in Government, India, Travel

Emigration clearance not required (ECNR)

Emigration check not required (ECNR) stamp is not required, if one is not travelling for employment purposes.

The Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs (Emigration Policy Division) have allowed  ECR passport holders travelling abroad for purposes others than employment  to leave the country on production of valid passport, valid visa and return ticket at the immigration counters at international airports in India w.e.f. 1st October 2007.

ECNR is only required if you are travelling to any of the below 17 countries for employment:
United Arab Emirates (UAE), The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain, Malaysia, Libya, Jordan, Yemen, Sudan, Afghanistan, Indonesia, Syria, Lebanon, Thailand and Iraq.

For all passports issued before January 2007, a blank second page in the passport means your passport is endorsed with ECR and you need to get emigration clearance if you are travelling to any of the above 18 countries for employment.

For all passports issued after January 2007, a “Blank” page 2 on your passport is deemed to have been ECNR endorsed. If you don’t fit into ECNR eligibility criteria, and Emigration Check is Required, there will be an endorsement in the passport regarding ECR.

Emigration check not required (ECNR)

Emigration clearance required (ECR)

Eligibility for ECNR status:

The following applicants are eligible for Emigration Check Not Required (ECNR) status:

  1. Gazetted Government servants, their spouses and dependent children
  2. Holders of Diplomatic/official Passports
  3. Persons having educational qualifications of matriculation and above
  4. Persons above the age of 50 years
  5. Children up to the age of 18 years. (For re-issue of passport, after they attain the age of 18 years, documents to proof their non-ECR category has to be submitted, else ECR stamping will be done)
  6. Income-Tax payers (including Agricultural Income-Tax payees) in their individual capacity, their spouses and dependent children below the age 18 years.
  7. Persons possessing two years diploma from any institute recognized by the National Council for Vocational Training (NCVT) or State Council of Vocational Training (SCVT), or persons holding three years diploma/equivalent degree from institutions, such as Polytechnics recognized by the Central/State Governments of India
  8. Nurses possessing qualifications recognized under the Indian Nursing Council Act. 1947
  9. All professional Degree holders , their spouses and dependent children. Examples of professional degree holders are Doctors holding MBBS degree or equivalent degree in AYURVED or HOMEOPATHY, accredited Journalists, Engineers, Chartered Accountants, Cost Accountants, Lecturers, Teachers, Scientists, Advocates, etc
  10. All persons who have been staying abroad for more than three years (the period of three years could be either in one stretch or broken) and their spouses
  11. Seamen who are in possession of Continuous Discharge Certificate (CDC), or Sea Cadets and Deck Cadets
    a. who have passed the final examination of three years B.Sc. Nautical Sciences courses at T.S. Chanakya, Mumbai and b. who have undergone three months pre-sea training at any of the Government approved training institutes, such as T.S. Chanakya, T.S. Rehman, T.S. Jawahar, MTI (SCI) and NIPM, CHENNAI, after production of identity cards issued by the Shipping Master at Mumbai/Kolkata/Chennai
  12. Persons holding Permanent Immigration Visa, such as the visas of UK, USA and Australia. 

How to apply for ECNR stamping

If and only if you are travelling to any of the below countries for employment, you need to get ECNR stamp, if you does not have already:

United Arab Emirates (UAE), The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain, Malaysia, Libya, Jordan, Yemen, Sudan, Afghanistan, Indonesia, Syria, Lebanon, Thailand and Iraq.

You have either to get the entire ECR stamp deleted, or if your are not eligible (categories listed above),  you may get a temporary Emigration Suspension before leaving India. If the applicant does not have Non-ECR status then All such ECR passport holders need to obtain Emigration Clearance Certificate from the Protector-General of Emigrants, Ministry of Overseas India Affairs.

Documents required for ECNR (non-ECR) status:

All eligibility documents list can be seen here: Non-ECR documents list

Protector of Emigrants (PoE) offices for Emigration clearance:

The POE offices in India are situated at the following places:

  1. Protector of Emigrant office New Delhi
    Jaisalmar House, Canteen Block, Man Singh Road,
    New Delhi
    Tel No. 011-2338 2472
  2. Protector of Emigrant office Mumbai
    Building “E” Khira Nagar, S.V. Road, Santacruz (West),
    Mumbai-400 054
    Tel No. 022-2614 7393
  3. Protector of Emigrant office Kolkata
    Room No. 116 A Wing, 3rd MSO Building, DF Block,
    Salt Lake, Kolkata-700 064
    Tel No. 033-2334 3407
  4. Protector of Emigrant office Chennai
    Tamil Nadu Housing Board Complex, Ashok Nagar,
    Chennai-600 083
    Tel No. 044-2489 1337
  5. Protector of Emigrant office Hyderabad
    8th Floor, Chandra Vihar Complex, Opp. Exhibition Ground,
    M.J. Road, Hyderabad.
  6. Protector of Emigrant office Trivandrum
    Suganth, 24/846 (I), Thycaud,
    Trivandrum-695 014
    Tel No. 0471-2324835
  7. Protector of Emigrant office Chandigarh
    Kendriya Sadan, 5th Block, Ground Floor,
    Sector-9-A, Chandigarh
    Tel No. 0172-2741790
  8. Protector of Emigrant office Cochin
    3RD Floor Putherickal Building, Market Road, Ernakulam.
    Kerala – 682035
    Tel. No. 0484-2360187
  9. Protector of Emigrant office Jaipur
    Hall No.3, RIICO CFC Building, Sitapura Industrial Area, Sitapura,
    Jaipur-302022

