Although only less than a week is left before the first Hajj flight leaves Dhaka on August 27, the Saudi Arabian Embassy in Dhaka is yet to issue a single visa to any aspiring hajis as of yesterday.
Different reasons are reportedly behind the delay; over 800 private Hajj agencies are yet to get individual barcodes necessary for processing their visa requests, while there had also been misunderstanding on the issue of submitting visa applications through an electronic method.
As they are yet to receive visa for the pilgrimage, thousands of aspiring hajis are still uncertain whether their applications would be processed before their scheduled flights leave for Saudi Arabia.
Ibrahim Bahar, president of Hajj Agencies Association of Bangladesh (HAAB), told the Dhaka Tribune that representatives of different hajj agencies have completed their necessary tasks in Saudi Arabia including renting houses and arranging food and other services. However, the agencies were now waiting to receive a unique barcode from the Saudi government which they must submit along with the visa documents of the aspiring hajis, Bahar added.
He also expressed hopes that the agencies would receive their individual barcode within a couple of days and be able to submit documents for the hajis before their scheduled flights.
There has also been some misunderstanding regarding the use of e-reader machines for processing visa applications.
Mizanur Rahman, director of Religious Affairs Ministry’s Hajj office, told the Dhaka Tribune that the Saudi Embassy had issued a letter to the Foreign Ministry a few months ago to inform that all aspirant hajis must electronically submit their visa applications, which would be checked by e-reader machines.
As the Hajj office was not informed about the new system, it manually sent the documents and passports to the embassy, which later informed that no visa would be issued without checking the applications through e-reader machines, he added.
The Hajj office then hired a computer firm that is now using five e-reader machines to prepare electronic applications for the pilgrims, the director said, adding that the number of machines would be increased to complete the visa processing work before the first Hajj flight leaves.
According to flight schedules, Biman Bangladesh Airlines alone is supposed to carry around 16,000 passengers between August 27 and September 1.
According to the Religious Affairs Ministry, 98,762 pilgrims are expected to participate in the upcoming Hajj. Among them, only 1,600 pilgrims will go through government initiative, while the rest will travel under the management of over 800 private Hajj agencies.