15-day cap on Umrah visas proposed
05:33AM Wed 27 Aug, 2014
Manama: Saudi pilgrimage authorities may impose a 15-day cap on stays by foreigners who enter the kingdom to perform Umrah.
The decision will be proportionate with the capacity to accommodate worshippers inside the Grand Mosque in Makkah, currently undergoing massive construction work that has shrunk its space.
Peak seasons, mainly during the holy month of Ramadan, have witnessed heavy congestion and the authorities said that they wanted to avert overcrowding to the maximum.
Umrah operators have been given one week by the pilgrimage authorities to review the 15-day cap proposal and share their observations and recommendations that will be used to draw up a new policy, local daily Al Madina reported.
The policy that will be tied to the issuance of visas to enter the Saudi kingdom will be implemented with the start of the new Umrah year, expected in December.
Thousands of non-Saudi based Muslims will be affected by the two-week cap as many of them are keen on staying longer in the holy sites that they may visit only once in their lives.
Unlike pilgrimage, Umrah is not obligatory in Islam. However, millions of Muslims who may not be able to perform pilgrimage are keen on going on Umrah at least once in their lives.
Pilgrimage is one of the five pillars of Islam and is required from every physically fit and financially able adult Muslim.
Around three million Muslims perform pilgrimage every year.
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