JEDDAH, 6 March — With the Haj over and thousands of pilgrims having left for home, the authorities are preparing for a busy Umrah season, during which three million Muslims are expected to visit the Kingdom. The first group of Umrah pilgrims is expected to arrive on April 14, or Safar 1, marking the beginning of the season.

The Ministry of Haj has started receiving visa applications from local Umrah operators. Saudi embassies and diplomatic missions abroad will start issuing Umrah visas from March 29, said Dr. Muhammad Bantan, deputy minister for Umrah affairs.

The problem of overstaying remains a big headache for the authorities who want to ensure that all pilgrims leave by the end of the season. Interior Minister Prince Naif has issued a stern warning to the pilgrims against overstaying in the country.

“I will not accept any single pilgrim staying in the Kingdom after performing their religious duty,” said the prince, who chairs the Supreme Haj Committee.

More than two million people, including 1.4 million who came from abroad, performed Haj this year. Half of them have already left and the rest have until April 13 (Muharram 30) to leave.

While every able-bodied Muslim who can afford the journey must perform the Haj at least once during their lifetime, the Umrah pilgrimage is optional. Yet millions of Muslims come to the Kingdom every year for Umrah, with the holy month of Ramadan being the peak time. A new Umrah law introduced last year allows visits all year round and longer periods of stay — one month instead of two-weeks. The law also allows Umrah pilgrims the opportunity to travel to other parts of the Kingdom outside the two holy cities of Makkah and Madinah.

Economists expect up to 10 million pilgrims a year could be hosted over the next few years, with spending estimated to run into tens of billions of riyals. The Ministry of Haj initially estimated that up to one million Umrah visitors would be expected in the first year of the new system.

The invisible earnings from Umrah and Haj account for up to 40 percent of the Saudi services and tourism sector, according to Harith Muhammad Baharith, of Umrah and Tourism Service (UTS), one of the more than 200 companies licensed to provide Umrah services.

He said Umrah would continue to be a catalyst for every development that takes place in the holy cities. Presently an additional 5,000 new rooms — in hotels and apartment blocks — are being created in Makkah for visitors.

The real estate sector in the city is expected to attract investments of up to SR10 billion over the next two years, said Muhammad Al-Jabir, chairman of Makkah International Company for Development. He said his firm plans to invest SR580 million in real estate in the holy city.

The implementation of the new Umrah law initially triggered much controversy and debate. The law requires licensed foreign agents to have a capital of at least SR500,000 and to produce a bank guarantee for SR200,000 to the Ministry of Haj to ensure that they comply with the rules and regulations. Muslim governments requested more time to study and comprehend the system before sending pilgrims. There were also complaints about the financial arrangements, including insurance premiums deposited in local banks by foreign agents.

Zainal E. Alireza, member of the supervisory board of Haji Abdullah Alireza and Co. Ltd. and director of Alireza Travel and Tour’s Umrah Division, believes the law itself is excellent but has to be implemented all over the world. “No leeway should be given to this or that country. A lot of correcting and adjusting have yet to be done,” he said.