Islamabad:
The Government will begin to receive requests for the official HAJJ scheme since August 4, after the approval of the Federal Cabinet of Hajj 2026 policy.
The selections will be made in order of arrival, in line with the Saudi timeline.
The Federal Minister of Religious Affairs and Interreligious Harmony, Sardar Muhammad Yousaf, said that Pakistan has been assigned a quota of 179,210 pilgrims: 119,210 under the government scheme and 60,000 for private operators, subject to the final confirmation of the Saudi authorities.
The government scheme will include both the traditional 38-42 days package and a shorter option of 20-25 days. The estimated costs are expected to range between RS1.15 million and RS1.25 million, depending on the final agreements with service providers.
Pilgrims will be required to deposit the Hajj quotas in two installments, with the first installment: RS500,000 for the long and RS550,000 package for the short through designated banks, he added.
Minister Yousaf said that applicants must have valid Pakistani passports until at least November 26, 2026, and that children under 12 will not be eligible for Hajj this year. He said that all pilgrims must be vaccinated with vaccines approved by Saudi.
He said that the ‘Road To Makkah’ initiative will continue at Islamabad and Karachi airports. He said that the Pakistani abroad can send Hajj payments to bank accounts nominated under the scheme. The policy requires mandatory payments of animal sacrifice through the official Saudi system, he added.
Minister Yousaf said Hajj’s private operators, including Hajj dependent companies (DHC), will be subject to strict financial safeguards and transparent digital supervision.
He said that these operators must enter service providers agreements with the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Interreligious Harmony and operate under real -time data monitoring to guarantee transparency, prevent double reserves and guarantee timely services.
He said that a third -party audit system will evaluate the performance of Hajj government and private schemes. The Punjab Information Technology Board will continue with the operational digital support, with the IT ministry supervising supervision through NITB, he added.
Minister Yousaf said that additional measures include the deployment of emergency response equipment, the continuation of the “Hajj Guardian scheme” to compensate pilgrims for losses, mandatory training on logistics, rituals and emergency protocols, and a fully digitalized complaint repair mechanism.
He said the ‘Pak Hajj application’ and the help line will help pilgrims with updates and resolution to broadcast throughout the Hajj process. The Hajj 2026 policy will help guarantee a transparent, efficient and spiritually satisfactory experience for all Pakistani pilgrims through digitalization, regulation and improved service delivery mechanisms, he said.
Hajj 2026 policy includes a 70% government quota and a private sector share of 30%. It was stressed that, after problems with the private sector in the previous year, private companies will guarantee the participation of pilgrims who lost the Hajj in 2025.
