, and check your spam folder.

The Ministry’s service pages also describe signing in through Nafath, the national single sign-on. Its FAQ, by contrast, describes the visitor route above. If you have no Nafath login, use the visitor option with your passport and visa details. Residents who registered as visitors and later got an Iqama must, according to the FAQ, delete the account and register again with the Iqama number.

Booking a Rawdah slot in the Nusuk app

The Rawdah lies between the Prophet’s ﷺ noble chamber and his pulpit. Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah رضی اللہ عنہ narrated that the Prophet ﷺ said:

“Between my house and my pulpit there is a garden of the gardens of Paradise.” (Sahih al-Bukhari 1196)

Nusuk says organised visits have raised the number of daily visitors from 5,000 to more than 50,000. Even so, slots run out. There are three ways in, and it pays to understand the difference before you land.

The steps

1. Open the app, log in, and go to the Rawdah section.
2. Choose the men’s or women’s service. The two have separate times, and Wego warns that a permit from the wrong one will not work.
3. Pick a date and time. If you have a group, use “add group” in this booking service, because the Instant Track will not let you add anyone.
4. Issue the permit. The Ministry describes this as immediate.
5. Return to the app 48 hours before your time, confirm your attendance, and open the QR code.
6. Arrive 30 minutes early with your code ready.

The confirmation window

Nusuk’s rule is plain: confirmation opens 48 hours before your visit and closes 2 hours before it. Without confirmation, the booking is cancelled, and the QR code does not appear until you confirm. A woman booked for 11:00 pm must confirm by 9:00 pm. A man booked for 2:00 am must confirm by midnight, which is easy to miss if you sleep early for Tahajjud. Set two phone alarms at the moment you book.

Saudi Arabia is three hours ahead of GMT. If you confirm while still abroad, work out the deadline in Saudi time. We could not check whether the app converts times to your phone’s clock, so leave yourself a margin.

If you cannot go

Cancel as soon as you know. Nusuk says that if you cancel in time, you can book again. If you neither cancel nor attend, your booking lapses and you can then return only through the Instant Track. We could not confirm whether a booking cancelled automatically for lack of confirmation also uses up your yearly turn, so treat it as if it does. You cannot change the time of a confirmed booking. You have to cancel it and issue a new one.

Booking for your family

• You can add a maximum of 4 visitors to a group in the Rawdah service.
• Each person needs their own Nusuk account and must approve being added. The Ministry’s FAQ asks you to follow up within 24 hours, or the request is cancelled.
• The organiser confirms for everyone. Members cannot confirm or cancel for themselves.
• The organiser can cancel one person or the whole group.
• Nusuk says you can book for others even if you are not eligible to visit yourself.
• Men and women have separate times, so a mixed family needs separate plans.

The Ministry’s FAQ says dependents do not count towards the limit of 4 companions, but Nusuk’s Rawdah page simply gives 4 as the maximum. Assume 4 unless the app lets you add more.

What the sources disagree on

Rawdah rules have changed several times, and old pages stay online. These are the conflicts we found, and how we would act on each.

Nusuk does not define the age it means by “children”, and we could not confirm how staff apply this to young teenagers. Nusuk says a children’s hospitality centre is available in the northern courtyards. Plan around this if you are doing Umrah with a baby or children.

Rawdah visiting hours

The Saudi Press Agency’s December 2025 report and a further report on 24 May 2026 give the same weekday hours. The May report was issued for the 1447 AH Hajj season, and we found no newer announcement as of our last check. Hours that depend on a prayer move with it, so check Madinah prayer times for your date.

The December report does not say whether the 2:00 am to Fajr window also runs on Fridays. The May report says it does.

On the day: where to go

The Saudi Press Agency says entry is managed through the southern courtyards in front of Makkah Gate 37, along set routes. Nusuk’s page adds some useful detail. From the south, the outer courtyard gates 367 and 368, between service buildings 202 and 204, are the closest, and signs lead on to the point where groups are let in. If you are driving, it names the southern car parks B1 and A1. If you are coming by bus, it names the “Nafaq al-Manakha” stop.

Some travel sites send women to other gates, such as Gate 24. Neither official source we read gives a separate women’s gate, so follow the signs and the staff on the day. Our guide to the piazza and its umbrellas and the virtual tour can help you get your bearings first.

