Biometric Registration Must for Bangladeshi Hajj, Umrah Pilgrims

To obtain a Saudi Arabian visa, Bangladeshis planning to conduct Hajj and Umrah must undergo biometric registration — fingerprints and image recognition – beginning next year.

On Wednesday, the Saudi embassy in Dhaka sent a notification to all accredited Hajj agencies informing them of the decision.

The ruling will become effective on January 1, 2022.

The Saudi Visa Bio app, which can be downloaded from the Google Play Store and Apple's App Store, is required to submit biometric data.

Pilgrims who do not register with the app and submit their biometric data would be unable to acquire a Saudi visa.

Umrah is an Islamic pilgrimage to Makkah, the holiest city for Muslims in Saudi Arabia, which can be performed at any time of year, whereas Hajj is performed on specified days based on the Islamic lunar calendar.

Furthermore, Hajj is a week-long Islamic rite that all financially qualified Muslims must participate in at least once in their lives.

According to the Hajj Agencies Association of Bangladesh, some 2.5 lakh Bangladeshis visit Saudi Arabia each year to undertake Umrah under private management.