Registration exceeds 7 times the operational capacity for Hajj this year

Riyadh: During the first 24 hours of opening of registration, more than 450,000 people have submitted their applications for this year's hajj, which will be exclusively for pilgrims residing in the Kingdom, the Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah said on Tuesday.

The ministry indicated around 60 per cent of applicants were males, while the proportion of females registered exceeded 40 per cent.

The ministry had earlier announced that a total of 60,000 immunised pilgrims, including those vaccinated after recovering from the coronavirus or fully vaccinated or 14 days after receiving the first dose Covid19 vaccine, will be issued permits to perform the pilgrimage. According to the directive, those registering for the pilgrimage should also be within the age category of 18 to 65 years and must be free from any chronic illness.

The Ministry had also announced three Hajj packages, in which the first package (Hospitality Package Camps) costs SR12,113 and the second package (Distinguished Hospitality Camps) at SR14,381 while the third package (Distinguished Hospitality Towers) is priced at SR16,560.

With the launch of the web portal (http://localhaj.haj.gov.sa) on Monday, the Ministry of Hajj has set 10 days for the completion of registration, which will end on June 23. The authority stressed that the sorting of applications will be according to the health requirements and that people who have not performed hajj before will be given priority.

Hajj is an obligatory religious act for physically well and financially sound Muslim adults at least once in their lifetime. The Kingdom had witnessed more than one or two million attendees flocking every year to perform their holy task, before the pandemic.