{"id":158836,"date":"2025-04-07T16:34:48","date_gmt":"2025-04-07T15:34:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/uncategorized\/nahcon-responds-as-saudi-arabia-suspends-hajj-visas-for-nigeria"},"modified":"2025-04-07T17:36:17","modified_gmt":"2025-04-07T16:36:17","slug":"nahcon-responds-as-saudi-arabia-suspends-hajj-visas-for-nigeria","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/nahcon-responds-as-saudi-arabia-suspends-hajj-visas-for-nigeria","title":{"rendered":"NAHCON responds as Saudi Arabia suspends Hajj visas for Nigeria"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600\"><strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Nigeria. <\/strong><\/span>The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has suspended the issuance of Hajj visas to Nigeria and 13 other countries ahead of the 2025 pilgrimage season.<\/p>\n<p>The decision, which comes just months before the annual Hajj, has left thousands of intending pilgrims in uncertainty, particularly in Nigeria\u2014one of the countries with the highest number of annual pilgrims to Makkah and Madinah.<\/p>\n<p>Though Riyadh has not issued an official explanation, sources familiar with diplomatic discussions point to a range of possible factors, including irregularities in travel documentation, incomplete biometric data, and recent adjustments to Saudi Arabia\u2019s Hajj policy.<\/p>\n<p>The suspension affects not only Nigeria but also countries such as Pakistan, Sudan, and Ethiopia, among others in Africa and Asia.<\/p>\n<p>The timing of the move is particularly disruptive, as this is the period when Hajj preparations\u2014including payments, visa processing, and travel logistics\u2014are typically at their peak.<\/p>\n<p>In response, Nigeria\u2019s National Hajj Commission (NAHCON) has urged calm among affected pilgrims and stakeholders. In a statement, the commission said,<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are aware of the suspension and are actively engaging Saudi authorities through diplomatic channels to seek clarity and resolution.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>NAHCON further advised intending pilgrims to avoid panic.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhile we understand the anxiety this has caused, we ask all registered pilgrims to remain calm and refrain from making hasty decisions. We are working with our partners to ensure the issue is addressed swiftly.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The fallout from the visa halt is already being felt across the Hajj ecosystem\u2014travel agencies, state pilgrims\u2019 boards, and individuals who have paid deposits or completed biometric registrations face possible financial and emotional strain if the issue remains unresolved.<\/p>\n<p><strong>For More News And Analysis About <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Nigeria<\/span> Follow <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; Nigeria. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has suspended the issuance of Hajj visas to Nigeria and 13 other countries ahead of the 2025 pilgrimage season. The decision, which comes just months before the annual Hajj, has left thousands of intending pilgrims in uncertainty, particularly in Nigeria\u2014one of the countries with the highest number [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":158835,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,30],"tags":[7638,1197,254],"class_list":["post-158836","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-community","tag-hajj","tag-nahcon","tag-nigeria"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>NAHCON responds as Saudi Arabia suspends Hajj visas for Nigeria - Nigeria<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has suspended the issuance of Hajj visas to Nigeria and 13 other countries ahead of the 2025 ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/nahcon-responds-as-saudi-arabia-suspends-hajj-visas-for-nigeria\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"NAHCON responds as Saudi Arabia suspends Hajj visas for Nigeria\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has suspended the issuance of Hajj visas to Nigeria and 13 other countries ahead of the 2025 ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/nahcon-responds-as-saudi-arabia-suspends-hajj-visas-for-nigeria\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Nigeria\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-04-07T15:34:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-04-07T16:36:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2025\/04\/sm_1744031174.595343.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1440\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1440\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/nahcon-responds-as-saudi-arabia-suspends-hajj-visas-for-nigeria#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/nahcon-responds-as-saudi-arabia-suspends-hajj-visas-for-nigeria\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"NAHCON responds as Saudi Arabia suspends Hajj visas for Nigeria\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-04-07T15:34:48+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-04-07T16:36:17+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/nahcon-responds-as-saudi-arabia-suspends-hajj-visas-for-nigeria\"},\"wordCount\":291,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/nahcon-responds-as-saudi-arabia-suspends-hajj-visas-for-nigeria#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2025\/04\/sm_1744031174.595343.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"hajj\",\"NAHCON\",\"Nigeria\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"Community\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/nahcon-responds-as-saudi-arabia-suspends-hajj-visas-for-nigeria#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/nahcon-responds-as-saudi-arabia-suspends-hajj-visas-for-nigeria\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/nahcon-responds-as-saudi-arabia-suspends-hajj-visas-for-nigeria\",\"name\":\"NAHCON responds as Saudi Arabia suspends Hajj visas for Nigeria - Nigeria\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/nahcon-responds-as-saudi-arabia-suspends-hajj-visas-for-nigeria#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/nahcon-responds-as-saudi-arabia-suspends-hajj-visas-for-nigeria#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2025\/04\/sm_1744031174.595343.