Hajj visa application deadline extended until May 11: HAAB

The Hajj visa application deadline has been extended until Saturday (May 11) as the agencies have yet to apply for visas for more than 60,000 pilgrims.

M Shahadat Hossain Taslim, President of the Hajj Agencies Association of Bangladesh (HAAB), confirmed the matter to reporters this evening.

He shared the information hours after the Ministry of Religious Affairs requested the Saudi embassy to extend the deadline on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the Ambassador of Saudi Arabia to Bangladesh Essa Youssef Essa Al Duhailan said that the visa application deadline for Bangladeshi pilgrims this year will be extended.

"We are ready to welcome (application) and issue visas to all the pilgrims all over the world and especially here from Bangladesh," the ambassador told the journalists at an event at his embassy in Dhaka on Tuesday afternoon.

Terming the service to the pilgrims as their “noble duty," the ambassador said, “So we spare no efforts to serve them (pilgrims).”

Ambassador Essa Youssef Essa Al Duhailan also said the process to issue immigration passes to Bangladeshi pilgrims will be completed in Dhaka under the Road to Makkah initiative.

“Already 40 officials from Saudi Arabia have reached Bangladesh, and more will come shortly (for the task),” he added.

The Saudi ambassador also lauded the contribution of Bangladeshi immigrant workers in Saudi Arabia.

“We are accommodating more than three million Bangladeshis there in Saudi Arabia. We acknowledge and appreciate their participation and contribution to Saudi Arabia. They are active and hardworking,” said Ambassador Essa Youssef Essa Al Duhailan.

“We are looking forward to having more (Bangladeshi workers) in Saudi Arabia," he added.

He said that the Saudi-Bangladeshi relationship is flourishing every day, expanding beyond the three main pillars of our relationship—Hajj and Umrah, aid, and manpower—to include investment, tourism, culture, and sports.

It's not just a government-to-government relationship; it's also a strong bond between the people of both nations, he said.