• QR code: it works once only, and nobody can enter without one. Different colours only help staff manage groups; they do not mean a better or worse booking.
• Your phone: charge it, and take a screenshot of the code as a backup. We could not confirm whether staff accept screenshots, so keep the app logged in as well. If a code will not scan, one travel guide suggests turning up the brightness.
• Time inside: prepare your duas first. Nusuk asks you to leave as soon as your time ends because others are waiting. See our ziyarah etiquette guide.
• Photos: Nusuk says they are allowed, but advises spending the time in prayer and dua.
• Wheelchairs: SPA says elderly visitors may enter in wheelchairs, subject to the rules in force. Nusuk says hand-pushed carts and golf carts are free at the mosque for elderly, sick and disabled visitors. These matter most in any set of Umrah tips for elderly pilgrims.
• Strollers and food: Nusuk allows both in the outer courtyards only.

Using the Instant Track

This route is your second chance, and also the only way to visit more than once. Nusuk says new times open every 20 minutes for people close to the mosque, and elsewhere describes this as being near the central area or in Madinah. The exact distance is not published. Practical points follow from those rules:

• Book it only once you are physically near the mosque, so stay close to the Haram during your attempts.
• Choose a hotel within walking distance if repeat visits matter to you. Our Madinah hotels list is sorted by distance.
• You cannot add a companion, so each family member needs to try on their own phone.
• Capacity still applies. SPA’s January 2025 announcement says repeat visits depend on the limits of the mosque, so nothing is guaranteed.
• Same-day standard booking is also possible if a slot is free, so check that first.

Umrah permits in Nusuk: the rules that matter

These rules on the Umrah permit, from the Ministry’s FAQ, affect how you use the app:

• You can hold only one active Umrah permit at a time. A new one becomes possible when the old one ends or is cancelled.
• You cannot edit the time. Cancel before it starts, then issue a new permit. Cancelling after the start time is not allowed.
• If you cannot enter the Kingdom by the start of your permit time, it is cancelled automatically. Allow for flight delays when choosing a slot.
• If you arrive late, Nusuk asks you to wait until the permit time has ended and then book again.
• The Ministry sets no fixed number of Umrahs, and Nusuk says you may repeat Umrah in a year as long as you follow the rules.
• The minimum age for a permit is five, and children under five do not need one, according to a Ministry statement reported by Ajel in August 2026.

Gulf News reported in February 2025 that you could book up to two months ahead, and that green dates are quieter and red dates are at peak times. We have no newer confirmation of either. Deciding whether to go to Makkah or Madinah first also affects when you need each permit.

Troubleshooting the Nusuk app

For help, Nusuk’s site lists 920002814 for callers outside the Kingdom and 1966 inside it. The Ministry’s FAQ gives 920002814 too. Blog tips, such as switching the app to Arabic to reveal more slots, are unconfirmed, and even the site that repeats that one says so.

Data is a smaller worry than it used to be. The Ministry announced in August 2025 that people with SIM cards inside the Kingdom can use Nusuk’s services, including Rawdah permits, without using up data. It mentioned working with STC, Mobily and Zain, but did not list limits. We have not tested this, so buy a data plan anyway. Compare the options when you choose a Saudi SIM card.

A sensible timeline

1. When your visa arrives: install the app, register, and link family accounts. Companions have only a day to accept, so do this together.
2. Before you fly: book the Umrah permit, leaving room for delays. Try the standard Rawdah booking, and join a waiting list if your date is full.
3. 48 hours before your Rawdah time: confirm, and open the QR code.
4. On arrival in Madinah: if you have no slot yet, try same-day booking and then the Instant Track. See how to get from the airport to the mosque and our first visit guide.
5. If your dates are flexible: our guide to the best time to visit Madinah covers crowds, which also affect how easy it is to get a slot.

If you do not get a slot, remember that the whole mosque stays open to you. Our article on the 40 prayers in Madinah shows how much worship is available there with no permit at all.

Frequently asked questions

How we checked this article: we read Nusuk’s Arabic Rawdah, Umrah and FAQ pages and its home page (the Rawdah page was last edited on 22 April 2026), the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah’s FAQ and service pages (updated 19 October 2026), its news items from August 2025 and May 2026, and three Saudi Press Agency reports from January 2025, December 2025 and May 2026. For dated details and traveller tips we also used Gulf News, Ajel, KSA Expats, AppGoblin’s Google Play listing data, Wego, HalalBooking, UmrahTransit and Umrah My Way, and the article says where a point rests on one of these alone. The hadith was checked on sunnah.com. The translations from Arabic are ours. We have not tested the app or the Rawdah entry routes in person, and the app’s screens change often, so always follow what the app shows. This article is practical guidance and not a fatwa. On 1 November 2026 we reread the Ministry’s FAQ, the December 2025 Saudi Press Agency report and the UK travel advice. Nusuk’s Rawdah page did not load its content that day, so its rules are as we read them on 31 October 2026. Last checked 1 November 2026.