DAMMAM, 20 February — The UAE government is now issuing one-year resident visa to visitors to the emirates who wish to travel to the Kingdom from there to perform Haj. Under new rules, the Saudi government will not issue Haj visas to visitors in a third country. The visas are issued only in the applicant's country of origin or where he lives for work.
Every year thousands of people, mostly from India and Pakistan, who visit their relatives working in the United Arab Emirates come to the Kingdom to perform Haj with their kin. Until last year, they were given Haj visas, but as part of efforts to streamline the process, Saudi authorities stopped issuing visas from a third country this year.
Following pleas by relatives of the visitors, the UAE immigration authorities announced on Saturday the decision to issue one-year resident permits to the visitors.
According to UAE immigration officials, more than 500 resident permits were issued on Saturday alone. The process will continue until the last day for applying for Haj visas.
Many expatriates residing in Saudi Arabia also invite close family on a visit visa to perform Haj, contending that their parents are old and could not perform pilgrimage alone. Hence they call them here to accompany them to Makkah and Madinah. This year, however, such expatriates were disappointed as their visiting relatives were denied Haj permits.
