Saudi Arabia has changed its visa rules, which is going to affect 14 countries including India. The changed visa rules have come into force from 1 February 2025, under which travelers coming from these countries will get a single entry visa for admission to the Kingdom. Saudi has made changes in its visa rules so that people coming to the country with long -term visas cannot do Haj pilgrimage unofficially.
Those who have a multiple entry visa of Saudi Arabia, during Hajj, perform unauthorized Haj without Haj permits, which increases the crowd in the holy Mecca city. This increases the headache of Saudi officials.
A person can enter a country only once with a single entry visa, while a multiple entry visa is a long-term visa that allows the visa holder to move several times in that country.
Which 14 countries will be affected
The 14 countries that will be affected by the changes in the Visa rules of Saudi Arabia are the names of Algeria, Bangladesh, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Jordan, Morocco, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sudan, Tunisia and Yemen.
Saudi Arabia has suspended a one -year multiple entry visa indefinitely for people coming to tourism, business and family from these countries as part of its visa rules change.
All these 14 countries are the countries from which most people go to Mecca and Medina, the holy city of Saudi Arabia for Haj pilgrimage or Umrah.
Major changes of Saudi’s visa policy-
According to the changed rules, tourists coming from affected countries can only apply for single entry visa. This visa will be valid for 30 days and tourists can stay in Saudi for a maximum of 30 days. However, Haj, Umrah, diplomat and residency visas will not be affected by this change.
Saudi officials say that multiple visa entry was being misused. Some passengers were coming to the country on long -term visas and later staying for an unauthorized period to perform Haj or work in Saudi.
Had to take steps in view of the crowd in Haj
Saudi Arabia takes strict steps to control congestion in Hajj. For this, he has set Haj quota for every country. The more quota that the country gets, every year from that country, as many Muslims go to Mecca for Haj.
In recent years, the crowd in Mecca remains a major problem during Haj because many people go for Haj without Haj permits. Last year, during the Hajj, more than 1,200 Hajis died of scorching sun and heat. Among those who died, the most unauthorized Haj pilgrims were who could not take advantage of the Haj preparations made by the Saudi government due to lack of permits and were killed by the heat.
The death of such a large number of Hajis was criticized by Saudi Arabia, in view of which the Kingdom has started preparations to stop any such accident in this Hajj. In this sequence, a multiple entry visa has been suspended to prevent unauthorized hajis during Haj.
The Saudi government hopes that changes in visa rules will only be able to perform Hajj, which will reduce the crowd in the city and all people will be able to avail the arrangement made to avoid the heat.
Saudi officials have described the suspension of multiple-entry visa as temporary. It is not yet clear how long this suspension will continue.