Makkah, October 25, 2020, SPA -- The Ministry of Hajj and Umrah has Issued the guidelines for providing services to Umrah performers from outside the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia by Umrah companies and licensed travel agents outside the Kingdom, with the beginning of the reception of Umrah performers from various countries of the world gradually starting next Sunday. The Ministry affirmed that the Kingdom is honored to start receiving Umrah performers from outside the Kingdom for the third phase of gradual return of Umrah and visit starting from 01/11/2020. The Kingdom is keen on the directives of the leadership to preserve human protection, especially during what the world is going through due to COVID-19. The Ministry of Hajj and Umrah is working in coordination with other concerned authorities to create a safe and facilitated environment for the visitors throughout their journey, and coordination has been made with the national carrier, Saudia airline, to provide the necessary seat capacity, according to the approved plan of precautionary measures and health protocols. The Ministry stated that the protocols entitling Umrah include that the age group for Umrah performers from outside the Kingdom should be from 18 to 50 years according to the requirements of the Ministry of Health and provision of a PCR examination certificate with a negative result, proving that they are free from COVD-19, issued by a reliable laboratory in the country of the Umrah performer, provided that it does not exceed 72 hours from the time of taking the sample until the time of departure to the Kingdom, and a prior reservation to perform Umrah and prayer in the Grand Mosque, visit to the Prophet's Mosque and pray at the Holy Rawdah at the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah, according to the controls and capacity approved by the application of Eatmarna and round-trip reservation is confirmed according to the approved program for each Umrah performer. The Ministry of Hajj and Umrah indicated that the mandatory components of the package of services for each Umrah performer include housing service, 3 days of health quarantine upon arrival to the Kingdom, transportation service between ports and housing, comprehensive insurance service, and field services that include transportation between the Grand Mosque and housing, the meeqat and a guide for each group. The Ministry said that the responsibilities of the Saudi Umrah companies and agents outside the Kingdom include informing Umrah performers of the precautionary measures that must be applied from their arrival in the Kingdom until their departure and that the Umrah company verifies the validity of all passport data and information of the Umrah performers entered into the Umrah system, and entering the pre-prepared data 24 hours maximum before the arrival date with the entry of confirmed airline tickets data for each Umrah performer and the accommodation data. The agent, in solidarity with the Saudi Umrah company, bears responsibility for the soundness of this data, and any obligations that may arise as a result of its incorrectness and notifying the Umrah performers of the precautionary quarantine for a period of 3 days upon arrival in the Kingdom, in the hotels in which they reside. Umrah performers from outside the Kingdom shall be divided into groups, with each group include a minimum of 50 Umrah performer. The Umrah company shall appoint a guide for each group, and reserve a unified program for them with all services that include air travel, housing, and transportation, coinciding with the date of reservation for performing Umrah and visiting in Eatmarna. It affirmed that the Saudi Umrah company is responsible for following up on the provision of contracted services packages in the Umrah package of housing, transportation, field services, insurance, subsistence and working to address any deficiencies or breaches of service. The Ministry of Hajj and Umrah indicated that its working in coordination with the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the concerned authorities to determine the countries from which the Umrah performers come from, and their numbers periodically according to the classification of preventive measures, and the requirements of the countries from which the Umrah performers and visitors come to the Kingdom, and to approve the qualified service providers of hotels and transport companies in accordance with the controls of this exceptional phase, the precautionary requirements and health protocols, and the availability of their services for display through the electronic marketing platforms approved in the Saudi central reservation engine, and electronic certification by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah of contracts concluded between agents outside the Kingdom and Saudi Umrah companies. --SPA 04:04 LOCAL TIME 01:04 GMT 0030 www.spa.gov.sa/w1436030