11,000 Qatar-based foreigners apply for Haj

Around 11,000 Qatar-based expatriates have signed up to perform Haj (pilgrimage) this year, the endowments and Islamic affairs ministry figures show. Foreigners who plan to go to Makkah for one of Islam's five pillars have up to August 10 to register their names online. Qatari nationals who do not require visas to enter Saudi Arabia, however, have until October 13 to sign up their names. According to the figures, the foreigners who expressed their intent to perform Haj are from 74 nationalities. The total number of people who can perform Haj from Qatar or any other country is determined by Saudi Arabia according to specific quotas.