Beginning on May 26, the Government of Saudi Arabia began requiring a biometric identification in order to qualify for a visa. The biometric requirement is valid for all travel including business travel, but its greatest impact will be for religious pilgrimages. The Hajj and the Umrah are both pilgrimages that are taken by Muslims to Mecca, Saudi Arabia. The attendance at the Hajj in 2012 was almost 3.2 Million persons. Attendance was down in 2013 due to fear of the MERS virus. All able bodied Muslims are required to attend Hajj once in their life. Now their worship will require biometrics.
Face scan, fingerprint must for Haj, Umrah pilgrims to Saudi from today
Biometric enrollment has become
mandatory for all visa applicants to Saudi Arabia from today (May 26,
2014).
All UAE residents, who are preparing to
perform Hajj, Umrah or business visits, to Saudi Arabia will have to
visit the centres of VFS Tasheel, the company mandated for managing
and administrating the visa process, in the UAE to give their
fingerprints and facial image when applying for a visa.
Saudi Arabia instituted biometric
requirements in an effort to ease the travel process for individuals
and the process is mandatory for people aged between 12 and 70 years
of age.
“The whole process of giving one’s
fingerprint and having a photograph taken will take not take more
than three to five minutes,” Madhan Gopalakrishnan, Chief Executive
Officer, VFS Tasheel, said.
VFS Tasheel has been mandated to handle
biometric enrollment services in 33 countries. The company has
already started the service in Bahrain, Japan, South Korea,
Netherland and Switzerland.
“The UAE is the sixth country to join
the list. We will be rolling out the biometric system in a phased
manner. The move is taken to ensure that the waiting period for
pilgrims and visitors is reduced,” said Kannaiyan Shankear,
Regional Head Operations - Middle East, VFS Tasheel.
Hajj and Umrah pilgrims will have to
book an appointment with their travel agents, take an appointment
online and then come for fingerprint and facial scan at the local
centres.
All applicants are required to carry
their original passports when coming to record their biometrics,
which will involve a fee of Dh17.
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