Nearly 67,000 Pakistani pilgrims could miss their chance to perform Hajj this year after a system-related delay left their applications unprocessed before the Saudi portal closed.
The Hajj Organisers Association of Pakistan (HOAP) held a press conference at the Karachi Press Club, urging top leadership — including the president, prime minister, and army chief — to engage with the Saudi authorities to seek an extension and save the affected pilgrims.
According to HOAP’s Media Coordinator Muhammad Saeed, the Saudi online Hajj portal Nusuk closed a month earlier this year than it did in previous years. As a result, many private Hajj operators could not complete their pilgrims’ data entry and visa processing in time.
He appealed for a 72-hour extension to allow time to upload the remaining applications. Pakistan has a total Hajj quota of 179,210 pilgrims, equally split between the public and private sectors.
So far:
Muhammad Saeed noted that in past years, Saudi authorities had granted extensions, but no such relief has been provided this time.
HOAP Chairman Zaeem Akhtar Siddiqui added that Pakistan’s Hajj policy was announced on November 27, 2024, with public sector applications beginning the next day and continuing until March 25.
However, the private sector was only allowed to start collecting applications from January 14, even though the Saudi system’s deadline was February 21.
He explained that final approvals for private Hajj packages were only completed by March 18, which was well after the Saudi portal had already closed.