Now Biometric Verification is Compulsory for Hajj pilgrims. The government of Saudi Arabia has made the verification of biometrics compulsory for hajj pilgrims. As per the reports, recently the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony held a significant meeting on the use of ‘The Saudi Visa Bio-Application’. This year online biometric verification would be mandatory for Hajj pilgrims as well. All the Hajj pilgrims traveling to Saudi Arabia would be bound to ensure their verification of biometrics.
As per the report, the meeting was chaired over by the joint secretary Hajj and attended by the Hajj Wing officers together with representatives of private Hajj operators in Pakistan.
Sources said that after receiving direction from Saudi Arabia, the Ministry of Religious Affairs and the representative of the Etimad Office informed that the Hajj pilgrims will be able to use this application through their smartphones.
You can download ‘The Saudi Visa Bio-Application’ for your Android and iOS devices:
Download Saudi Visa Bio-Application for the Android
Download Saudi Visa Bio-Application for the iOS
They have issued necessary instructions to all concerned companies regarding Pakistani pilgrims. There will be only three easy steps including:
- Clicking selfies
- Scanning passports
- Scanning fingerprints with the smartphone camera
According to officials, this initiative has been taken for the protection and provision of better services to Hajj pilgrims from various countries. The fingerprint biometric facility will be available free of cost from the Etimad Offices across the nation. Muhammad Umar Butt, the religious affairs ministry’s spokesperson, said that the instructions for using this mobile app would be accessible on the ministry’s website and social media too.
The use of this biometric application is too easy as the finger-handicapped persons would also be able to verify through the computerized medical certificate from the doctor.
The Ministry of Hajj and Religious Affairs also marked to assign a 25 percent exceptional quota in the Government Hajj Scheme for the pilgrims who will pay dues in dollars. Nearly 22,400 pilgrims will be able to benefit from the ‘Sponsorship Scheme’ who will pay in dollars.
The pilgrims who will deposit their dues in dollars will be exempted from the balloting under the new Hajj policy. The ministry has taken this decision in order to benefit the current foreign exchange reserves in the country. The Hajj expenses this year can also be submitted through foreign remittances in dollars.