The passion for the Holy Sites in Makkah and Madina has attracted a record high of more than four million pilgrims from outside Saudi Arabia this year, an official said. This is the first time the Kingdom has issued that many Umrah visas and it did so in just nine months, said Eisa Rawas, Deputy Minister of Haj for Umrah Affairs. Despite the record number of the visiting faithful, only about 10,000 of them have overstayed their visas, a dramatic decrease from 2005, when 250,000 people did not leave the country. Rawas attributed the decrease to the Ministry of Haj's strict regulations that were applied by licensed Umrah operators over the past five years. – Okaz/SG Ministry teams of inspectors have been mobilized at King Abdul Aziz International Airport in Jeddah to ensure that travel procedures for Umrah visitors are smooth and efficient, he added.
