According to Al-Rabiah, with an estimated 1.37 million Indian Muslims expected to perform Umrah in 2024, up from 1.2 million in 2023, the Saudi government has made it easier for Indians to undertake the pilgrimage. Previously, specific visas were required for Umrah, but now Indians can perform the pilgrimage with work or tourism visas.

The minister also praised the contributions of the Indian expatriate community in Saudi Arabia, acknowledging their role in the economic and cultural enrichment of the country.

To further enhance the experience of Umrah pilgrims, the Saudi government has introduced the “Nusuk” platform exhibition, which showcases advancements in electronic services tailored for pilgrims. This platform aims to provide a range of digital services and resources to enhance the spiritual journey of visitors to the holy cities of Makkah and Medinah. It also aims to introduce pilgrims to historical and Islamic landmarks, emphasizing the cultural and spiritual significance of their visit.

In order to accommodate a larger number of Indian pilgrims, agreements have been made to increase the number of dedicated flights from India to Jeddah and Madinah. The expansion includes the introduction of direct flights from multiple Indian airports, making travel seamless for pilgrims.

Additionally, seat capacity on Saudi Airlines has been strategically increased to meet the growing demand for Umrah pilgrimage. These measures aim to streamline and enrich the experience for Indian travelers, ensuring a smooth and expedited journey for all Umrah participants from India.

Recent revisions to Umrah visa regulations for Indian Muslims have eliminated restrictions based on their previous visa status and introduced a user-friendly e-visa system. The changes have streamlined the visa application process, leading to accelerated approvals and fostering an environment of inclusivity and heightened security. Noteworthy adaptations include the extension of the Umrah visa to 90 days and the ability to acquire an entry visa within 48 hours for Umrah visits. Indian travelers are also authorized to undertake Umrah in Saudi Arabia using their work, tourist, or Umrah visas, as well as with a UK, US, or Schengen visa or residency in these countries. Furthermore, Indians interested in performing Umrah can obtain a stopover visa.

These measures have been specifically designed to provide Indian pilgrims with enhanced flexibility throughout their journey, particularly benefiting women embarking on independent Umrah trips. The changes aim to promote gender equality and create a safer and more inclusive environment, ensuring a more fulfilling and secure pilgrimage experience for all travelers.

The introduction of the “Tasheer” center is another significant initiative catering to Umrah pilgrims from India. This center offers expedited and seamless visa services, aligning with the goals of the Pilgrims Experience Program and Saudi Vision 2030. The establishment of the “Tasheer” center exemplifies the commitment of the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah to enhance the pilgrimage experience for all visitors to Saudi Arabia, regardless of their visa type.

The Indian community, consisting of approximately two million individuals, has made a profound impact on Saudi Arabia across various domains such as economics, social engagement, cultural enrichment, and academia. Their contributions have played a pivotal role in shaping the nation’s development and fostering cultural diversity and mutual understanding. Actively engaged in the country’s progress, the Indian community has contributed significantly to Saudi Arabia’s growth and integration.

The easing of visa rules and increase in dedicated flights for Indian Umrah pilgrims reflect Saudi Arabia’s commitment to facilitating and enhancing the experience of Indian Muslims undertaking this important spiritual journey.

In keeping with the objectives of Saudi Vision 2030, the programme will raise the standard of care provided to pilgrims, ease their travels, and enhance their religious and cultural experiences.

The training programme covers all facets of completing the Hajj as well as crowd control techniques. It also provides a thorough overview of pilgrims’ journeys.

According to Hilman Latief, general director of Hajj and Umrah at Indonesia’s Ministry of Religious Affairs, this year’s Hajj will draw 221,000 pilgrims, necessitating extensive planning and management.

In order to give Indonesian pilgrims a worthwhile experience, he continued, “we feel there is a true relationship between Indonesia and Saudi Arabia.

