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 clearance required (ECR)
Eligibility for ECNR status:
The following applicants are eligible for Emigration Check Not Required (ECNR) status:
- Gazetted Government servants, their spouses and dependent children
- Holders of Diplomatic/official Passports
- Persons having educational qualifications of matriculation and above
- Persons above the age of 50 years
- 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)
- Income-Tax payers (including Agricultural Income-Tax payees) in their individual capacity, their spouses and dependent children below the age 18 years.
- 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
- Nurses possessing qualifications recognized under the Indian Nursing Council Act. 1947
- 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
- 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
- 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 - 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:
- Protector of Emigrant office New Delhi
Jaisalmar House, Canteen Block, Man Singh Road,
New Delhi
Tel No. 011-2338 2472 - Protector of Emigrant office Mumbai
Building “E” Khira Nagar, S.V. Road, Santacruz (West),
Mumbai-400 054
Tel No. 022-2614 7393 - 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 - Protector of Emigrant office Chennai
Tamil Nadu Housing Board Complex, Ashok Nagar,
Chennai-600 083
Tel No. 044-2489 1337 - Protector of Emigrant office Hyderabad
8th Floor, Chandra Vihar Complex, Opp. Exhibition Ground,
M.J. Road, Hyderabad. - Protector of Emigrant office Trivandrum
Suganth, 24/846 (I), Thycaud,
Trivandrum-695 014
Tel No. 0471-2324835 - Protector of Emigrant office Chandigarh
Kendriya Sadan, 5th Block, Ground Floor,
Sector-9-A, Chandigarh
Tel No. 0172-2741790 - Protector of Emigrant office Cochin
3RD Floor Putherickal Building, Market Road, Ernakulam.
Kerala – 682035
Tel. No. 0484-2360187 - 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:
- Passport (valid at least for six months)
- Valid Employment Visa
- Contract Duly Signed by Foreign Employer
- Valid Pravasi Bhartiya Bima Policy 2006
- Affidavit from Candidate Declaring Genuineness of Documents
is there any fast procedure to get ECNR stamp on my wife passport ,because she was not completed her SSLC ,due to some reasons,and she is having the markslist with status fail in that! whether can i produce that for ECNR stamping.pls advise.
@Vasukumar
There is no fast way to get ECNR. She can get ECNR if you have ECNR stamping and she is your dependant. Please read the post above to see eligibility criteria.
Hello sir, I have got a job offer from Dubai, UAE. They are going to send me the employment visa in a week. I made my passport on Dec 2009 and it does contain any stamp. So do I need to get the ECNR stamp on it? (I hold a B.E. (Auto) degree.) So do I neeed to get the stamp before leaving?
@Javid
If your passport does not have stamp for ECR, then you need not to apply for ECNR. All new passports being issued are with no stamps, that means they are ECNR by default.
Thank you very much for the reply sir, but i just want to make sure that there is no problems at the airport? are the airport immigration authorities aware of this? & i read one of your response about the 2nd page of passport, what is that about?
@Javid
There will not be any issue at airport as they know the rules before you and I know.
ECR stamping is done on 2nd page of passport (like the one photo shown in article).
sir im going to dubai on a family visa.but there is ecr on my paasport.should i go for immigration cheque.pls suggest .
@Asma
For family visa, ECNR is not required.
Dear sir ,
my wife went to passport office and she had shown my passport copy holding ecnr stamp and seek for the same in her passport,the passport authorities stated that ecnr not required and can not done in her passport since she is on my dependent visa.
Hope everything goes well and she will not face any problem while coming to dubai.
pls advise
@Vasu
As she is going for dependent visa and not for employment, she does not need ECNR.
dear sir,so there is no need to go for immigration in the immigration office.i hope airport authorities will not give any trouble.
@Asma
yes, there should not be any issue at airport.
HI
My friend will be coming on short term visit visa to dubai and she has a ecr stamp on her passport . can she travel with the return airticket and visa copy without any hastle or does she need to get the suspension of the ecr . she has travelled earlier on employment visa but returned back before expiry of the visa and has cancelled the visa due to personal reasons.
@Reena
If your friend is not traveling for employment, then she does not need ECNR stamping on her passport to visit Dubai.
dearr,sir.i m going to dubai along wiyh my son on residence visa and there is ecr in our paasport.so do we need to go for immigration.will there be any problem in the airport.
@Laiba
If you are not going for employment, you don’t need ECNR stamping and there should not be any issue at airport.
Hi Pankaj,
I am going on Student visa tomorrow. Is ECNR Check reqd??
Plese let me know asap.
thanks
@Tarun
No, ECNR is not required for student visa.
I am going to UAE… Is this same for UAE as well??
