9.5 million visas issued during 2011

The Foreign Ministry issued about 9.5 million visas during 2011 through Saudi embassies and consulates in different countries, said Assistant Foreign Minister Prince Khaled bin Saud on Tuesday. “This is the highest number of visas issued by our foreign missions in history,” he said, adding that the figure was 11.3 percent more than the visas issued in 2010 and 58.2 percent more than those of 2005. He said the Umrah visas issued in 2011 were a million more than those of 2010. He commended embassy and consular staff for the good work. Nearly two million foreign pilgrims arrived in the Kingdom last year to perform Haj.