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

  3. Hi Pankaj,

    I have completed 7 semesters of B.E. (have all marksheets) but donot have final sem marksheet or B.E. degree certificate. Does this mean I cannot apply for B-1 visa for US? I have 5 years of work experience and need to travel to the US in order to complete some work for my company.

    Thanks in advance… 🙂

    Reply to dude

  4. hey dude,
    You can apply for B1 visa for US. Approval/Rejection depends on Interviewer’s mood, he may ask you about certificates etc as there are no fixed rules for Visa interview.

    Reply to Pankaj

  5. Hi Pankaj,

    My sister, 22 yrs has got ECR stamped on her passport and i m calling her to Kuwait on Visit Visa. She hasnt completed her 10th Class. I have sent her a copy of visa ( Not Original Visa ). I will be presenting the original visa at the Kuwait Airport.

    Does she require ECNR and will it be a problem if she doesnt have a original visit visa ?? Most people do come to kuwait with a copy of visit visa, but i would like your expertise in this matter.

    Thank You.

    Reply to Azam

  6. Hi Azam,

    As your sister is visiting Kuwait not for employment, She won’t be requiring ECNR.

    Regarding visa, I don’t have much information about Visa, please consult embassy for that.

    Reply to Pankaj

  7. Hii, This question mite have been asked before but I wanted to confirm. I am a student at IIT Kharagpur pursuing my B.Tech and am going to a university in Germany for my summer internship. I am thinking of taking emirates flight from Bombay-Dubai-Frankfurt ( change flight at Dubai airport). But my passport has an ECR stamp on it. So do I have to take any emmigration clearance for this as i will be going via dubai?? Can I go even though I have ECR STAMP?

    Reply to Vamshi

  8. This is in continuation wid the above question. I will be applying for shengen visa for germany. I wont be requiring any visa for dubai rite??

    Reply to Vamshi

  9. hi pankaj,i am in great trouble.i am working in one of the universities of saudi arab.my wife is selected in same univ.her passport application form is accepted in Lucknow.but for accepting passport application forms for 4 my children,P/P office at Lucknow needs NOC from indian/saudi arab embessy.what should i do and how much is the expenditure?

    Reply to nigam

  11. Hi Pankaj,

    I ahve been reading your ECNR thread and it is really useful. My query is different from ECNR and it wud be great if you could help me here.

    My husband has travelled to germany for 1 month time frame due to his company work. I plan to join him at the end of the tour for visit purpose. I have a 7 month old baby who doesnt have a passport.

    I want to initialize the passport application process. Can i do it without my husband’s passport. Or is he necessary for the same? Please let me know if you know what has to be done or what is the process.

    Reply to ketaki

  13. Hiii

    I am in Oman. My son who is 19 years old wants to come here on family visit visa.His passport is stamped ECR. Do I have to get ECNR stamping in his passport? The local travel agent at Chennai says ECNR stamping is required. I am confused

    Pl help

    C.Ravindran

    Reply to RAVINDRAN

  14. Hi Pankaj

    How are you? i have one question regarding residence visa, i got residence visa for my family from uae. my wife does not have ecnr on her pass port. she having primery education only. now tell me she require ecnr or not? if require whats the procedure? please help me

    Reply to fazil

  15. Hello Pankaj,

    I read thorugh most of your answers. I really appreciate your patience and help you are providing to the people. I have some idea that ECR will not affect my mom’s travle to USA on visitor Visa, but a human mind doesn’t accept until it hears same thing from the experts like you.

    My mom is travelling to USA on Visitor Visa B2. She has ECR on her passport which says “”Emigration check Required (ECR) Except for BANGLADESH, PAKISTAN & All countries in UK, NORTH AMERICA, JAPAN , NEWZELAND, AUSTRALIA,SOUTH KOREA, SOUTH AFRICA & SINGAPORE”.

    I believe we need not to get ECNR on her passport. Even if we want to we cannot do as she has not studied up to 10th or she has no PAN.

    AM I safe to assume that my mom will not be having any difficulty with ECR on passport?

    Thanks again for your such a great help to everybody like me and one more thing to add is that you always replied everybody on time..that’s fabulous…!

    Reply to Sanjay

    • Sanjay,
      For USA, ECNR is not required and Its safe to assume that your mom won’t face any issue regarding emigration.
      Wish her a happy and safe journey from my side as well.

      Reply to Pankaj

  16. Its Ram here.I came to Malaysia on vist and then I got calling visa to malaysia. Last week I had been to india to get Work permit at malaysia counslate chennai. I ve got my visa and came back to Malaysia today. The problem is I dont have ECNR. I took my pass port in 2000 just with ssc certificate. It as ECR stamp in it..Is is creates any problem going forward..Can I apply for ECNR noe at Indian High commission Malaysia..Please help me..I am worried…

    thanks

    Reply to Venkat

    • Ram,
      If you are already there in Malaysia, you don’t need that as its a requirement at Indian emigration and nothing to do with Malaysia Govt.
      Whenever you are back to India, get it done at nearest passport office. Till then enjoy your stay in Malaysia.

      Reply to Pankaj

  18. Hi Pankaj,

    I really appreciate your patience and thankful for providing help to the people. I will be travelling to one of the 18 countries listed under ECR required on an employment purpose. In my passport, “Emigration Check Not Required (ECNR)” was striked off with passport authority stamp on it. I didn’t understand what exactly it means, does it mean that i should get the Emigration Check Clearance to travel to Middle East? I had given only S.S.C as my qualification while applying for Passport in the year 2000. My passport was issued in Hyderabad, but I have been staying in Bangalore for the last 6 years. Could you please let me know whom should I approach (Hyderabad or Bangalore) to get the ECR stamped, if needed. And what are all the documents I need to carry to get this done ASAP?

    Thanks,
    Naveen

    Reply to Naveen

  19. One more question, Does employment letter from the overseas employer mandatory as one of the documents to produce to get the ECR clearance along with the address proof, original passport, photo copies of first 4 pages and last 4 pages of passport, Graduation certification, PAN, etc? Please advise on this ASAP?

    Reply to Naveen

  20. Hi Naveen,

    You may go to Passport office in Bangalore. Please carry employer ID card, employer certificate on their letter head, residence proof in Bangalore (lease agreement/Ration card/Voter ID), PAN Card, all education certificates and 2 copies of all these documents. Employment letter from overseas employer is not mandatory.

    -Pankaj

    Reply to Pankaj