RIYADH – The Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah has announced a significant change to its Umrah visa policy, implementing a stricter timeline for pilgrims arriving in the Kingdom.
Under the new regulations, pilgrims must now enter Saudi Arabia within 30 days of the visa being issued. The ministry confirmed that if entry does not occur within this one-month window, the visa will be automatically canceled.
This policy marks a major reduction from the previous entry window, which allowed pilgrims to enter within three months of their visa’s issuance.
However, the ministry clarified one key point: the duration of stay for pilgrims after they have entered Saudi Arabia remains unchanged at 90 days (three months).
According to Ahmed Ba Jaafar, an advisor to the National Committee for Umrah, these new regulations will be enforced starting next week. He stated that the measure is being taken to better manage the “growing numbers” of Umrah pilgrims.
This comes as Arab News reports that a record number of visas have been issued, with over 4 million international pilgrims receiving Umrah visas since June of this year.
