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
dear sir,
i have tourist visa for dubai
i have to take return ticket also my passport is in ecr
@Suraj
For tourist purposes, ECNR is not required for any country.
You may visit Dubai without any issue. Wish you a good time there.
Is ECNR clearance required to travel Singapore on office work?
@Raj
For Singapore, ECNR is not required for any kind of visa.
For kuala lumpur visit, do I need to have ECNR suspension?
@Raj
If you are going to Kuala lumper for tourist purpose, ECNR not required.
But if going for employment or business, ECNR is required.
Thanks Pankaj. You are doing a great job…God bless you.
Dear Sir,
Visiting Dubai on a three month short duration visa. But my PP is stamped ECR by mistake though me 50 years old and passed PUC. Do I need to get the ECR cancelled/deleted?
@Ramesh
If you going for employment or for business reasons to Dubai, you should get ECR cancelled on passport.
Dear madam,
No. I am not going on a job or business but for a short stay with my relative and will be back once 3 month visa period is over. Kindly inform whether the ecr on my pp got to be deleted?
Regards.
@Ramesh
If you are not going for job or business, you won’t need ECNR stamp to travel.
SIR MY PASSPORT IS IN ECR
SIR I HAVE TO TAKE THE RETURN TICKET ON THE SAME DATE OF THE EXPIRY OF THE TOURIST VISA OR NOT
@Selva
PAN Card is eligible for ECNR stamp, you can get ECNR on basis of this.
SIR PAN CARD IS ELIGIBLE FOR ECNR STAMP OR NOT I DONT HAVE TENTH CIRTIFICATE
dear sir,
can i take ecnr stamp from dubai
@SurajRaj
You cannot take ECNR stamp from Dubai. It can only be done from Passport offices in India.
SIR MY PASSPORT IS IN ECR
SIR I HAVE TO TAKE THE RETURN TICKET ON THE SAME DATE OF THE EXPIRY OF THE TOURIST VISA OR NOT
Dear Pankaj, i Have bought miss. form for passport, i want to know that how will i fill up the form, is it necessary to fill performa for emigration check in form for ecnr endosement on pan card eligibility
@Shakir
Yes, you will have to fill emigration check performa as well.
please let us know ECNR is required for aged more that 50. Come on visit to UAE
@Pradeep
If visiting for job or business to UAE, ECNR is required. Else not required. No matter whats the age.
@Pradeep
Just to correct earlier comment, Persons above 50 years of age are utomatically eligible for ECNR.
Hi Pankaj,
My passport issued from Passport office ‘Patna’, has ECR stamp on it. Can I get ECNR stamp on my Passport from Passport office ‘Hyderabad’ and how long this will take to get this done.
@Shekhar
You can get ECNR stamping from Hyderabad also but you will also have to provide address proofs for Hyderabad.
It may take minimum 1 day to max 10 days depending on delivery location and method.
I am willing to travel to Dubai for Work. I want to know whether first I should get ECNR done and then apply for VISA or first I should get a VISA and then get ECNR done. Please suggest.
@Shekhar
Its better to get visa first and then ECNR as you can request passport office to process ECNR faster.
After getting information from your blog my brother reached rpo kolkata for ecnr, but they refeuse to accecpt the application for ecnr by saying that class 10 is mandatory for getting ecnr and no ecnr will be granted for pan card holder, is it true or where i can lodge coplaint against rpo kolkata, my brother is class 4 pass but holds a pan card
@Sabir
You can read this page: http://www.passport.gov.in/shimla/ecnr_ecr.htm
What are the minimum documents required for an ECNR endorsement?
One of the following documents:
a) Matriculation (SSLC)/PUC-II / Degree Certificate
b) PAN Card
c) Annexure ‘I’ if person has stayed abroad for more than 3 years.
Note: Persons above 50 years of age are automatically eligible for ECNR
Hi Pankaj,
In my passport first page ECNR status stamped with deleted. i would like to know what it means.
Thanks,
srinivas
@Srinivas
If your passport was issued before January 2007 and ECNR is crossed, that means your passport is endorsed with ECR and you need to get emigration clearance if you are traveling to any of the mentioned 18 countries for employment.
SIR I WANT TO KNOW THAT IHAVE NO DEGREE CERTIFICATES IN MY HAND BUT IHAVE PANCARD WITH ME CAN IAPPLY FOR DELETION OF ECR
@Javid
Yes, PAN card can act as an eligibility for getting ECNR stamp as per latest rules.
Hi Pankaj,
Need your help in one query from my colleague who is also coming along with to Malaysia. To start with he had a Valid passport till 2016 and had a valid Malaysia stamp till may 2011 on it. Later due to Passport pages got over and address change he applied for a new passport and was issued a new Passport. Now he has to travel to Malaysia so is the valid visa stamp in old passport valid for travel and there will be issue at airport.FYI there is endorsment of old passport number on the new passport and also the old passport is attached to new passport.
