{"id":63923,"date":"2025-04-07T13:53:33","date_gmt":"2025-04-07T13:53:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/?p=63923"},"modified":"2025-04-07T13:53:33","modified_gmt":"2025-04-07T13:53:33","slug":"saudi-arabia-bars-nigerians-from-visiting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/2025\/04\/07\/saudi-arabia-bars-nigerians-from-visiting\/","title":{"rendered":"Saudi Arabia Bars Nigerians from Visiting"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Eunice Ogundare-Martins<\/strong><\/p>\n

In a move that has sent shockwaves across Nigeria and beyond, Saudi Arabia has announced the suspension of Umrah, business, and family visit visas for Nigerians and citizens of thirteen other countries.<\/p>\n

The restriction, which takes effect from April thirteen, twenty twenty five, will remain in place until mid June.<\/p>\n

The decision is part of the kingdom\u2019s efforts to clamp down on unauthorized participation in the Hajj pilgrimage and to tackle overcrowding concerns that plagued the last pilgrimage season.<\/p>\n

During the twenty twenty four Hajj, extreme heat and congestion led to over one thousand two hundred fatalities, prompting Saudi authorities to tighten regulations.<\/p>\n

Countries hit by the suspension include Nigeria, Egypt, Algeria, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia, and Ethiopia.<\/p>\n

Several Asian nations are also affected, such as India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Iraq, Yemen, and Jordan.<\/p>\n

While existing visa holders can still travel to the kingdom until April thirteen, they must depart by April twenty nine.<\/p>\n

However, the ban does not cover diplomatic and Hajj-specific visas.<\/p>\n

Travelers from affected countries will now be issued only single-entry visas, valid for thirty days with no option for extension.<\/p>\n

Saudi authorities have warned that anyone caught performing Hajj without proper authorization risks facing a five-year entry ban.<\/p>\n

The suspension stems from concerns over the misuse of multiple-entry visas, which officials say have been exploited by some travelers to undertake unsanctioned pilgrimages.<\/p>\n

As Saudi Arabia moves to ensure a safer and more orderly Hajj season, the latest development leaves many hopeful pilgrims and travelers grappling with disappointment and uncertainty.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Eunice Ogundare-Martins In a move that has sent shockwaves across Nigeria and beyond, Saudi Arabia has announced the suspension of Umrah, business, and family visit visas for Nigerians and citizens of thirteen other countries. The restriction, which takes effect from April thirteen, twenty twenty five, will remain in place until mid June. The decision […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":63924,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[172],"tags":[59],"class_list":["post-63923","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-featured"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63923","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/32"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63923"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63923\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":63925,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63923\/revisions\/63925"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/63924"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63923"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63923"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63923"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}