Only 23,620 Pakistani Pilgrims will be able to execute Hajj under the private scheme in 2025, the Ministry of Religious Affairs announced on Thursday and marked a significant reduction of over 66,000 from the originally awarded private quota.

The development comes after Pakistan was awarded a total Hajj quota of 179,000 pilgrims of the Saudi government, based on population. Of this, 89,801 seats were reserved for private Hajj operators.

However, due to non-compliance with Saudi reservation regulations, the private sector could not ensure accommodation in Mina, a mandatory requirement for private Hajj operators before they were established by Saudi authorities on February 14.

Only about 12,500 bookings were successfully completed through the designated Saudi portal before it was shut down, officials said.

Sources in the ministry noted that Saudi authorities refused to extend the deadline despite appeals. The government had allowed private tour operators to start transferring funds to Saudi Arabia from January 10, but many operators could not meet Cutoff on February 14.

On Thursday, The Ministry of Religious Affairs announced that 23,620 pilgrims will be able to perform Hajj under Pakistan’s private scheme for 2025.

The updated list of approved service providers has been made available to the Ministry of Religious Affairs official site (and Packing Hajj 2025 Mobilappe.

The Ministry has called on all pilgrims that have booked through registered Hajj Group organizers (HGOs) to verify their application status and contracts using these online platforms.

In addition, the Ministry instructed companies to issue updated HAJJ contracts and ensure that Visa treatment is completed by April 18, 2025, in line with requirements set by Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Hajj and Umrah.

For queries or complaints, the Ministry’s surveillance section and the HGOS section can be reached via:

Monitoring: 051-9218571 | E -mail: [email protected]

HGOs: 051-9207519 | E -mail: [email protected]