By Libya Herald staff.
Tripoli, 14 July 2014:
The Saudi Arabian embassy in Tunis, which has been processing Libyan applications for Umrah and other visas . . .[restrict]since the Tripoli embassy closed, has confirmed that it has extended the deadline for receiving Libyan Umrah visa applications by one week till the end of this week.
According to the Libyan Ministry of Tourism’s offical Facebook page, the change was made after a request from it to the Saudis to meet the needs of those Libyans planning to travel for Umrah in the next few weeks. The Saudi authorities usually stop issuing Umrah visas on 15 Ramadan (17 July) and after Eid start concentrating on Haj visas.
The Ministry first announced that Umrah visas would be issued through the Saudi Embassy in Tunisia only two weeks ago. The decision came after an emergency meeting of ministers and representatives from the tourism industry to address the problems facing thousands of Libyans, most of whom had already booked and paid for trips through travel agents, wanting to gain visas to Saudi Arabia.
The Saudi Embassy pulled out of Tripoli back in May because of the “deteriorating security situation”. The Saudi Ambassador, Mohammed Al-Ali, said that the embassy would reopen “when the situation stabilizes in the Libyan capital”. [/restrict]
