Seven Kotabaru prospective hajj pilgrims threaten with progressive visa

Kotabaru, S Kalimantan (ANTARA) - Seven hajj pilgrim candidates from Kotabaru District are threatened with progressive visa regulations imposed by Saudi Arabia. It's a pure visa with a SAR2000 value (around IDR 7.6 million).


"The pilgrims who are subject to a progressive visa, because they have already performed the hajj before," said Head of Kotabaru Office of Ministry of Religious Affair H Salman Bisri here, Tuesday.

He claimed to have conveyed the problem to hajj pilgrim candidates from Kotabaru who had more than one pilgrimage.

"Progressive visas will be paid personally by the prospective hajj pilgrim," he said.

The progressive visa policy, continued Salman, was implemented nationally since the Hajj 1439 Hajj season, but for the local area is just applied from the Hijri 1440 Hajj season.

"We are also still waiting for the technical instructions for payment. Who will receive it, where will it be paid, and what is the account number. We still don't know all that," he explained.

The pilgrims from Kotabaru numbered 181 people, and seven of them had already performed the Hajj.

Meanwhile, Director General of Hajj and Umrah Organization Nizar Ali said, Saudi Arabia is implementing a hajj visa fee progressively for pilgrims who will go for hajj for the umpteenth time this year.

The Ministry of Religious Affair, he said, immediately identified pilgrims who would re-Hajj through the Ministry's Siskohat (The Computerized Integrated Hajj System) database which is matched with Saudi e-Hajj.

"It is possible, the pilgrims in the Siskohat data have not been hajj but they found in the e-Hajj data. They have to pay for progressive visas. If there is such a thing, the pilgrims will be asked to pay after the visa issuence.