Saudi Arabia has issued over 1.2 million visas for pilgrims intending to perform Hajj. Thursday (January 6, 2005) was the last day given to Saudi diplomatic missions abroad to issue Hajj visas, the Foreign Ministry said yesterday. In a press statement published today, Ibrahim bin Omar Al-Kharashi, the deputy foreign minister for consular affairs, said Saudi embassies and consulates abroad stopped issuing Hajj visas for pilgrims of various nationalities wishing to come to Saudi Arabia for the annual pilgrimage. He said Umrah visas issued during the current Islamic calendar year, 1425H, increased by 16 percent to more than 2.6 million. The largest number of Umrah pilgrims came during Ramadan. The number of Umrah pilgrims during the previous year was 2.26 million. The largest number of Umrah pilgrims came from Egypt, 697,969, followed by Iran, 328,785, and then Pakistan, 304,722. A total of 184,458 Umrah visas were issued for Jordanian pilgrims and 159,606 for Syrian pilgrims.
