Riyadh 'freezes' Umrah pilgrimage visas

The Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah has announced that the last day for pilgrims who have been issued with visas to enter Saudi Arabia on pilgrimage will be early next month.

Umrah service providers have been informed that the electronic issuance of Umrah visas was stopped on Monday, ahead of the annual Hajj pilgrimage.

The ministry has announced that anyone who applied for a visa before the Monday cut off date would be allowed to enter the kingdom for pilgrimage until Tuesday 2 July.

The ministry requested that Umrah service providers ensure all pilgrims leave by the July deadline, warning those who overstay will be subject to “severe punishments”.

The ministry would resume receiving applications for Umrah visas from Dhul Hijja 15 (Aug. 16), Mohammed Bin Badi, CEO of the National Committee for the Hajj and Umrah said.

More than 7 million pilgrims have travelled from across the globe to perform Umrah since October last year.

The largest number of Umrah pilgrims came from Pakistan followed by Indonesia and India.

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