Lt. Gen. Suleiman Al-Yahya, director general of Passports (Jawazat), says that more than 277,000 Hajj pilgrims from five countries have taken advantage of the Makkah Route initiative within two years of its implementation.

The initiative has been successful because several ministries, led by the Ministry of Interior, have worked together.

Jawazat chief said this at the Hajj and Umrah Services Conference and Exhibition, held by the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah in partnership with the Doyof Al-Rahman Program, on Monday.

Lt. Gen. Al-Yahya said the initiative had been instrumental in providing pilgrims with the best services and facilities ever.

Under the Makkah Route Initiative, Saudi Arabia will pre-clear immigrants' immigration at the embarkation points from their respective countries as part of the Proof of Concept (POC).

In its first phase, the initiative benefited Hajj pilgrims from Indonesia and Malaysia when it was implemented in 2018.

The initiative had benefited pilgrims from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Tunisia in the second phase of the Hajj in 2019 before the suspension of foreign pilgrims from Hajj during the years of 2020 and 2021 due to the Coronavirus outbreak.

By using the pre-clearance system, immigration checks can be conducted in home countries at the time of departure, rather than upon arrival in the Kingdom. In addition, it significantly reduces the waiting time for pilgrims at Saudi airports upon arrival.