We must be able to train and grow our team, making sure they are up to date with new legislation released both in Indonesia and in Saudi Arabia, he added, adding that maintaining high standards from preparation to facilitation involves a lot of planning.

“The Ministry of Hajj and Umrah’s decision to give our workers additional training and introduction is a fantastic example of a forward-thinking strategy. This endeavour has aided in bridging the operational, linguistic, and cultural gaps. figuring out where improvements can be made and how to fill in the knowledge gaps beforehand.

Latief emphasised the value of fostering ties between business and academia.

The World Hajj and Umrah Convention’s Best Pilgrims in the World Award was given to Indonesia in 2013. Additionally, the nation has one of the best introduction, training, and preparation programmes; “and with a greater focus from Saudi Arabia, we believe it will make us even better,” added Latief.

He noted that a major contributor to pilgrim contentment is diet.

Given that a large portion of our pilgrims originate from villages on various islands, Nusantara ingredients should be utilised. They ought to think about using genuine Indonesian ingredients for the Hajj; this is advantageous for trade and service.

“We must make sure that pricing stay as low and manageable as feasible. We are aware that prices will grow as a result of inflation, rising gasoline prices, and other factors. However, we must make every effort to maintain costs within our pilgrims’ acceptable range.

Hajj is significant to the Indonesian community, he remarked. There is a lengthy waiting list, and we are considering how to assist the 5.3 million pilgrims over the next few decades. More Hajj amenities and opportunities would enable us to better meet the requirements and preferences of our registered pilgrims.

“Indonesia has raised the number of staff members and officials, enhanced the policies governing governance and transparency, and strengthened institutional capacities. We must work together to ensure that more facilities are built to support the old pilgrims because we have legitimate worries about how much of our society is ageing and how many of our Hajj recruits are elderly.

According to a report by Saudi Gazette, Khaled Al Shammari, assistant director general of the general department of visas at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has stated that Muslim fans of FIFA who purchased tickets for the FIFA World Cup 2022 will be eligible to perform Umrah.

According to the authorities, the state will cover all costs associated with obtaining an electronic visa for the ticket holders. However, medical insurance needs to be obtained from the visa platform.

The validity period for this visa is from November 11 to December 18. As a result, ticket holders will be permitted to go to Saudi Arabia from 10 days before the World Cup officially kicks off until the final day of the competition.

The given visa will have multiple-entry privileges. The bearer of the visa is not required to enter Saudi Arabia from Qatar, and is free to enter and exit the Kingdom from any port of entry.

According to a statement released by the Committee, “Consulate General of India, Jeddah has informed that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have strictly prohibited displaying flag or placards or doing any activity which could be seen as making a political statement at the Holy sites in Makkah Mukarramah and Madinah Munawwarah”.

“Committing any such act will result in arrests. Unfortunately, there have been instances when pilgrims have been arrested for such acts and they could not return home for a long time”, it added.

Owing to the instructions, Haj committee has instructed the Indian pilgrims proceeding to Saudi Arabia to perform Haj or Umrah to refrain themselves from displaying Indian flag or any flag or placard at any of the Holy sites in Makkah and Madina.

Moreover, the committee will be making necessary changes in the Training Manuals which shall be issued to the trainers and volunteers.

Saudi government has instructed other countries as well to warn the arriving pilgrims to abstain from displaying flags and placards at the two holy places, in order to keep these places solely for the sake of worship, rather than using the pilgrimage for political purposes.

Engineer Adnan Al-Saqqaf, CEO of the company that manages Hajj and Umrah lounges at the Jeddah airport, said that the airport has set up a mechanism to take care precautionary measures to contain the spread of coronavirus, which will be according to the Kingdom’s approved protocol.

“We have put in place all preventive arrangements with regard to keeping physical distance between pilgrims inside the terminals as well as at the counters. The workers are at the highest levels of readiness, despite the fact not many pilgrims are expected to arrive in first batches during the third phase. However, the number of permitted pilgrims will increase in a phased manner over the period of time,” Engineer Saqqaf said.