Awaiting yr reply
Regards,
Harish
@Harish
As new passport already has a reference to old passport and old one is attached to new passport, the old visa will still be considered valid.
Hi Pankaj,
I don’t have ECNR stamp on my passport (issued in 2005). I working in Abu dhabi and got the residence visa stamped on my passport. Is it still required to have ECNR when I am travelling from India to Abu dhabi or else UAE residence visa will nullify the ECNR status?
Look forward to your reply.
Thank you
@Srinivasan
Visa won’t nullify ECNR requirement and still you will have to get ECNR stamp, if you want to go Abu Dhabi for job.
Just to confirm… If i have the residence visa ..still I need to get ECNR stamp?
Thanks a lot for your prompt reply.
@Srinivasan
Yes, you will need ECNR stamping.
Many thanks for your reply and advice.
Cheers!
Hello Pankaj. Thanks for the great work.
I will like to know something about ECNR. I have been re-issued my passport (my old passport expired) in November 2010. The second page is blank. Does that means my passport has been given a ECNR status?
Secondly, I will like to know that will getting a ECNR stamp from the passport office change my experience of flying in and out of the country? Somebody told me that if I have no ECNR stamp on my passport and even if I am going to, say, Malaysia for holidays, I will have to stand in long queues for emigration checks. Is it true? As if it is, should I apply for an ECNR status after all?
@Yogesh
On all new passports being issued, most of them are with by default ECNR, if you fulfill ECNR criteria. Second blank page denotes the same.
People with ECR stamps require ECNR stamping, so you don’t need anything now and can travel to any country for any purpose, if you have valid visa.
You cannot apply for ECNR now as you already have ECNR status.
Thanks a lot for clearing that up. And thanks for the great community work.
Regards,
Yogesh.
hi i m going uae in employment visa as accountant general
i want to know should i require immigration check not required or nt
my passport is having blank page an nothing is mentioned on that
my passport was issue on july 2009
urgent need your help
@Soham
As your passport has blank second page and was issued after 2007, its already with ECNR status. So you don’t need any further stamping for ECNR.
One of my neighbor in chennai female 40 yrs, Single was looking for a job in dubai. I managed to get her a job through my friend in dubai. The company in dubai is processing her employement visa. The lady’s passport is ECR , she is neither 10th class pass nor PAN card holder. Please advise the formality to get ECR cleared for her. Thank you
Sithi
@Sithi
In case she is not eligible for ECNR stamp, she must get Emigration Clearance from the office of Protector of Emigrants (POE).
Please contact any travel agent, they can get this done for her.
Dear Pankaj,
We have hired a house wife to work for us in Muscat, Sultanate of Oman. This house maid is currently staying in Dwarka (Gujrat) and we have sent her the visa and contract copy duly atested by indian embassy in Oman.
Ref to the below wordings that are posted on the Embassy Of India , Muscat website. The NOC form from the embassy is also duly filled up, signed & Stamped. its also in the contract and agreement file (attached)
——————————————————————————————————————————–
WORDING FROM EMBASSY WEBSITE:-
5. The housemaid or her representative in India would present three copies of the No ob-jection Certificate to the office of the concerned Protector of Emigrants (list attached) for granting emigration clearance. The Protector of Emigrants will return all the three copies to the housemaid or her representative after stamping them and granting emigration clearance.
6. All the three copies of the No objection Certificate duly stamped by the concerned Protector of Emigrants should be presented by her to the immigration authorities at the airport/exit point at the time of her departure. After immigration authorities at the airport/exit point have stamped all the three copies of the No ob-jection Certificate, the housemaid should collect one copy and bring to the Embassy on arrival in Oman. The remaining two copies will be retained by the immigration authorities at the exit point.
——————————————————————————————————————————–
Please let me know whether the house maid can come to Ahmedabad Passport office to get clearance from the Protector of Emigrants ?
How much time and money will be required to get this clearance ?
Her visa is blank i.e. no ECR stamp is there on it,
She has only passed 8th Standard
I shall wait for your reply.
Rgds
Rishav kashyap
GSM: 00968 99322987
@Rishav
When was her passport issued?
For all passports issued after January 2007, a “Blank” page 2 on your passport is deemed to have been ECNR endorsed.
If one doesn’t fit into ECNR eligibility criteria, and Emigration Check is Required, there will be an endorsement in the passport regarding ECR.
Hi Pankaj,
My passport has ECR, I am travelling to dubai on visit visa, will there be any problem at airport? Do I need to show any documents to the officials?
Thanks,
Mani
@Shekhar
For traveling to any country on a visit visa, ECNR is not required. You should only have return tickets, valid visa and passport.
i got it saudi visa
i have only 10 TC and i dont have 10 marklist
i’m complied the Bsc it open university
SIR PAN CARD IS ELIGIBLE FOR ECNR STAMP OR NOT I DONT HAVE TENTH CIRTIFICATE
@Raja
Your B.Sc. degree certificate or PAN card is enough for ECNR stamp eligibility.