Riyadh: The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) will soon launch the “Individual Pilgrims” service to easily apply for Haj from outside the country through the online platform Nusk, local media reported.
The Saudi Ministry of Haj and Umrah stated on Wednesday that “permits for Umrah and prayer in Al-Rawdah will be issued through the same application, in proportion to the spatial and temporal capacity of the pilgrims in order to reduce overcrowding,” Okaz reported.
The ministry pointed out that it is “working to provide a service for registering the biometric characteristics of pilgrims electronically, to obtain a visa immediately for five countries— Britain, Tunisia, Bangladesh, Malaysia, and Kuwait, through the (Saudi Visa Bio) application of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.”
The ministry also noted that “it will seek, during the coming years, to make all procedures electronic, from the beginning of thinking of coming for Haj or Umrah, until leaving the Kingdom, passing through all stations such as hotel reservations, services, transportation, and crowd management.”
In 2022, 850,000 pilgrims from abroad performed Haj, after the Kingdom lifted the restrictions imposed as a result of the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, during the years 2020-2021.
In 2022, Saudi Arabia provided services to 7 million pilgrims, of whom 4 million came on an Umrah visa.
