Saudi Arabia has announced that beginning August 9, it will accept Umrah trip requests from vaccinated overseas believers.
The statement comes 18 months after the country closed its doors to international pilgrims owing to the coronavirus pandemic.
According to the Saudi Press Agency, officials in the ministry in charge of foreign pilgrims would begin “receiving Umrah petitions from various nations around the world” on Monday.
According to the source, 60,000 Umrah pilgrims will be issued permits every month at first, with the number progressively increasing to two million per month.
It stated that overseas pilgrims must submit a COVID-19 immunization certificate with their Umrah request.
Vaccinated pilgrims from nations on Saudi Arabia’s no-entry list will face institutional quarantine upon arrival, according to the statement.
The Umrah is a year-round pilgrimage to Islam’s holiest sites in Mecca and Medina. It is not to be confused with the Hajj, which occurs once a year.
