*KARACHI: Pakistani Umrah pilgrims will be able to get visa by 10th ofShawwal after Ramazan.*
Sources said this decision has been taken by Saudi Arabia. They said aftergetting visa the pilgrims will have to leave for Saudi Arabia by Shawwal 14.
The Umrah pilgrims going in Shawwal will be able to stay for 28 daysmaximum.
Earlier, Umrah visas were closed during Hajj season.
Sources said following this decision Umrah pilgrims could get cheap tickets.
On April 25, issuance of e-visa to Umrah pilgrims had started from Karachi.An announcement in this regard had been made by the Saudi Arabiangovernment.
The pilgrims will have to submit their passports with the travel agentsunder the agreement with Zaireen Saudi Umrah company.
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The Saudi Arabian embassy had stopped the sticker system on passports forUmrah.
Biometric verification of Umrah pilgrims will also not be carried out fromnow onwards.
On March 3, Saudi Arabia had issued more than 4.33 million Umrah visas thisyear with the largest number of pilgrims visiting the kingdom from Pakistan.
The total figure for approved visas had stood at 4,338,959, out of which3,892,554 pilgrims had arrived in the Kingdom, according to data providedby the Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah.