@Tarun
yes, its applicable for UAE too.
sir,is it neceesary ecr if we r going to uae on family status.thank u sir
@Laiba Khan
For family visit, ECNR is not required. Its only applicable when you are going for employment.
Dear Sir,
Thank you for all advises and the moral support from u!
In spite of ecr stamp on my wife passport she traveled to Dubai with out any hurdle, because she was not travelling on employment visa,but on dependent visa.
Once again thank u ,u r doing good job,with Ur advises u r bringing awareness of procedures to a common man.
pls keep going!!
thank you
Dear sir, I had been to dubai for 6 yrs on employment and return to india 2yrs back,this time i want to go on one month tourist(visit) visa with my wife and kid,as our passport does not mention any stamp of ECR or ECNR, what it means,will it be any issue at airport,shall i go ahead with my tour,kindly help.
@Wasif
If passport does not have stamp for ECR, that is ECNR by default. New passport are being issued with ECNR by default now-a-days.
There won’t be any issue at airport. Enjoy your time with your family there.
sir i am pursuing btech 3rd year and have been issued a passport with ecr stamp on it.So if i go to passport office and apply for ecnr then how many days will they take to give my passport with ecnr?Does the stamp on my passport ie ecr is deleted or what will they do to get my passport cleared?
@saikrishnaraju
Generally it takes minimum 1-2 days and max can go up to 15 days depending on where you stay.
They will put a stamp on existing ECR stamp to make it ECNR.
hi sir i am planning for job in dubai in my passport only ecr stamp is there. any problem sir
@Ram
As you are going for employment, there can be issues at airport while leaving for Dubai. I would suggest you to get ECNR stamp before leaving to avoid any trouble.
i am visitin Kuwait. I got the Pass port and also visiting visa from kuwait.
now i booked airticktets for both ways. what should i do before going for the trip.
will the passport and visa will be verified and stamped at airport before checking in the flight or shall i have to meet any body , as i have 2.30 hrs time between the flight from visakhapatnam to Hyderabad and HYD to kuwait. will that time is sufficient to get the verification done and check in at hyderabad airport? pl guide me sir
@Meenakshi
As you are visiting Kuwait not for employment, there won’t be any issue on airport and you may travel with your air-tickets and passport stamped with valid visa.
I and my wife are travelling on 13th april to Dubai from Delhi on tourist visa and just checked my passport ,it has ECR stamp on it and my wife has ECNR stamp.So,now that it is for vacation that we are travelling and only one day to go for DUbai.. What Should i do ? Do i need to get the stamp removed and how can i do it in one day..
@Arjun
For tourist visa, ECNR is not required so may go to Dubai without any issue.
Enjoy your vacation.
sir i got a visit visa to dubai.. sponcer from my father.. i dont have ecnr in my passport..already i went there without ecnr in same visa.. in visa it is mentioned as student… i got the original copy with me.. i want to know is it possible to go there..
@Nawas
ECNR is only required when yo are traveling for employment. Otherwise its not required. So you may go there without any issue.
i have to book tic tom… i got my father passport copy…. original visa copy.. my father id proof.. is it enough…….in visa it is mentioned as long term visit visa.. pl reply .. im waiting for ur reply..
@Nawas
Yes, it should be enough for getting tickets booked.
i am indian from dubai,i want go uganda,i want know should i get ECNR stamp,i will go on employment visa and later i want bring my family there.
@Jitu
For Uganda, ECNR is not required.
hello
my passport was issued in the year 2009 there is not any stamp in the page 2 i ve gt a job offer in oman ..do i need to get a ecnr stamp ?..
thanks in advance
@Dinesh
All new passports are being issued as ECNR. No stamp on 2nd page means its by default with ECNR stamp and you need not to get it again.
thanks a lot mate ..
Dear sir,
Thank you in advance for giving me a reply… My brother (now in Kerala) planing to come to UAE on employment visa. his passport showing ECR status.. his visa is ready now… he passed SSLC only.. Is it required to change his ECR status to ECNR before leaving India?
@Paul
For employment visit to UAE, ECNR stamping is required. Please get ECNR stamping on your brother’s passport before he leaves India.
Thank u Sir for ur immediate reply…. because I was eagerly waiting for ur reply…… I appreciate u for this kind of services because it is a big help to a person like me..!
Hello Pankaj,
I have ECR stamped in my passport and I am going to Malaysia on a tourist visa. Can I able to go MY without any hurdle? Please advise, Thanks for your help.
@Bala
For visiting any country as a Tourist does not require ECNR stamping.
You need not to worry. Enjoy your trip.
Hello Pankaj,
Thanks for your clarification and for your wishes too. Much appreciated. 🙂