Despite The New Rules, The Indonesian Consulate General's Decree To Affirm The Umrah Of The Indonesian Congregation Still Uses Scheme B To B

The Consulate General of the Republic of Indonesia (KJRI) held a meeting with the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah of Saudi Arabia in Jeddah, Tuesday (20/9/2022). (ANTARA/HO-Kemenag)

JAKARTA - Consul for Hajj at the Consulate General of the Republic of Indonesia (KJRI) in Jeddah Nasrullah Jasam emphasized that the process of issuing Umrah visas for Indonesian pilgrims still uses the Business to Business (B to B) scheme. "The policy of the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah of Saudi Arabia related to the issuance of Umrah visas for Umrah pilgrims from Indonesia is still B to B," said Nasrullah in an official statement received in Jakarta, Antara, Thursday, September 22. Nasrullah said that the certainty of the use of the B to B scheme for the implementation of this Umrah was after the Indonesian Consulate General held a meeting with the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah Saudi in Jeddah, September 20, 2022. Previously, the Directorate General of Hajj and Umrah at the Ministry of Religion together with the Association of Umrah Travel Organizers (PPIU) had also discussed mitigation of the issue of Umrah 1444 Hijri. The meeting discussed a number of new rules that Saudi Arabia will implement in the implementation of Umrah 1444 Hijri. The new rules imposed by Saudi Arabia regarding the no longer limitation of Umrah quotas, no longer need to use Umrah visas or may use other types of visas. In addition, the visa application process also does not have to go through providers in Indonesia, PPIU can directly relate to Saudi providers. Saudi policy in organizing Umrah leads to a business to customer (B to C) scheme. The policy is oriented as part of the stages of implementing Saudi vision 2030. Nasrullah said the use of the Tawakalna and Etamarna applications was still applied to pilgrims who would perform Umrah and enter Raudhah at the Prophet's Mosque. "The validity period of Umrah visas is 90 days and can be used to visit all regions in Saudi Arabia with supervision from Muassasah/Syarikah, Saudi Arabia issued visas," he said. Regarding the Umrah pilgrims, Nasrullah said that it was recommended to use the services of Saudis who were already experienced. Guidelines can also use the services of Indonesian citizens who have accompanied the congregation directly since Indonesia. "It is not permissible to use Saudi Arabia's mukimin services whose work status is not a guide," he said. Technically, Nasrullah said, he had asked the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah to appeal to Muassasah / Sayarikah, Saudi Arabia and Umrah worship organizers to regulate the movement of pilgrims from hotels to airports at the time of return. The congregation's movement is to pay attention to the normal time span with flight schedules. "We ask that Umrah organizers control their congregations during transit in the city of Jeddah so as not to crowd on the edge of the Corniche Balad shop and not disturb public order," he said. According to him, more than 200 thousand Umrah pilgrims have come from Indonesia to Saudi Arabia in the range from August to September 2022. This year, the Indonesian government targets around 1.5 million to 2 million pilgrims to go to the Holy Land.