Saudi Arabia to ‘soon’ resume issuing Umrah visas to Bangladeshis

Saudi Arabia will resume issuing Umrah visas to Bangladeshis after the upcoming Hajj season upon Dhaka’s request.

The foreign ministry in Bangladesh on Tuesday said Saudi State Minister for Foreign Affairs Nizar bin Obaid Madani conveyed the decision to his counterpart Md Shahriar Alam at a bilateral meeting in Jeddah on Monday.
 
Alam requested him to issue Umrah visa for Bangladeshi pilgrims.
 
Saudi Arabia stopped issuing such visas for Bangladeshis when many pilgrims reportedly did not return home after performing the religious ritual last year.
 
The Saudi state minister during the meeting also spoke about further strengthening relations between the two countries as, he said, they attached “great importance” to their relations with Dhaka.
 
He said Saudi Arabia was ready to sign a MoU on foreign office consultations as proposed by Bangladesh.
 
Alam reached Jeddah on Aug 2 for a three-day official visit.
 
He thanked the Saudi government for re-opening the iqama transfer and profession change for expatriate Bangladesh nationals last year.
 
He also requested to recruit more professionals, skilled, semi-skilled and un-skilled workers from Bangladesh for various infrastructure and development projects in Saudi Arabia.
 
In response, Nizar bin Obaid Madani informed that his government had already started recruiting Bangladeshi female domestic helpers and recruitment of workers for all other sectors would began gradually.
 
Both of them wished to work more closely together to explore the full potential of bilateral engagements in trade and commerce.
 
Alam also said Bangladesh could provide Saudi Arabia with high quality and international standard products such as readymade garments, medicine, jute and leather goods, plastic items, and ceramic items at competitive prices.