The Truth About Umrah Visas...Are they really free?

There is a massive debate with regards to Umrah visas. There is a known fact that Umrah visas are issued by the Saudi embassy for free. What what is really the meaning of free that so many people ask about?

Seriously I receive a lot of emails saying agents charge so much money for visas that they shouldn’t since the visas are issued for free. I just admit, I was somewhat guilty of it too. I knew that as companies the agents will have their overheads and other related expenses so there was an added cost.

However it is much more than this. I asked a director of one of the operators to explain why visas cost so much money to the end consumer, his reply was indeed very enlightening.

[ms_divider style=”icon” align=”center” width=”100%” margin_top=”20″ margin_bottom=”20″ border_size=”2″ border_color=”#f2f2f2″ icon=”fa-chevron-down” class=”” id=””][/ms_divider]

Heres is how it works

Every tour operator or an authorised agent in the UK must have a kafeel or sponsor – the sponsor is the Saudi Company in Saudi Arabia that has a contract with the Ministry of Hajj to offer Hajj and Umrah services. (note: companies cannot do business in Saudi Arabia without having a Saudi company as a partner)

The sponsor/kafeel/Saudi Umrah operator has a charge. A clear and distinctly defined charge per visa that he/she will issue.

The embassy does not charge a fee to issue the visa but does require an authorisation number (aka MOFA) to issue a visa. A MOFA is issued by a Saudi Company who charges for this service.

We as resellers or agents of this company – add a markup to the original cost usually between £5-10 and sell onwards. Simply the agents in the UK add a mark up to this charge and offer services to their pilgrims.

It is only normal for agents to have to make some money since they offer a service and obviously run a business. I really hope this clarifies the misconception of “free” Umrah visas since as we can see above this is not true.

[ms_section background_color=”#f3f3f3″ background_image=”” background_repeat=”repeat” background_position=”top left” background_parallax=”no” border_size=”0″ border_color=”#5cb2aa” border_style=”none” padding_top=”0″ padding_bottom=”5″ padding_left=”10″ padding_right=”10″ contents_in_container=”no” top_separator=”no” bottom_separator=”” full_height=”no” class=”” id=””]

[ms_featurebox style=”1″ title_font_size=”25″ title_color=”#5f5f5f” icon_circle=”yes” icon_size=”30″ title=”Read More” icon=”fa-globe” alignment=”left” icon_animation_type=”tada” icon_color=”#f70070″ icon_background_color=”” icon_border_color=”#66666″ icon_border_width=”0″ flip_icon=”horizontal” spinning_icon=”no” icon_image=”” icon_image_width=”0″ icon_image_height=”” link_url=”” link_target=”_blank” link_text=”” link_color=”” content_color=”#66666″ content_box_background_color=”” class=”” id=””]