The Ministry of Religious Affairs has extended the date for submission of Hajj applications till December 10.
The last deadline was December 3 (today).
In a statement, Minister of Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony Chaudhry Salik Hussain said that all Hajj applications under the official Hajj scheme have been approved.
All Hajj applications received from 18th of last month till Tuesday have been accepted.
He further said that all the applications under the sponsorship scheme have also been approved without any balloting. The Minister said that overseas Pakistanis should submit the sponsorship fee by the 10th of this month.
Under the 2025 Hajj Policy, 179,210 Pakistanis will perform Hajj next year. The quota will be divided equally between the public and private Hajj schemes (89,605 each). At least 5000 seats out of the official Hajj scheme will be reserved for the sponsorship scheme.
According to reports, 70,000 Hajj pilgrims’ applications will be received by tonight, which will be approved without drawing lots.
Applications received after December 3 are likely to be accepted by balloting as the minister said: “If applications exceed the quota, there will be a draw.”
Applicants are depositing Rs 200,000 with the application while the second installment of Rs 400,000 will be collected from the aspirants whose names have been finalized by the authorities.
Successful Hajj applicants will submit the remaining Hajj expenses by 10 February 2024.
The spokesman of the ministry says that the Hajj flight schedule will be finalized after the process of receiving the applications is completed. Haj costs will be between Rs 1,075,000 to Rs 1,175,000.
As per the policy, 1,000 seats will be reserved for hard cases and 300 seats for laborers and low-income employees registered under Employees’ Old Age Benefit Institution (EOBI) or Workers’ Welfare Fund.