REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA — Director of Bina Hajj Ministry of Religious Affairs (Ministry of Religious Affairs), Arsad Hidayat said, preparations for holding Hajj 2024 are nearly 100 percent or more than 90 percent.

According to him, it has concluded a cooperation contract with the government of Saudi Arabia to provide the best services for Indonesian pilgrims.

“More than 90 percent are yes (preparations for the hajj), because the link to services in Saudi Arabia has been contracted. Then the manasik guidance process is also being carried out throughout the country. The distribution of manasik books I saw has also been almost accepted by all Hajj worshippers throughout the province,” Arsad said in Jakarta, Sunday (28/4/2024).

Currently, according to him, prospective Indonesian worshippers are waiting for the departure time and visa process. It is planned that the first pilgrims will be sent to Saudi Arabia from May 12, 2024.

“Just wait for the departure and visa process. The visa process is the same as the PPIH, there are some who have not, but God willing over time will be completed,” he said.

Regarding visa management, according to Arsad, there is already a special team from the Directorate General for the Organization of Hajj and Umrah of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In fact, he said, it also added officers to speed up the process of issuing visas for worshippers and hajj officers.

“There are also some tools to speed up the process rather than issuing a visa. Thank God this road continues to run,” Arsad said.

He added that this year the Saudi Arabian government will implement a very strict Hajj visa policy in anticipation of last year's events.

Therefore, he also appealed to Indonesians to be careful about the scam of Hajj packages without queues circulating through WhatsApp groups, where they offer non-Hajj visas. “The Hajj must be on a Hajj visa. During the departure with the Hajj visa, I guess there are no problems,” he explained.

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