Saudi allows foreigners to obtain Umrah visas in few minutes

Riyadh: As part of the efforts of the Saudi Ministry of Haj and Umrah to facilitate the arrival of Umrah pilgrims to the Kingdom, the Ministry announced that foreign pilgrims can now book Umrah trips and obtain the visas they need using the Maqam online platform.

The new service ensures that a person finishes applying for Umrah within a few minutes and without assistance from anyone, given the great delay in dealing with requests, as well as their availability in different languages.

The validity of the visa is 90 days and the pilgrims are free to travel all across the Kingdom.

Here’s how to apply for the issuance of a Umrah visa

• Pilgrim shall visit the Maqam portal and select their desired travel agency

• They need to sign up on the website of the travel agency of their choice and enter trip details, such as departure date and airport, numbers of nights in Makkah and Madinah and select the first stop from the two options- Makkah or Madinah.

• For booking a hotel and flight, he can select one hotel of his choice in Makkah and Madinah, the transport package, and the flight ticket and input personal details.

• The pilgrim needs a passport-size photo and a passport with six-month validity.

• The pilgrim has to add a payment method by choosing to pay for an Umrah visa, flight ticket, and hotel with a credit or debit card, and submit an application.

• After finishing the application, the pilgrim can go to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs website to complete the data.

• The visa will be issued through the platform within 24 hours.

Successive steps

Saudi Ministry of Haj and Umrah confirmed at the time that this step came within the framework of facilitating procedures for the arrival of pilgrims to perform Umrah, providing all services with high quality, and enriching the cultural and religious experience of pilgrims, in accordance with the objectives of the programs of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030.

The move also coincides with the Saudi Ministry of Tourism’s announcement of amendments to the visit visa regulation for the purpose of tourism, which included expanding the eligible categories to include residents in the Gulf countries.

The successive Saudi decisions to facilitate the process of obtaining a visa and entering the country confirm the Kingdom’s desire to double the numbers of tourism during the coming period in order to be an economic tributary to the country.

Simplified platform

The Maqam platform allows the possibility of obtaining an Umrah visa for pilgrims coming from outside the Kingdom, and choosing the package of services available on one of the approved electronic platforms.

The Maqam platform was designed as a simplified and unified portal that provides all the details related to Haj and Umrah reservations from anywhere around the world.

“Maqam” is one of the platforms that contributes to clearly displaying housing, transportation and other services to pilgrims, enabling them to book and view prices and service costs.