Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah Announces New Umrah Visa Policy

Riyadh:The **Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah** has introduced a new **Umrah visa policy**, making it mandatory for pilgrims to **enter Saudi Arabia within one month of visa issuance**. According to the Ministry, **failure to enter within 30 days will result in automatic cancellation of the visa**.

Under the updated rules, the **previous three-month period before entry has been reduced to one month**, while pilgrims will still have **three months for their stay after arriving in Saudi Arabia**.

Ahmed Ba Jafar, advisor to the **Saudi National Committee for Umrah**, stated that the new regulations will come into effect **next week**. He added that the policy aims to manage the increasing number of Umrah pilgrims.

According to **Arab News**, since June this year, **over 4 million international Umrah visas** have been issued, marking a **record increase compared to previous years**.