Every year millions of Muslims from all around the world travel towards Saudi Arabia to perform Umrah. These people are issued visa by Saudi government for a period of a maximum of one month during which they stay in holy cities of Makkah and Madina and perform religious duties and spend a life changing time in the holy places like Masjid Ul Haram in Makkah and Masjid e Nabvi in Madina other than visiting various other religious historic places. During all this stay, some Mutamers carry their passports with them as a proof of their legal status in the kingdom while for many others, Passports are kept by the umrah companies and they are provided with an identity card and identity ribbon as proof of their identity. However, in either case, It is important for umrah travellers to ensure that their passports remain safe as it becomes a real hassle for them if they lose their passport. However, God forbid; such mishaps or unlucky incidents are quite possible for umrah travellers to accidentally lose their passports.
In case if a Umrah Visa holder lost his passport during his legal stay in Saudi Arabia, what he needs to do and what steps must be followed to legally exit from Saudi Arabia? In this post we will talk about these steps based on the information obtained from a reputed source–Urdu News.
What to Do if a Umrah Visa Holder Lost his Passport in Saudi Arabia?
1. Immediately inform your Umrah company/agent about your stolen or lost Passport.
2. Umrah company correspondent will take the needful action by filing a report in Police station about the lost passport for the Mutamer.
3. Based on the Police report, Umrah company will issue an official letter to the Umrah visa holder. This attested letter will contain all the important information about Mutamer including his/her name, passport number, picture etc.
4. Mutamer (Umrah Visa Holder) will go to the embassy or consulate of his resident country along with the letter issued to get an out-pass issued.
5. Once out-pass has been issued to the Mutamer, Umrah company will be responsible for the subsequent steps.
6. Umrah company will take the police report and out-pass for the mutamer and visit Jawazat (Passport and Immigration Department) in order to get an exit visa stamp for the mutamer whose passport has been lost.
7. A mutamer whose passport has been lost can travel back to his home country only after getting out-pass and exit visa stamp with above steps.
The above information has been sourced from Urdu News website.
Important Points to Consider Regarding Passport for Umrah Visa Holders
* All Umrah visa holders must take utmost care to keep their passport safe and to avoid losing it. Passport should be kept with themselves or with Umrah company officials (depending on the legal requirements) but passport should never be handed over or kept with any other person or party other than these.
* It is also important that umrah visa holders should keep a photo copy of their passport with them to avoid any confusions and issues.
* It is also recommended that umrah visa holders should keep their national identity (issued by their home country) as well with them as all such identification documents are of a great help in case if Mutamer faces any problems while staying in Saudi Arabia.