RIYADH: Saudi Arabia will not impose limits on the number of pilgrims for Hajj 2023, a Saudi minister said Monday, after three years of restrictions under the Covid-19 pandemic.

“The number of pilgrims will return to what it was before the pandemic, without any age limit,” Minister of Hajj and Umrah Tawfiq al-Rabiah told reporters in Riyadh.

The pilgrimage – one of five pillars of Islam, and which all able-bodied Muslims with the means are required to perform at least once – is scheduled for June.

In 2019, about 2.5 million people took part in the rituals. For the next two years, numbers were drastically curtailed due to the pandemic.

In 2022, nearly 900,000 pilgrims, including some 780,000 from abroad, were welcomed to Islam’s holiest cities of Mecca and Medina.

At that time, they had to be aged under 65, as well as have a vaccination against Covid-19 and present a negative test.

Bank account prerequisite for applicants

Minister of Religious Affairs in Pakistan Mufti Abdul Shakoor announced on Tuesday a bank account is a prerequisite for people wishing to perform Hajj, NNI reported.

The minister arrived in Jeddah to participate in the World Hajj Conference.

During his visit, he will be briefed on the arrangements and facilities for the Hajj 2023 in light of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 plan.

The final Hajj policy for 2023 will be announced after approval by the federal cabinet and Hajj applications are expected to open by February.