JAKARTA. Saudi Arabia had revised regulation on visa for hajj and umrah that took effect since 2 October 2016.

As quoted from Saudi Gazette.com, under the new regulation, travelers coming for either hajj or umrah will be charged a visa fee of 2,000 riyal or IDR6.9 million, except for the first time pilgrims.

Under the new regulation, Saudi Arabia government will also charge 3,000 riyal for a six month multiple-entry visa, and 5,000 riyal for a one year multiple-entry visa for non-pilgrimage visits.

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The new regulation issuance related to Saudi Arabia government policy to shift the main source of the country’s foreign exchange from oil to tourism.

The new policy has led to unease among hajj and umrah service providers. President Director of PT Wahana Mitra Wisata Muharom Ahmad expected that the regulation will take into effect only during 1436 hijri year, not forever. If the regulation applies only during 1436 hijri year, Wahana will experience only a 1% of decrease in the pilgrims of hajj and umrah.

As of June 2016, Wahana had dispatched 55,000 pilgrims for hajj and umrah. Muharom expects that the number will continue to grow by the end of this year.

Under the new regulation, Wahana should recalculate the costs for hajj and umrah.

Meanwhile, President Director of Tahyiba Tora Artha Hanif predicted that the new regulation will decline the number of pilgrims dispatched by the travel bureau by 30% from 1,000 pilgrims in this year.

Director General of Hajj and Umrah Affairs Abdul Djamil said that the Ministry of Religious Affairs has received the information on the new visa regulation. Abdul Djamil said that the ministry will request the details of the regulation to the Embassy of Saudi Arabia to Indonesia. The details will be reference for travel bureaus in rearranging their business.

According to information from some media in the Middle East, Indonesian pilgrims constitute the third largest national group performing umrah, after Egyptian’s and Pakistani’s. This year, the number of umrah pilgrims increased by 7.2% to 699,612 compared to the last year.

(Muhammad Farid/Translator)