“There will be a separation between entrances and exits of pilgrims and other areas, and all these facilities will be ready to receive pilgrims from next week,” the Engineer added.

A workshop held at the airport on Sunday discussed necessary preparations for the success of the Hajj and Umrah seasons for the current. Meanwhile, the airport emergency committee has started holding meetings since Tuesday to discuss emergency plans and update them in accordance with international standards.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah has completed preparations to receive foreign pilgrims after the successful and smooth resumption of the pilgrimage for citizens and expatriates inside the Kingdom.

It’s reported that, there are more than 700 Umrah companies in total and they are completing the process to receive foreign pilgrims.

So far, approximately 120,000 pilgrims have performed Umrah during the current second phase of the gradual resumption of the Umrah service since October 18.

Minister of Hajj and Umrah Dr. Mohammed Saleh Benten thanked Saudi King Salman and the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for the royal decree which orders restructuring of Hajj, Umrah and Visit visa costs, Saudi Gazette reported.

“The decision supports the efforts to achieve one of the main goals of Kingdom’s Vision 2030 to receive 30 million Umrah pilgrims by the year 2030,” Dr. Benten added.

Dr. Benten added that Saudi leadership is keen in facilitating the arrival of Muslims from all over the world to perform Hajj and Umrah.

Ministry’s undersecretary, Abdulaziz Wazzan said that the service started on Saturday and he is expecting over 10 million visa-requests in the new season.

“People coming for Umrah will not have to go to Saudi embassies or consulates as they can have their visas issued electronically in less than 24 hours,” he was quoted as saying in Okaz Arabic daily.

The new portal is named as the central platform for the electronic issuance of the Umrah visas and it will be extensively used during the upcoming Umrah season, Ministry said.

In Ramadan 2017, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, UAE and Egypt decalred total economic boycott of Qatar for its direct sponsoring of terrorism and terror-financing.

Despite the boycott, the Salwa border connecting Qatar and Dammam was opened by Saudi Arabia and at least seven Saudi Arabian flights were assigned the duty to transport them directly to Jeddah, in order to help Qatari citizens and residents to perform their religious duties without any disruption.

On the otherside, Qatari Government did not grant authorization for the planes to land at Hamad International Airport.

During Hajj 2017, Qatar’s Ministry of Islamic Affairs blocked their residents and citizens to register on their website. So to help the pilgrims Saudi Arabia launched their own registration website to help the pilgrims reach Makkah to perform rituals.

Eventually, in 2018, Qataris were able to visit Makkah to perform Umrah after registering their legal information upon arrival at King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah.

Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Haj and Umrah launched a website specifically for Qatari pilgrims where they can register their data and arrange their requirements for pilgrimage directly.

Qatari pilgrims can register on https://qatariu.haj.gov.sa and can arrive at either King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah or Prince Mohammed Bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Medina.

Qatari residents can register for the seasonal Umrah pilgrimage on https://eservices.haj.gov.sa/eservices3.

In 2018, at least 500 Qataris arrived in Saudi Arabia via Kuwait to perform the Haj pilgrimage. They were welcomed by authorities and given special buses to transport them to Mecca as well as dedicated camps in the tent city of Mina in Makkah.

According to the Haj Ministry’s weekly data tracker, 835,910 visas have been issued until Wednesday – 31^st October 2018, while it is said that over 547,392 pilgrims have already arrived in the Kingdom since the beginning of the season, and over 271,020 pilgrims have left the Kingdom after performing Umrah successfully.

The tracker revealed that among the remaining pilgrims, over 185,484 pilgrims are in Makkah, while 90,888 are in Madinah.

The highest number of pilgrims are from Pakistan, while India stands second highest.

Over 513,542 arrived through air-route, while 33,825 through the land. Only 25 pilgrims arrived through the sea-route.

The tracker also shows the working 6,784 Saudi staff with 4,604 males and 2,180 females