 

Documents required for emigration clearance at PoE office:

  1. Passport (valid at least for six months)
  2. Valid Employment Visa
  3. Contract Duly Signed by Foreign Employer
  4. Valid Pravasi Bhartiya Bima Policy 2006
  5. Affidavit from Candidate Declaring Genuineness of Documents
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4,643 Comments

  1. I had an ecnr passport before 18 and now I have a ecr passport it’s a mistake committed by the passport office so do I need to go through the hassle of getting my passport reissued? And what if I try to travel from non ecr countries (ex: USA/UK ) to ecr countries (gulf) with a valid passport visa and return ticket to India/ non ecr countries will there be any trouble ?

  2. Sir, 2015 ka passport hai mera wife ka qatar ke liye house wife ke through visit visa mil raha hai mere sponse pe. Aur haal hi shadi hua hai mera lekin wife ka 18 saal april ko poora joga 2016 me patna passport office me marriage certificate show kiya tha due to my wife father death in incident shadi pehele ki aur ecr required likha hai passport to visit pe returning ticket ke sath koi issue delhi airport pe nahi aayega na sir.

  3. Hello sir I am from bangalore my passport got ECR and I got employment visa of Sharjah n tickets also conform on 17 I went to airport they stopped me and told that my passport is ECR they dint allows to go and my ticket also non refundable they told me to do poe poe is available in bangalore I want to go urgent I have 10th marks card how many days it will take to poe and how much they charge please please help me sir I in big trouble tell the shortest way for ECNR

    • @Muhammed
      You should get emigration clearance from PoE office if you have less time. It should not cost more than 1000 Rs.
      Better way would be to get passport reissued with ECNR status by submitting 10th class certificate.

  4. Dear sir ,
    I have ecr passport and now I’m in srilanka and travelled by visit visa . now I got work visa to uae so can I travel now from srilanka to Dubai without ecnr ???

  5. sir,actually i have ECR status in my passport,my wife is in USA AND I want to go usa in dependent visa….now do i need to clear that ECR?

  6. Hello sir, my passport is ecr and I got my employment visa of dubai valid till 18 dec..
    And sir I know I need to get emigration clearance before leaving india..
    So sir I just want to know that how much times they take for emigration clearance!! I have all required docs. Visa, contract letter attested by indian embassy and bima policy.. And my nearest poe office is in jaipur..so help me how much days they will took???

  7. Dear sir mera bhai javed ka qualifition BBA complete hua hai aur uska passport pe ecnr required aaya hai muje us passport ko ecr karana hai to please sir meri help kijiye

  8. dear sir my name is frank lobo i put for my passport damage and it came return as a new passport but there is no ecr after sumitting the copy of education now what i have to do
    what is the procesor for do ecnr thk reply me

  9. Dear all
    please help me
    i am sakib khan from Uttar Pradesh i have ecr passport but i want to change into ecnr so i have 10 marksheet but name and age is difference so how to change to ecnr passport

    thanks and regards
    sakib khan
    9819586465

  10. Hi sir I have a Friend and he is going to russia in student visa and there is ecr stamp required written in his passport but there russia only 17 countries which requires ecr stamp so does he requires ecnr stamp on his passport. Plz tell.thanks

  11. My son is having passport which have a ECR stamp , since passport was taken prior to his Degree. Now he have got and Engg degree and he is eligible to remove the ECR stamp and get ECNR stamp.
    When approached Kochi, Kerala, Passport office, they advised to apply ” online’ for a fresh passport .
    I presume this is the correct way. I read from website that new passports without any stamps ( blank page) is considered as ECNR . Presume this is the reason why he was asked to get a new passport.

  12. Dear sir mera passport ecr hai mere passport me date of birth 1 jaunavary1988 hai humko ecnr passport ki jaroot hai mere highschool certificate me date of birth 15 september 1991 hai kaise ecnr hoga bataye

  13. Sir, my wife old passport immgration is not required stamp provided and at present my wife applied for renewal for new passport and received the new passport, but they had mentioned that immgriation is required, though she passed the matrucalation, please suggest and further details please

  14. Der sir mera passport hai ecr humko jaroot hai ecnr ki mere passport me date ofbirthalag hai aur certificate me alag hai 3year ka gap hai kasehoga

  15. Hello sir.. My passport is ECR and I want to delete it ..I am 10th pass..So sir I know I need to re issue my passport..but sir one problem with me in my documents..sir my mothers name in my passport is ‘Asma Khanam’ and in my 10th certificate her name is ‘Asma Bano’.. Sir only mother’s surname difference…and everthing is same…so sir is there any issue..?? Can I get my ecnr passport?? Pls help

  16. Sir,

    I have renewed my passport and ECR is mentioned, my old passport had ECNR now i am travelling to UK with employment Visa and booked my international ticket with current passport number, if i applied to cancel the ECR do i get a new passport number and is there any problem to travel with the same ticket

  17. Sir, I have ECR status passport, but I got employment visa from uae. I did not pass yet the 10th standard. What I will do to make Ecnr status.