Issa Rawas, the Deputy Minister of Haj for Umrah Affairs, has said that the rate of persons overstaying the legal periods of visit and Umrah visas has gone down over the last ten years to 45 percent. “In 1420 (1999/2000) the number of overstayers was 15,246, while the number last year was 13,913 taking into account the rise of 3.4 percent in the number of Umrah pilgrims over the last five years,” Rawas said. “The total number of Umrah pilgrims in 1426H (2005) was 3,562,700 compared to last year's 4,564,383.”
