Govt for immigration clearance of hajj pilgrims in Dhaka

The Ministry for Religious Affairs has asked the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to conduct the immigration process of Bangladeshi hajj pilgrims at the Dhaka airport from this year to avoid long queues at their airports.

The ministry has already sent a letter to the Kingdom asking it to complete the procedure in Dhaka and now awaits its response.

“Pilgrims departing through Dhaka airport will have no immigration procedure on arrival in the Gulf country,” Md Motiul Islam, additional secretary (hajj pilgrim section) told The Business Post.

But pilgrims departing through Chattogram and Sylhet airports will have to pass through immigration procedures in Saudi Arabia, he added.

Bangladeshi pilgrims used to stand in long queues for hours at the Saudi airports to complete immigration processing which is immense suffering for them.