Saudi Arabia imposes new conditions for Umrah visas

Saudi Arabia has made an announcement of a New Umrah Policy where new rules and regulations will be phased in from 1st Rabi-ul-Awwal in accordance with the requirements of modern times. The purpose of this is to offer better-organised, transparent and quality facilities to the pilgrims and to have all the facilities under an integrated digital system, officials said.

The ministry of Hajj and Umrah has announced an important modification in the visa process for Umrah. The necessary documents will be different, as in addition to confirming the hotel booking and transport, an application must now include a food voucher valued at no less than 20 Saudi riyals for each night’s accommodation. This is done in order to guarantee quality food establishments to the pilgrims during their sojourn.

The new policy will combine all the accommodation, transport, food and other accommodation-related services within a single digital ecosystem on the Nusuk platform. This system is being implemented in the first phase with the pilgrims who are going on Umrah from Pakistan, India, Egypt and Bangladesh, with the aim of extending the programme to other countries in the future.

Around 10,000 restaurants in Makkah and Madinah are linked to the Nusuk platform to provide pilgrims with food facilities in a timely, safe and high-quality manner, the ministry said. Furthermore, the clear responsibilities have been established on the part of the companies involved in Umrah, hotels, transport companies and catering businesses to ensure consistency and accountability in service delivery.

The Saudi officials said the new policy is not just up to changing the system of visas but also to bringing the entire Umrah system digital, transparent and efficient. The ministry has made it clear that it will continue to take action against service providers who break the regulations and will further strengthen the monitoring system by connecting approved service providers with the Nasik system. The steps are being touted as efforts to make Umrah pilgrims’ journey more organised, secure and hassle-free.