Hajj policy 2025: Check details of quota, costs, procedures

The Federal Minister for Religious Affairs, Chaudhry Salik Hussain, alongside the minister's secretary, announced Pakistan's Hajj Policy for 2025 in a press conference, outlining the quota, costs, and procedures for pilgrims.

According to the policy, Pakistan’s Hajj quota for 2025 is set at 179,000 pilgrims, with an equal split between the government and private Hajj schemes. Following Saudi guidelines, each private Hajj group will consist of at least 2,000 pilgrims.

Applications for Hajj will be open from November 18 to December 3, 2024, and the draw for the government scheme will be held on December 6. Applicants under the government sponsorship scheme will be selected on a "first-come, first-served" basis, meaning they won’t go through the lucky draw.

Additionally, Salik mentioned that there will be an assistant, or "muawin," assigned to manage every 100 pilgrims.

Key highlights of the Hajj policy 2025:

Costs and packages: The official Hajj scheme will offer two packages -- a 38-42 day package for Rs1.075 million and a shorter 20-25 day package for Rs1.175 million.

An initial deposit of Rs200,000 is required with the application, followed by Rs400,000 within 10 days of the lucky draw if an applicant’s name is chosen, and the remaining amount would be mandatory between February 1-10, 2025 before departure for the pilgrimage.

Quota distribution: The total quota of 179,210 will be split equally between public and private schemes, with an allocation of 89,605 seats each. Additionally, 5,000 seats will be reserved for the government’s sponsorship scheme, which requires sending foreign exchange through banking channel, while the private scheme will allocate 30,000 seats for sponsored pilgrims.

The minister explained that the foreign exchange collected through the sponsorship scheme will be used only for the payment of Hajj-related expenses in Saudi Arabia.

Additional fees: Facilities like sacrifices would cost an additional Rs55,000. Pilgrims can opt for other additional facilities like double-bed or triple-bed accommodations in Makkah for an extra fee of Rs220,000 and Rs75,000 per applicant, respectively.
Compensation for families: Families of pilgrims who pass away during Hajj will receive Rs2 million, and those injured will receive Rs1 million.
Refund policies: Applicants who withdraw before the last date will receive full refunds. However, Rs50,000 will be deducted if the withdrawal happens after the lucky draw, and Rs200,000 will be deducted if the third installment isn’t submitted.

Refunds will not be issued for cancellations of the pilgrimage after February 10, except in case of the applicant’s death.

Measures against begging: Pakistan is taking strict measures to prevent pilgrims from engaging in begging, including crackdowns on Umrah pilgrims involved in such activities.

The minister emphasized that priority will be given to those performing Hajj for the first time.