Islamabad: Federal Minister for Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony, Chaudhry Saalik Hussain, has officially announced the Hajj policy for 2025. For the year 2025, Pakistan’s Hajj quota is set at 179,210.
The distribution of the quota for government and private Hajj schemes is at a ratio of 50-50 percent, with 89,605 seats allocated for both. The expected cost for the government Hajj scheme is between 1,075,000 and 1,175,000 rupees.
For the government scheme, the first installment of 200,000 rupees must be submitted along with the Hajj application. An additional 400,000 rupees must be deposited within ten days of the ballot, and the remaining amount must be submitted between February 1 and 10, 2025.
In the government Hajj scheme, 5,000 seats will be reserved for the sponsorship scheme. To participate in the sponsorship scheme, it will be necessary to send foreign exchange through a banking channel from abroad.
Federal Minister for Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony, Chaudhry Salik Hussain, announced the Haj Policy 2025 on Monday, stating that preparations for Haj 2025 have been completed. The expenses for the government Haj scheme are expected to range between 1,075,000 to 1,175,000 rupees.
The federal minister mentioned that the Saudi government has allocated a total Haj quota of 179,210 for Pakistan for the year 2025, with the quota distribution for government and private Haj schemes set at 50/50 percent, which translates to 89,605 each.
He stated that for the private Haj scheme, 30,000 seats will be allocated for the sponsorship scheme. The government sponsorship scheme will operate on a first-come, first-served basis and will be exempt from a lottery system.
The traditional long package for the government Haj scheme will last from 38 to 42 days, while the short package will span from 20 to 25 days. The federal minister for religious affairs noted that the foreign exchange gathered through the sponsorship scheme will only be used for Haj-related expenses in Saudi Arabia.
He added that according to Saudi regulations, every organized private Haj group must consist of at least 2,000 pilgrims for several reasons. One major reason is that, generally, groups used to take only 10, 20, or 100 people, leading to difficulties in securing accommodation upon arrival. He explained that having a group of 2,000 will ensure better allocation of places.
Chaudhry Salik Hussain said that another good scheme has been introduced in the Hajj policy, which is that people who cannot deposit the full amount at once will benefit from this facility under the government Hajj scheme.
Such individuals will need to submit the first installment of Hajj dues of 200,000 rupees along with their Hajj application, and they will have to deposit an additional 400,000 rupees within ten days of the draw.
The remaining amount will need to be deposited between February 1 to 10, 2025. According to Saudi regulations, children under 12 years old will not be allowed to accompany the pilgrims, due to several reasons, with the main one being the challenges posed by the heat during Hajj and other difficulties.
The federal minister said that another new thing included is that if a pilgrim passes away during Hajj, the compensation has been increased from 1 million rupees to 2 million rupees, and if a serious injury occurs, that compensation has also been raised to 1 million rupees.
The federal minister acknowledged that Hajj is certainly not easy and comes with its challenges, but last year’s Hajj was significantly better compared to previous years, and this time our effort is to improve it even further and reduce complaints as much as possible.
The expected costs for the government Hajj scheme for 2025 will range between 1 million 75 thousand to 1 million 175 thousand rupees, with an additional fee of 55 thousand rupees for the sacrifice service.
The federal minister stated that for accommodation in Makkah, an additional deposit of 220,000 and 75,000 rupees per applicant will have to be made for double and triple bed arrangements, respectively.
The federal minister for religious affairs said that this year a new facility is being offered under the government Hajj scheme, which will benefit ordinary people who cannot deposit the amount in one go.
Under this facility, the first installment of Hajj dues of 200,000 rupees will need to be submitted along with the Hajj application, followed by an additional deposit of 400,000 rupees within ten days of the draw, and the remaining amount must be deposited between February 1 to 10, 2025.
The Federal Minister said that there will be no deduction if money is withdrawn before the deadline for submitting applications, while there will be a deduction of 50,000 rupees for withdrawing the first installment after the lottery draw, and a deduction of 200,000 rupees if the third installment is not submitted.
The Federal Minister for Religious Affairs stated that if someone doesn’t go after February 10, the remaining amount will not be refunded, and in the case of the applicant’s death, the aforementioned deductions will not apply.
In response to a question, Federal Minister for Religious Affairs Chaudhry Salik Hussain said it is a positive development that costs have not increased, even though prices have risen everywhere in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia; however, we have maintained last year’s prices.
The Federal Minister stated that as soon as the refund from last year’s Hajj is received from the Saudi government, we will transfer it here as well. This year, we are prioritizing new Hajj pilgrims, and there are higher chances that names of new pilgrims will come up in the lottery.
In response to another question, the Federal Minister mentioned that pilgrims coming from Europe and Canada pay around 20,000 dollars to come.
For Pakistani expatriates, we will try to ensure that the quota allocated for those departing from here is not wasted and is included in the general quota, for which discussions are ongoing with the Saudi government, as this quota was surrendered last year.
At this occasion, the Federal Secretary for Religious Affairs and officials from the Ministry of Religious Affairs were also present who assisted the Federal Minister.