Rules require applying through one body only... and exclude those who performed Hajj in the past five years
By Akram Medhat
Magdy Shalaby, head of the Companies Sector at the Ministry of Tourism and head of the Higher Committee for Hajj and Umrah, said that registration of citizens wishing to perform Hajj with tourism companies will begin within hours on the unified Egyptian Hajj portal and will continue until March 17, in coordination with the Ministry of Interior, to start registering tourism pilgrims.
Shalaby added that tourism companies have received each company's "password" to register their pilgrims' data and submit their papers electronically on the Ministry of Tourism website, and the companies have begun implementation in preparation for registering pilgrims on the unified portal.
He noted that an electronic link has been established between the ministry and the Chamber of Tourism Companies so that companies can complete paper submission procedures and inquiries electronically for the first time, without the need to come to the headquarters of the ministry or the chamber, as part of the automation of work in the tourism sector and the restructuring plan.
He stressed that companies will submit a pledge to the Ministry of Tourism on the accuracy of all pilgrims' data and their responsibility for it, so that legal action can be taken against anyone who enters data proven to be incorrect.
On another note, he explained that the most important conditions are that men must be no younger than 25, unless accompanying one of their parents, in which case they must be no younger than 18, while women under 45 must be accompanied by a mahram (male guardian), and they register together on a single form.
In a related context, Ahmed Ibrahim, head of the Religious Tourism Committee at the Chamber of Tourism Companies, said the ministry and the chamber have completed their preparations for registering pilgrims ahead of the electronic lottery to select the winners.
Ibrahim stressed that those wishing to perform Hajj with tourism companies are allowed to apply to only one Hajj body, whether tourism, the Interior Ministry or the lottery, and no citizen will be accepted by any of those bodies if they have applied to another, stressing that citizens must choose a single body to apply to.
The head of the Religious Tourism Committee at the Chamber of Tourism Companies pointed out that the rules governing tourism Hajj require the contract between the tourism company and the pilgrim to include a declaration by the pilgrim that he has not traveled during the past 5 years, and if it is discovered otherwise, this is considered a withdrawal from travel on his part, with all the consequences that entails.
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