King Salman gave a new Hijri year gift to the entire Muslim Ummah by issuing a royal decree to cancel the visa fee of SR 2,000 for repeating an Umrah. The entire Muslim Ummah is thankful to King Salman and the crown prince Mohammed bin Salman for this generosity.

The Rule regarding Umrah Visa Fee of SAR 2000

As per the rules, you were not required to pay additional Umrah Visa Fee of SAR 2000 for performing an Umrah if you have not performed an Umrah in the preceding 3 years.

Let’s say you had performed Umrah in the month of Rabi ul Awwal 1439 and you were planning to come back for another Umrah in the month of Ramadan 1440, you must pay additional SAR 2000 for the Umrah in Ramadan. However, if you had decided to come back for Umrah in the month of Ramadan 1442, there was no need to pay the fee. 

However, now with the royal decree issued by King Salman, this fee has been waived off.

Umrah Visa Scams

We have come to know that in many countries, agents were overcharging SAR 2000 from pilgrims even in the cases where they are not required to make this payment. Therefore, the Ministry had launched an online portal to check if you had to pay the Umrah Visa fee.

The Impact

Without any doubt, the cancellation of Umrah visa fee will increase the number of Umrah pilgrims to Saudi Arabia and that will ultimately boost the tourism in the country. We should remember the fact that the Ministry of Hajj has already allowed the Umrah visa holders to travel all around the Kingdom under some conditions. Recommended: Can Umhra visa holders travel to Riyadh and Dammam?

Religious Tourism

Saudi Arabia has been investing heavily on the promotion of its tourism sector to generate more revenues. There are so many religious places in Saudi Arabia which everyone would like to visit. They want to go to Madain Saleh to see the place where Hazrat Saleh A.S. used to live. They want to go to Tabuk to see the places where Hazrat Hud A.S. and the people of Aad used to live.

Moreover, wells of Hazrat Musa A.S. are also in Saudi Arabia where he spent around 10 years of his life. By allowing Umrah pilgrims to visit any city around the country, people would be able to travel each and every city in Saudi Arabia wherever they want.

Source: Arab News