Saudi Arabia Resumes Umrah Visas After Hajj 2025 Ends

Post by : Bandanpreet Kaur

Saudi Arabia has started giving out Umrah visas again from June 10, 2025, just one day after the end of the Hajj pilgrimage. This means people from around the world can now travel to the holy cities of Mecca and Medina to perform Umrah.

This year, more than 1.6 million Muslims from over 150 countries came to Mecca for Hajj. Most of them came from outside Saudi Arabia. Around 1.5 million were international pilgrims, and about 1.66 lakh were from inside the country.

From India, 1.75 lakh people registered for the Hajj pilgrimage. Of these, 1.2 lakh pilgrims went through the government quota managed by the Hajj Committee of India. The rest went through private tour operators.

The Hajj this year was held between June 4 and June 9, according to the Islamic calendar. Hajj is done only once a year, during specific days in the last Islamic month, called Zil-Hajj. On the other hand, Umrah can be done at any time of the year, except during the days of Hajj.

Earlier in April 2025, Saudi Arabia stopped giving out short-term visas to people from 14 countries, including India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Egypt, and others. This was to prevent too many people from coming during Hajj and to keep everything safe and under control. These visas included Umrah, business, and family visit visas. The ban was only temporary and lasted until the middle of June 2025.

Now that Hajj is over, the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah has restarted visa services. They had already told Umrah companies and travel agents to finish all their paperwork and service plans before May 27, 2025.