Government Accelerates Hajj Visas, Targeting 162 thousand Documents by March

RRI.CO.ID, Jakarta – The Ministry of Hajj and Umrah of the Republic of Indonesia continues to expedite the visa processing for Indonesian hajj pilgrims. As of now, approximately 162,000 pilgrim documents have been successfully processed, with around 40,000 documents still in the finalization stage.

The Director General of Hajj Services at the Ministry of Religious Affairs, Ian Heriyawan, stated that the visa team, consisting of 85 personnel, worked intensively for 24 hours to ensure all documents were completed on time.

"We work 24 hours straight in processing documents and visas." So far, approximately 162 thousand pilgrims have gone thru the process, leaving around 40 thousand remaining. For the visas that have already been printed, the number has reached 57 thousand," Ian stated while directly overseeing the visa processing at the Multipurpose Room of the Indonesian Ministry of Religious Affairs Office in Jakarta, Thursday, 26 February 2026.

Ian acknowledged that this process is not without its challenges. Some of the technical challenges faced include system connectivity with Saudi Arabia and the service packaging process related to hotel accommodations and rooms for the pilgrims.

"The main challenge is the technical connectivity with Saudi and the synchronization of service packaging, as this is crucial to ensure the certainty of accommodation for the pilgrims while they are there," Ian Said.

In addition, requests for mutations or transfers between groups from the pilgrims have also been noted. However, Ian revealed that his team has limited the mutation process for the past two weeks to maintain the stability of the already formed group composition.

He is targeting the entire visa process to be completed by early March, or at least one week before the Eid al-Fitr holiday. "According to the timeline, we hope everything will be clean by early March. Even if the service packaging process in Saudi goes quickly, we are optimistic it can be completed by the end of February," he conveyed.

Ian also mentioned that the visa processing coinciding with the holy month of Ramadan is not an obstacle for the Visa Team to meet their targets. "The kids (Visa Team) are actually happy. Usually, after Qiyamul Lail, they immediately continue working until sahur time. I accompanied them to ensure everything went smoothly," Ian said.