Saudi Gazette report

RIYADH — Hisham Saeed, the assistant undersecretary of the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah for Hajj and Umrah services, said that the ministry has begun to sort out qualified individuals for this year's Hajj and send out text messages to those who have met all the requirements.

In a statement to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA), he explained that 558,000 domestic applicants applied electronically in the first phase, of which 51 percent were males and females accounted for the remaining 49 percent.

“It took 10 working days to process the registration requests through the Hajj and Umrah Data Center, where well qualified and trained young men and women were involved in the processing,” he said.

Eng. Hisham stressed that the ministry has been working for years on the application of the electronic path for the registration of Hajj and Umrah, making updates every passing year.

“The ministry’s strategy in the use of technologies takes into account a number of health standards that were approved by the Ministry of Health,” he said while urging pilgrims to comply with all health requirements and precautions for their own safety.