Hyderabad: The Haj Umrah Group Organisers Association of Hyderabad, Telangana, has advised pilgrims planning to perform Haj 2025 through private tour operators in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh to complete their bookings by April 18.
This recommendation follows the announcement by Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Haj and Umrah, which has set April 18 as the final date for issuing Haj visas. Traditionally, Haj visas were issued until a week before the pilgrimage. However, under the new policy, visa issuance will strictly close one month before Haj, informed the association’s President, Mohammed Abdul Razzak Qamar.
Razzak highlighted, “Private tour operators typically begin bookings after the final list of state Haj committee pilgrims is released. However, since the Saudi government has announced a strict deadline this year, only limited time remains for booking.”
“Any delay could lead to missing the opportunity to perform Haj in 2025”, said General Secretary Mohammed Siraj Khan. It is noteworthy that India has been allocated a quota of 52,500 pilgrims under private tour operators for Haj 2025. Razzak urged prospective pilgrims to only book their Haj packages through operators approved by the Ministry of Minority Affairs, Government of India, Haj Division.
He emphasised the importance of verifying the 2025 Haj license copy of the operator at the time of booking, warning that operators without a valid Haj 2025 license should be considered unauthenticated.
