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By Sanaullah Ataullah
As Umrah season has begun, many aspriing pilgrims will have to spend more, with a revised visa fee of QR2,000 approximately for those who had gone for their last pilgrimage within three years.
Saudi government has imposed Saudi riyals 2,000 (about QR2,000) as visa fee on pilgrims who are going on a repeat Umarh since 2013.
This would mean that the pilgrims who visited Saudi Arabia in 2013 will have to pay a total of about QR3,200 to Umrah operators for road travel, including transporation and accommodation charges. Last year, an Umrah trip by road cost QR1,200 during normal days.
However, those going first time for Umrah or performed it before three years (2013) are exempted from the new visa fee. “We began Umrah tours on November 1,” manager of a local tour operator told The Peninsula.
“We have received about 100 applications for performing Umrah until now. We have processed the requests to obtain the visa, and are arranging transport and accommodations in Makkah and Madinah for the pilgrims. Our next trip will be on Thursday,” he added. “Very few, less than 10% came under the revised visa fees and most of them, about 60% have changed their mind when they came to know that they will have to pay an extra visa fee of QR2,000”, said the operator.
“To confirm the status of candidate as to whether the new payment rule is applicable, we have to submit papers at the Saudi Embassy for visa approval. The computer specifies the category of the candidate based on their last visit to Saudi Arabia for performing pilgrimage”, he added.
New rule came into force in October
Visa fees for children are equal to those for adults. Only the infants, who do not require separate seats on buses or separate hotel beds are excluded from the charges of transportation and accommodation.
“We receive requests and issue visas as usual. The new thing is that those who performed Umrah within past three years will have to pay QR2,000 as visa fees. The new rule came into effect in October, the beginning of the Hijri year,” said a source at Saudi embassy. Usually, a road trip from Doha to Makkah takes about 22 hours, with stops for prayers and food,” said a tour operator.
Accommodation for four nights in Makkah, three nights in Madinah and transportation to holy places in Makkah and Madinah are included in the package. However, food is not included, which pilgrims have to arrange.
Pilgrims can have their trip arranged through any Umrah tour operator. A pilgrimage visa is required to enter Saudi Arabia. Visa is stamped by the Saudi embassy in Qatar as per the request of the tour operator.
The pilgrims are required to submit their passports having minimum six-month validity and a copy of the Qatari residency permit valid at least for three months.
© The Peninsula 2016
