Riyadh: Saudi Arabia is mulling plans to introduce more flexible Umrah regulations.
Visitors who travel to Saudi Arabia to perform the Umrah rituals would be allowed to visit any town, other than Mecca and the Madina, during the 30-day visa, Almarsd reports.
The first 15 days would be allocated to visit Mecca and the Madina. Pilgrims could profit from the remaining days to visit other Saudi towns.
Undersecretary for Haj Affairs Dr. Abdulaziz Wazzan said that the 30-day visa would be extendable, in case the contractors submit a demand requesting extra days.
The demand would then by referred by the Ministry of Haj and Umrah to competent authorities to approve the extra period requested by the pilgrim before travelling to Saudi.
Haj and Umrah Deputy Minister Dr. Abdul Fattah Mashat said that pilgrims, who started arriving to perform the small Haj (Umrah) would be allowed to visit any province, town, heritage sites or tourism zones.
Pilgrims will have to seek official approval of their tourism programme before travelling to Saudi Arabia.
Dr. Abdulaziz Wazzan said that 25,000 Umrah visits were issued over the past four days.