Ministry of Hajj: Processing of Pilgrims' Visas Targeted to be Complete by March

Jakarta (ANTARA) – Indonesia’s Ministry of Hajj and Umrah (Kemenhaj) is targeting completion of visa processing for prospective regular hajj pilgrims by early March 2026, with progress to date showing approximately 162,000 documents processed and around 40,000 remaining under completion.

The Director-General of Hajj Services at Kemenhaj, Ian Heriyawan, stated that the visa processing team, comprising 85 personnel, is working intensively around the clock to ensure all documents are completed on schedule.

“We are working 24 hours continuously in processing documents and visas. To date, approximately 162,000 pilgrims have been processed, with around 40,000 remaining. For visas already printed, the figure has reached 57,000,” said Ian in Jakarta on Friday.

“The main challenge is technical connectivity with Saudi Arabia and synchronisation of service packaging, as this is crucial to ensure accommodation certainty for pilgrims whilst there,” he added.

Additionally, requests from pilgrims for quota transfers or cluster changes have posed a consideration. However, Ian disclosed that the ministry has restricted the mutation process for the past two weeks to maintain the stability of cluster compositions already established.

“According to our timeline, we hope everything will be complete by early March. In fact, if the service packaging process in Saudi Arabia progresses quickly, we are optimistic it could be finished by late February,” said Ian.

He also noted that the visa processing procedure, coinciding with the holy month of Ramadan, does not hinder the Visa Team’s pursuit of targets.

“The team members are actually happy. Usually after Qiyamul Lail (night prayers), they continue working until dawn. I accompany them to ensure everything runs smoothly,” he said.