Riyadh: The ministry of Hajj and Umrah said on Friday that fully vaccinated children aged seven and above can apply for permits to enter the Grand Mosque in Makkah and Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah.
Anyone within Saudi Arabia wishing to perform Umrah is required to obtain a permit from the “Eatmarna” or “Tawakkalna” applications on the condition that their health status on the app is “immune” and the beneficiary’s data must be updated in the “Absher” system.
The decision comes as the Kingdom continues to vaccinate children between the ages of five and eleven.
The ministry stressed that permits for recurrent Umrah will be issued once every 10 days. When asked whether this arrangement will continue during Ramzan, the ministry clarified that any updates will be announced in due course.
The ministry said it had issued more than 29.4 million permits to enter the Grand Mosque over the last seven months. More than 3.7 million permits were granted to worshippers for access to the Prophet’s Mosque during the same period, Arab News reported.
Saudi Arabia cancels Umrah host visa
The Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah announced on Tuesday, the cancellation of the “Umrah Host” visa that allowed foreign residents and Saudi citizens to host Muslims from outside the kingdom to perform the lesser pilgrimage., the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.
The ministry’s announcement of visa cancelation came in response to people’s inquiries in this regard.
The ‘Umrah Host Visa’ was a scheme that allowed foreigners with iqamah in Saudi Arabia to bring close relatives as guests at Umrah at their own risk. Foreigners were allowed to bring three to five close relatives to Umrah. Such visitors will not have an Umrah service agent in Saudi Arabia like other Umrah pilgrims.
They will be fully responsible for the host with iqama in Saudi. They will be allowed to stay and travel with the host. In addition, it was possible to bring foreigners who were not related to the natives to Umrah. The Ministry of Hajj and Umrah has announced that the project has been canceled. The ministry said it would notify the official channels if there was any change in the decision.