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-04-07T15:34:48+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-04-07T16:36:17+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"description\":\"The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has suspended the issuance of Hajj visas to Nigeria and 13 other countries ahead of the 2025 ...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/nahcon-responds-as-saudi-arabia-suspends-hajj-visas-for-nigeria#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/nahcon-responds-as-saudi-arabia-suspends-hajj-visas-for-nigeria\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/nahcon-responds-as-saudi-arabia-suspends-hajj-visas-for-nigeria#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2025\/04\/sm_1744031174.595343.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2025\/04\/sm_1744031174.595343.jpg\",\"width\":1440,\"height\":1440,\"caption\":\"NAHCON responds as Saudi Arabia suspends Hajj visas for Nigeria\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/nahcon-responds-as-saudi-arabia-suspends-hajj-visas-for-nigeria#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"NAHCON responds as Saudi Arabia suspends Hajj visas for Nigeria\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/\",\"name\":\"Africa Press | Nigeria | Homepage\",\"description\":\"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\",\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/author\/cfeditoren\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"NAHCON responds as Saudi Arabia suspends Hajj visas for Nigeria - Nigeria","description":"The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has suspended the issuance of Hajj visas to Nigeria and 13 other countries ahead of the 2025 ...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/nahcon-responds-as-saudi-arabia-suspends-hajj-visas-for-nigeria","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"NAHCON responds as Saudi Arabia suspends Hajj visas for Nigeria","og_description":"The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has suspended the issuance of Hajj visas to Nigeria and 13 other countries ahead of the 2025 ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/nahcon-responds-as-saudi-arabia-suspends-hajj-visas-for-nigeria","og_site_name":"Nigeria","article_published_time":"2025-04-07T15:34:48+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-04-07T16:36:17+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1440,"height":1440,"url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2025\/04\/sm_1744031174.595343.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"cfeditoren","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"cfeditoren","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/nahcon-responds-as-saudi-arabia-suspends-hajj-visas-for-nigeria#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/nahcon-responds-as-saudi-arabia-suspends-hajj-visas-for-nigeria"},"author":{"name":"cfeditoren","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"headline":"NAHCON responds as Saudi Arabia suspends Hajj visas for Nigeria","datePublished":"2025-04-07T15:34:48+00:00","dateModified":"2025-04-07T16:36:17+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/nahcon-responds-as-saudi-arabia-suspends-hajj-visas-for-nigeria"},"wordCount":291,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/nahcon-responds-as-saudi-arabia-suspends-hajj-visas-for-nigeria#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2025\/04\/sm_1744031174.595343.jpg","keywords":["hajj","NAHCON","Nigeria"],"articleSection":["all news","Community"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/nahcon-responds-as-saudi-arabia-suspends-hajj-visas-for-nigeria#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/nahcon-responds-as-saudi-arabia-suspends-hajj-visas-for-nigeria","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/nahcon-responds-as-saudi-arabia-suspends-hajj-visas-for-nigeria","name":"NAHCON responds as Saudi Arabia suspends Hajj visas for Nigeria - Nigeria","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/nahcon-responds-as-saudi-arabia-suspends-hajj-visas-for-nigeria#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/nahcon-responds-as-saudi-arabia-suspends-hajj-visas-for-nigeria#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2025\/04\/sm_1744031174.595343.jpg","datePublished":"2025-04-07T15:34:48+00:00","dateModified":"2025-04-07T16:36:17+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"description":"The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has suspended the issuance of Hajj visas to Nigeria and 13 other countries ahead of the 2025 ...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/nahcon-responds-as-saudi-arabia-suspends-hajj-visas-for-nigeria#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/nahcon-responds-as-saudi-arabia-suspends-hajj-visas-for-nigeria"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/nahcon-responds-as-saudi-arabia-suspends-hajj-visas-for-nigeria#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2025\/04\/sm_1744031174.595343.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2025\/04\/sm_1744031174.595343.jpg","width":1440,"height":1440,"caption":"NAHCON responds as Saudi Arabia suspends Hajj visas for Nigeria"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/nahcon-responds-as-saudi-arabia-suspends-hajj-visas-for-nigeria#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"NAHCON responds as Saudi Arabia suspends Hajj visas for Nigeria"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/","name":"Africa Press | Nigeria | Homepage","description":"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb","name":"cfeditoren","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/author\/cfeditoren"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158836","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=158836"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158836\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/158835"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=158836"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=158836"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=158836"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}