Okaz/Saudi Gazette

JEDDAH — The Ministry of Hajj and Umrah has made available the electronic design of the Umrah Trip program for the foreign pilgrims.

The ministry has clarified that pilgrims and visitors coming from outside the Kingdom can choose this program directly and without an intermediary during the new annual Umrah season, which began on Saturday, Muharram 1. This will be through one of the approved electronic platforms by entering the link: https: //maqam.gds.haj.gov.sa/Home/OTAs

Meanwhile, the first batch of pilgrims from abroad arrived in Makkah to perform the Umrah pilgrimage on Saturday, July 30, marking the beginning of the new Umrah season. The General Presidency for the Affairs of the Two Holy Mosques received the pilgrims from abroad in the midst of an integrated system of finest services. It has prepared for them the entire Grand Mosque in Makkah and its courtyards to perform their rituals in ease and comfort.

“All the preparations have been made to serve the pilgrims and facilitate procedures of their transport and accommodation. The Umrah service providers have made finishing touches to their operational plans in this respect,” a source at the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah told Okaz/Saudi Gazette.

This comes within the framework of facilitating the pilgrims’ journey to the Kingdom, as well as to ensure them high-quality services to perform the Umrah rituals in a spiritual ambiance. This also aims to enrich the cultural and religious experience of the pilgrims through easy and accessible electronic procedures that shorten time and effort around the clock.

The ministry sources revealed that Umrah pilgrims can also approach one of the approved tourism companies or agencies in their countries to purchase a package of services as well as to complete the requirements for issuing visas, book Umrah dates at the Grand Mosque and prayer at the Rawda Sharif. The foreign pilgrims can have gone through the list of approved foreign agents published by the ministry through the link gov.sa/eservices3/pages/VisaInquiry/SearchVisa.xhtml?dswid=-4283

The requirements for issuing Umrah visa for the foreign pilgrims include issuing a return ticket, obtaining insurance policy, reservation of housing, transportation, and field service package from one of the approved Saudi Umrah companies or establishments. There are more than 500 qualified Saudi Umrah service providing companies and establishments while the number of their foreign agents exceeded 2,000, which are accredited by the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah from all countries of the world. The Umrah pilgrims will be allowed to move around and travel to all regions and governorates across Saudi Arabia.

The ministry sources stated that Umrah pilgrims can also book the dates of performing Umrah and prayer at the Rawda Sharif in the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah before coming to the Kingdom through the Tawakkalna application, in accordance with the limits of the capacity available at the Grand Mosque in Makkah at the time of request.