Saudi Arabia lifts maximum age limit for Umrah pilgrims

The Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah has lifted the maximum age limit of 50 years for overseas pilgrims performing Umrah.

However, the pilgrims will still be required to produce Covid-19 vaccination certifcates.

The new rules were revealed by the Saudi Gazette, which said the ministry has scrapped the maximum age limit of 50 years as a prerequisite for pilgrims coming to perform Umrah from outside Saudi Arabia.

The elderly foreign pilgrims can perform Umrah in line with the precautionary measures and preventive protocols to control the spread of coronavirus.

However, Muslim foreigners under 18 of age are still not allowed to perform Umrah.

For the domestic pilgrims, the Kingdom has allowed the fully vaccinated people aged 12 and above to perform Umrah.

Earlier the Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah had limited Umrah permits for overseas Muslims to those aged between 18 and 50 years.

Pakistani pilgrims permitted direct entry

The Saudi government has also issued the new directives Thursday to allow Pakistani travelers to directly enter Saudi Arabia from December 1. The travelers are no longer required to spend 14-day quarantine in a third country.