Remzi Bircan, general director of Hajj and Umrah Services at the Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet), announced that nearly 1.5 million people have renewed their registration for the 2025 Hajj.
In an interview with Anadolu Agency (AA), Bircan stated that all decisions regarding Hajj and Umrah are made through the Interministerial Hajj and Umrah Council, recalling that the council decided in its March 27, 2024 meeting to start pre-registrations this year.
Bircan explained that due to address changes resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic and the Feb. 6, 2023 Kahramanmaraş earthquakes, the decision was made not to automatically renew Hajj registrations this year. He emphasized that those who had previously registered for Hajj would not have their registrations renewed automatically, and each candidate would need to manually update their registration through the e-Government portal (e-Devlet).
He continued: "Citizens applying for Hajj for the first time need to deposit a pre-registration fee of TL 750 ($22.10) to one of the designated banks and then complete their registration through the e-Government portal. The entire process is explained under the 'Hajj procedures' button in the search section of the portal."
"Candidates will update their contact information and residence addresses there, they will also select their category and accommodation type, once this is completed, their registration will be finalized," he said.
Bircan stressed that both first-time applicants and those previously registered must complete their registration through the e-Government portal, adding: "This process, which began on Aug. 5, will end on Sept. 16, those who do not renew their registration through e-Government within this period will not be included in the 2025 Hajj lottery. Therefore, we kindly ask those wishing to perform Hajj to complete their registration within this timeframe."
He also noted that there would be no fee for renewing registrations, and the candidates’ priority rankings would remain unchanged.
Highlighting that candidates must update their contact information, accommodation preferences and details of those they wish to travel with, Bircan added: "As of now, around 100,000 people have registered for the first time, and the number of those who have renewed their previous registrations has reached 1.5 million. Based on previous figures, around 700,000-800,000 citizens still need to renew their registrations."
Bircan explained that they are continuously informing citizens about this matter through sermons, Friday khutbahs, the social media accounts of the General Directorate of Hajj and Umrah Services and provincial mufti offices.
"In addition, we will reach out to citizens through our provincial and district mufti offices during this period and remind them to renew their registrations. We will also send SMS messages to the phone numbers we have on record. So far, we have sent seven reminder messages. These warnings will continue until the last day," he added.
