Haj pilgrims have been selected and notified for this year, officials announced.

The Ministry of Endowment and Religious Affairs (MERA) has announced that all selected pilgrims have been notified on Thursday morning. 

About 14,000 people have been selected to travel from Oman for the Haj pilgrimage this year, an increase of 20 per cent from last year, the Ministry has said.

"The selected individuals have been informed for the Hajj pilgrimage from Oman for the 1438H season for Omanis and residents," an official Ministry Tweet said.

"Text messages or e-mails have been sent out, as indicated by the applicant's choice of communication method during registration," another Tweet added.

More than 23 thousand applicants registered this year with MERA for the annual Haj pilgrimage. According to a tweet by MERA, the registration window for Haj closed with 23,670 possible applicants.

In the last four years, only 11,200 pilgrims were able to go for Haj from the Sultanate.

Of the total 14,000 pilgrims this year, 12,664 chosen applicants would be Omani; while 600 non-Omani applicants will attend Haj this year.

The remaining slots will go to the Oman Haj Mission, and the Military Mission.

This was the second year that Oman’s residents use the electronic system in order to register for Haj.

Source: Timesofoman