A penalty of overstaying Umrah Visa

Posted by Ady Grewal on August 22nd, 2019

A few years ago people from the poorer countries used to stay further than their pilgrimage visa and seek work in Saudi Arabia to earn and couldn’t get caught. But as the violations continued to increase, the Saudi government has reformed the rules and applied new punishments to make them ever strict. Gone are the days when people couldn’t get caught as they can be searched in any corner of the Kingdom. So, people need to be aware of the fact that it is illegal to stay in Saudi Arabia beyond the duration allowed on pilgrimage visa. Similarly, it is not permissible to work, even on payment in the Kingdom on pilgrimage visas either Hajj or Umrah.
Umrah Concerns in Violation

Many Umrah companies have been held answerable for selling Umrah Visas to the agents that work outside the Kingdom. These agents in return sell the visas to the advisors on profit and the advisors sell these visas to the pilgrims who already have an intention of overstaying. Such kind of people not only break the laws but also loss the purity and the higher purpose of the pilgrimage.

Therefore, companies who have charged of violation the Umrah visa rules would be shut down for being involved in this illegal activity. The President of the Haj and Umrah Committee at the Makkah Chamber of Commerce and Industry says that the Ministry of Haj will also cancel bank accounts of Umrah companies that violate the Umrah visa law and refuse to take responsibility for the timely deportation of Umrah performers. Thus, pilgrims should consult the registered and Vip umrah packages 2020 which must be flawless.

Numbers of the pilgrims who overstay their Hajj or Umrah visas are from Egypt, Pakistan, India, and Yemen. After fulfilling the rituals of pilgrimage, such people prefer taking unusual jobs and some of them would not even mind being beggars. According to a report, out of 5.6 million, more than 11,000 Umrah pilgrims stayed beyond their visa in the year 2012.

Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Hajj Bandar Hajjar says that Umrah service providers will not be permissible to request for Umrah visas if 500 pilgrims or one percent of the total pilgrims on their list overstay their visas.

However, the number of overstaying pilgrims has considerably been reduced compared to the previous years.

Penalty on Overstaying Umrah Pilgrims

If a pilgrim is found staying on Umrah visa above the expiry date and started working anywhere in Saudi Arabia, so he would at the spot be taken into custody and punished according to the following procedure:

• A penalty would be SR 10,000 or one month in prison or both.
• A copy of all documents such as passport, visa, etc. will be sent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that further reports the Saudi Embassy in deportee’s country.
• The expatriate shall be deported at his own expense.
• According to the new plan, the expatriate deported from one GCC country would be banned from all the GCC countries to enter on a work visa.

The government is sensibly synchronizing with all relevant sectors and government agencies to make sure that no single Umrah pilgrim overstays his/her visa. The government is also making perpetual efforts to provide Umrah pilgrims with all necessary conveniences to confirm that they complete their rituals with satisfaction.