An official source at the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism confirmed that no citizen who holds an Umrah visa will be allowed to leave the country’s ports without obtaining a “barcode”, the Egyptian electronic portal for Umrah.
The Egyptian official said that “citizens will not be allowed to directly obtain an Umrah visa from Saudi agents and travel with it from Egypt,” according to Al-Watan newspaper.
He stated that the law establishing the Egyptian electronic portal for Umrah restricted the implementation of all Umrah programs inside the portal and using a special barcode for each pilgrim.
The official at the Ministry of Tourism indicated that the Umrah trips would be organized by Egyptian tourism companies.
He explained that there is coordination between the Ministries of Tourism and Civil Aviation and the Egyptian airports, to prevent any traveler holding an Umrah visa outside the Egyptian gate for Umrah from traveling through the ports.
The source pointed out that these measures aim to preserve the rights of citizens and the rights of the state in fees collected through the portal, in addition to the rights of tourism companies as the only entity entitled to organize Umrah trips.
