My experience with the Nusuk Hajj site: What you need to know

Change is a wild thing to navigate. And exploring a platform that is A) unknown territory and B) something that involves topping up an e-wallet, one can be forgiven for having a few hesitations.

Hajj is something every Muslim is obligated to do at least once in their lifetime. At risk of sounding like a ChatGPT copy and paste, it's a time for spiritual renewal and to get closer to God. But the one 'issue' that people had was the exorbitant price, with people using their life savings for the pilgrimage.

For South Africans, there is a new development. South African Muslim pilgrims who wish to perform the holy pilgrimage will now have to register through the Nusuk Hajj platform.

South African Muslim pilgrims will experience several changes as the Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah (MOHU) has mandated that all South Africans wishing to perform the holy pilgrimage must register through the Nusuk Hajj platform.

This decision effectively removes the South African Hajj and Umrah Council (SAHUC), which has facilitated the pilgrimage for the past 30 years.

So I took 'one for the team' to look at the site, and this is what I found.

The first step is creating an account. There is an option to log in if you have an account. I had one as I went on Umrah earlier this month, but for some reason it didn't work. Let's hope the rest of the process doesn't give issues.

Creating an account is fairly straightforward, where you are required to fill in country of residence and inserting email address. Thereafter, you consent to T&Cs and opt to subscribe to receive all email updates. 

You will then be prompted to do an email activation with an OTP of six digits. The OTP is only valid for five minutes.

You will then create an account and will be advised to make a strong password that includes special characters (great news for those who enjoy ampersand and asterisks!) Once again, you will receive an email with another six-digit OTP.

This will lead you to the uploading documents section. Scary.

You will be required to attach your passport, with the accepted formats being PNG or JPG, dimensions of maximum 400 x 800 pixels and a file size of up to 1MB. Please note that the passport must be valid for a minimum of 6 months before arrival in Saudi Arabia.

In addition to that, they also ask for a personal photo. Now this isn't the time for cute selfies or thirst traps because the image should have a white background with formal attire. Think ID or driver's license, but more flattering. The accepted formats are PNG or JPG with dimensions of 200 x 200 pixels.

At the bottom of the page, there is a 'Save and Continue later' option but when I pressed that, it kicked me out and I had to log back in, and was given an OTP once again. Either it's an annoying glitch or they just want you to commit to the process. 

The next step is reviewing and providing information, while your personal photo stares at you from the right-hand side of the screen. You can also edit your information if needed. 

By personal information, they will have your first name, second/father name (English), as well as 'Other/Grandfather name (English). There are also fields for your name in Arabic and the abovementioned names in Arabic.

There are fields for Nationality, City (I had to manually type in Cape Town until it pops up), date of birth, birth place, gender, passport type, passport number, issue place and date of issuance. It will also indicate the expiry date of the passport. Note that some fields will be filled in as you have given your passport picture on the previous step. 

The application form step is next. According to the site, this is essential for visa eligibility and issuance upon package purchase. You will be required to fill in email, contact number, emergency contact number, address and nearest embassy as well as social status. 

The next part will ask for your occupational details, your employer and name of the sector you are in. 

You will then fill in your arrival details, such as total expected days in the kingdom and expected travel method, with by land, air and sea as your choices. Note that with all you have to give the flight number or licence number as proof. For this, I googled a flight that is around Hajj time. Next year it will be from the evening of May 24 until May 29. 

Submitting this section will take you to background details where they will ask if you previously received a visa to enter KSA, if there was a previous visa rejection to enter KSA and if the passport contains any restriction or condition valid for only one trip.

It will also ask if you have relatives in KSA, if you hold any other nationalities, and if you travelled to other countries in the past 6 months. 

The background details get more intense as they ask about deportation, working in the media, if you served in the armed forces, prison, convictions, arrests, belonging to parties or organisations that are deemed as terrorist organisations. They will ask if you took the necessary vaccines. The process will be relatively smooth if you select no for most. However, they will most likely check so obviously it's in your best interest not to lie.  

The next section asks about health services, and it notes that it doesn't affect acceptance for Hajj. It asks about diseases, mental illnesses and allergies. 

Once you complete this, your registration is done and successful. You will get an email that the application has been submitted and is under review. 

It's worth noting that, according to the site, this is only step 3 of the entire process. There will also be the following steps, which I assume come after they have reviewed it: Application verification, select preferred category, top up e-wallet, browse service provider, select preferred package, book package and review itinerary. 

The process in general was pretty straightforward. It's a fast and responsive site, but kicking the user out of the site if you press save and continue later is a bit of a headache. 

But while the site itself is decent, the app is tough for non-Arabic speakers to navigate, as most of the app is in Arabic. However, luckily, the registration takes place on the site. 

IOL