Registration for Hajj 2026 kicks off

The process for registration for next year's Hajj has been started on the request of the Saudi government.

According to the Ministry of Religious Affairs, all people who are desirous of performing Hajj in 2026 should get themselves registered by July 9. This registration process — including submission of a registration form at the branches of 15 designated banks — is free of charge.

The registration is, however, mandatory for all — people who are going to perform Hajj under the government scheme, people who want to utilize the private Hajj scheme as well as overseas Pakistanis.

The people who could not perform Hajj this year due to late submission of requisite fee by private Hajj operators will also have to get themselves registered. This year thousands of Pakistanis could not perform pilgrimage to Makkah due to slackness of private Hajj operators.

This registration will help the Saudi government in making various arrangements.

The costs of Hajj respectively under the government and private Hajj schemes will be announced ahead of the next Hajj under the Hajj Policy 2026. The Hajj quota for each of the countries will also be announced later by the Saudi authorities on the basis of the registration data.

According to Pakistan's Hajj Policy for 2025, a quota of 179,210 pilgrims was divided equally between the government and private schemes.

The arrangements for the government scheme were fully handled by the Ministry of Religious Affairs and in accordance with Saudi directives.