ISLAMABAD: The Min­istry of Religious Affairs has announced that Saudi Arabia has reversed its decision to set the minimum age for pilgrims at 15, with the result that now children above 12 are allowed to perform Haj as per previous policy.

A letter issued by the ministry earlier on Sat­urday had mentioned that the age restriction placed by Saudi Arabia would be effective from midnight between May 3 and 4.

“The government of Sau­di Arabia has assured that all affected pilgrims will receive a full refund of the deposited amount,” the ministry had assured the public. Subsequently, in a statement reiterating the new directives, the Pak­i­s­tan Airports Aut­h­ority (PAA) had said, “No pilgrim under the age of 15 years will be allowed to board Hajj flights, and such visas shall be treated as cancelled under this policy.”

However, hours later, the religious affairs ministry issued a new letter to officials, stating the kingdom had “reversed its decision regarding the under-15-year age res­triction for Haj”. It said its previous instructions “may be deemed withdrawn”.

“The previous policy — allowing children above 12 years — is now back in effect. However, the visas that were rejected under the 15-year restriction will need to be re-processed,” it said.

Subsequently, the PAA also issued a statement reiterating the same. “Visas that were rejected under the 15-year age restriction will be reprocessed,” it added.

The inaugural Haj flight for 2026 under the Route to Makkah initiative departed on April 19.

This year, the Road to Makkah project has been expanded to Lahore, in addition to Karachi and Islamabad, and is expected to benefit over 95,000 pilgrims, Radio Pakistan reported earlier.

Published in Dawn, May 3rd, 2026