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Umrah Regulations and By-Laws

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ARTICLE 1: Services for Umrah performers and visitors to the Prophet's Mosque - hereafter referred to as Mu'tamirun - are provided by Saudi institutions/companies, including groups or individuals attending to pilgrims, after obtaining a commercial registration as per bylaws and regulations without any exception, provided that they obtain the require authorization from the Ministry of Hajj

ARTICLE 2: The Ministry of Hajj monitors the authorized institutions/companies, to ensure the quality of their performance, checking the accuracy in carrying out their duties and improving the performance of their personnel. Licenses to these institutions/companies are issued by the Ministry according to the following criteria:

1. The capital of the institution/company must be totally owned by Saudi citizen(s).

2. The company must provide a guarantee letter of SR 200,000 (Two Hundred Thousand Saudi Riyals) from an authorized local bank in favor of the Ministry of Hajj. The guarantee letter should be valid during the license period and cannot be revoked except with the approval of the Ministry in case the licensee terminates his services. The license must then be returned to the Ministry following an application by the licensee and after ensuring that the latter has fulfilled all his obligations.

3. The license should be valid for five renewable years.

ARTICLE 3:The licensed institution/company must observe the following conditions:

1. Attend to the Mu'tamirun with all sincerity and trustworthiness according to the stipulations of this Decree

2. The Director General of the company, its branch Directors and customer service personnel must be Saudi nationals of good conduct and character.

3. The company must have branches in Makkah, Madinah and Jeddah.

ARTICLE 4: The Kingdom's Legations shall issue visas to the Mu'tamirun according to the following conditions:

1. Umrah journeys must be organized by authorized parties in the countries where the Mu'tamirun reside.

2. The person applying for Umrah visa must satisfy the conditions stipulated by the Health Ministry.

3. Providing a round trip ticket and check issued by any bank accredited by the Saudi Arab Monetary Establishment in favor of the company that will attend to the Mu'tamir during his stay in the Kingdom as required in Clause 3 of Article 5.

4. The institutions/companies authorized to attend to the Mu'tamirun in the Kingdom must be engaged with the authorized organizers of Umrah journeys by an agreement certified by the Ministry of Hajj and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The terms and conditions of this agreement are specified by The Executive By-lay of this Decree.

5. The name of the institution/company attending to the Mu'tamir in the Kingdom must be indicated in the Umrah visa.

ARTICLE 5:

1. The institution/companies authorized to attend to the Mu'tamirun are responsible for the following:

A. Receiving the Mu'tamirun and ensuring their accommodation in hotels and furnished apartments approved by the Ministry of Commerce; attending to their transportation and any other services required by the Mu'tamir according to the terms of agreement; securing the comfort and well-being of the Mu'tamirun during their stay; including their traveling to the various places of the Kingdom; confirming their flight bookings as scheduled in the visa, and notifying the Ministry of Hajj of that.

B. Recording the data concerning the Mu'tamirun, including their names, nationalities, tickets, passport numbers, conveyance they have used, dates of their arrivals, names of their carrier and its agent, as well as the name of the person responsible for land Umrah journeys, and any of the information required by the Executive By-law.

2. Execution of the procedures and regulations that ensure that Mu'tamirun's departure from the Kingdom as stipulated by the Executive By-law.

3. Together with the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Hajj shall provide, after the consent of the Minister of Interior and the chairman of the Supreme Hajj Committee, a detailed list - to be reconsidered every three years or whenever needed - of the required services: their categories, standard, quality and cost.

ARTICLE 6: The Executive By-law determines the proper arrangements needed to enable transit passengers to perform Umrah.

ARTICLE 7:

1. Provided no violation of a stronger penalty specified by the law of the land is made, a licensed institution/company violating any rule of this Decree and its Executive By-law shall be liable to one or more of the following sanctions:

A. A maximum fine of SR 50,000

B. Suspension of the license for a period of not exceeding six months from the date of the Umrah visas.

C. Cancellation of the license granted to the institution/company.

2. Provided no violation of civil rights claim is made, an authorized foreign party failing to fulfill its contractual obligations shall be forbidden from dealing with licensed institutions/companies in the Kingdom.

3. Any party attending to the Mu'tamirun without the required license shall be fined to a maximum of SR 100,000.

ARTICLE 8: A permanent committee in the Ministry of Hajj representing the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Hajj and one of whose members must be a Shariah expert, shall be responsible to receive complaints by the Mu'tamirun or official complaints, to investigate them and recommend the proper sanction(s) as stipulated in Article 7, and to recover the monetary value of services not provided by the authorized party and return it to the plaintiff(s), according to the stipulations of the Executive By-law.

ARTICLE 9: The sanctions stipulated in Article 7 of this Decree shall be executed based on a decision by the Ministry of Hajj.

ARTICLE 10: Any party subject to penalty has the right to appeal to the Diwan al-Mazalim within 60 days from notification of the sanction.

ARTICLE 11: The Ministry of Hajj is responsible for the collection of fines stipulated in their Decree in favor of the State Treasury.

ARTICLE 12: Political personalities are exempted from the provisions of Article 12. The Chairman of the Saudi diplomatic commissions abroad may exempt prominent Islamic personalities from all or some of the provisions of Article 12. No other exceptions can be made except according to what is stipulated by the Executive By-law.

ARTICLE 13: By mutual agreement with the Minister of Interior, the Minister of Hajj issues the Executive By-law of this Decree, which includes the rules regulating the movement of the Mu'tamirun during a period not exceeding six months.

ARTICLE 14: This Decree shall be published in an official Government Gazette, and shall be effective 90 days after the issuance of its Executive By-law, thus nullifying any provisions conflicting with it.