No more Umrah visa for last 10 days of Ramadan
Saudi Arabia has stopped issuing visas to residents of Qatar for performing Umrah during the last 10 days of Ramadan, the local daily Arrayah has reported.
Many Haj and Umrah operators in Qatar have said that the residents could now only perform the Umrah pilgrimage during the first 10 days of Ramadan at the holy city of Makkah.
The last 10 days of Ramadan are considered the most holy days during Ramadan month, which is why many Muslims prefer to perform Umrah pilgrimage during those days.
However, the operators said that residents who had obtained visas before would be able to perform Umrah only during the first 10 days of Ramadan before the expiry of their visa period of one month.
They said that authorities in Saudi Arabia were granting limited visas as they are carrying out renovation work at the grand mosque of Makkah.
Work is expected to be completed by next year, by which time it was hoped that the Kingdom would be able to host a much larger number of pilgrims.
The operators said that the issuance of visas for Qatar residents was stopped last week when the limit for Umrah visas was reached. Saudi Arabia’s decision to reduce the number of visas has affected many countries, including Qatar.
Some operators still give hopes of getting the umra visa stamped for 800-1000 QR.