A senior official at the UAE’s Ministry of Justice and Islamic Affairs has announced that the deadline for submitting applications for the Umrah visa is Ramadan 15 (Nov. 30).
Saif Mohammed Al Atr, director of Haj and Umrah affairs at the ministry, was quoted by the Gulf News as saying that “applications for Umrah visas will be accepted until Ramadan 15.”
"No dates have been fixed yet for the Haj visa; it is still too early."
Meanwhile, the ministry is gearing up to educate the contractors through the frequently held training seminar called The Art of Pilgrims' Safety.
According to the Dubai-based paper, the seminar was held by the ministry last week to bring up various points regarding pilgrims' safety with around 100 contractors in attendance.
A report by Al Ittihad daily said that a number of points of concern during the journey to the Mecca were raised.
In one example raised at the event, alternative accomodations should be found by the contractors for pilgrims if their accomodations do not meet safety standards.
The report said that staff members should be available in the contractors' offices to take care of the pilgrims' affairs.
"Sometimes the employees go with the pilgrims for the pilgrimage, and the offices are left unattended," he said.
There will be a Dh3,000 fine in such cases, the Al Ittihad report said.
Seven months ago, Saudi Arabia unveiled new rules for Umrah through which the kingdom is expected to reap SR40 billion annually, the second biggest income earner in the kingdom after oil, according to economic sources.
Around four million Muslims are expected to perform Umrah in the first year of the new system that extends the Umrah season to nine months and allows visitors to Saudi Arabia to tour all cities of the kingdom, the sources said.
The new Umrah system that started on April 25 is expected to increase the occupancy rates of 130 hotels and 7,000 housing units in Mecca, which have been suffering low occupancy rates for over four months out of the year, the sources explained.
Under the new Umrah system, Saudi authorities are demanding that foreign travel agents pay SR155,000 as a deposit to guarantee quality services for those performing the pilgrimage.
Economists estimate that Saudi Arabia's tourist market needs SR200 billion in investments to accommodate 30 million tourists annually – Albawaba.com
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