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
Why is annx. B required in fresh PP application.
Is any other annex. required for govt. employee apart from Annx. M.
@Sandeep
As per official site document advisor (http://passportindia.gov.in/AppOnlineProject/docAdvisor/attachmentAdvFresh), only Annx M is required.
Can you please tell me sir why is annexure B required in passport.
I shall be thankful to you for this.
@Sandeep
In case of dependents of Govt employees, Annx B may be required.
i need to go for an pilgirimage to saudi .what should i mention in application ecr or ecnr .
@Khalif
ECNR is not required when traveling on visit/tourist visa. So it does not matter what you mention in passport application.
However, if you are eligible for ECNR (minimum 10th class pass), you should mention non-ECR only.
I am sponsoring my Mother for a Residence UAE visa. She has an ECR stamp in her passport from India.
I heard ECNR is only required for Employment Visa, My mom definitely will not come UAE for work however just to stay with us. Is it ok to travel with this passport or any changes required ?
@Chandram
It is ok to travel with ECR status in case visa on which person is traveling is not a employment visa.
Hello Mr. Batra,
I received an E Visa from my employer based in Abu Dhabi, UAE…They were inquiring and asked me to confirm if i needed to get ECNR done….
My passport was issued in the month of Feb, 2007…Should i still need to get ECNR done? I have no cases filed against me; If ECNR not needed, should i tell my employers based in Uae to proceed with my air tickets??
Thank you!
@Mathews
In case your passport has ECR endorsement, you would need ECNR. Else not.
Thank you, Mr. Batra!
Nowhere in my passport ECR check is written or stamped, hope its fine…
Also ECR and police verification are they one and the same? or do i need to apply for a NOC from local police station (jurisdiction) and get one..?
@Mathews
Yes, no stamp means ECNR by default.
ECR and police verification are different.
I have applied for my wife’s passport however by mistake I have selected wrong year of birth. Application submitted and appointment taken also. Now what to do?
@A.P.
No issues, you can get it corrected at the time of appointment.
U mean ther say on appointment day for documents verification I can get birth year corrected in my wife’s passport application? Right?
Earlier her one appointment got waste due to none availibility of id proof. Her voter id before marriage got cancelled at my father in laws place/village. Not i am looking for quick option from where i can get id proof for her. New voter id takes too much time, gone for aadhar card and pan card but both requires/demand id proof….now what to do? i have Marriage certificate without photos. Now if i arrange new marriage certificate with our photos..will be valid as id proof?? Plz guide…
@A.P.
You can get Annex D instead of marriage certificate.
i came to saudi arabia from india on ECR passport and with POE clearance stamp.Now I need to know the validity of the POE stamp.How many times i can visit india and aback to saudi with this stamp.
How to change ECR type passport to ECNR.How much time required for changing.
@Pavan
For short trips, they may allow coming back on same PoE clearance.
For ECNR, you need to get passport reissued after submitting an eligibility proof. It would take same time as passport issue.
Hello Sir I was feeling a application form for reissue of my passport
But in ‘place of birth’ there country name India was not coming Now what to do
And plz tel us how to convert the file in xml format and how to do it
And in how many days i will get appointment for the submition of form
And plz tel in how many months my new passport will come
I am applying for S Pass now and also applying for reissue of passport for deleting ecr
So is any problem will come..?
my passport need before visa come…?
for process of S pass in Singapore.
Sir ‘ I got my new passport. It’s retains. Emigration check Required.
I am class 8 pass. And I have done BP course from IGNOU.
how will I get ECNR .plz tell.
@Md Ali
As you are not matric pass, you are not eligible for ECNR.
Please check this list: http://www.passportindia.gov.in/AppOnlineProject/onlineHtml/NonEcrDocuments.html
If you are eligible under any other category, you can get ECNR by applying for reissue of passport.
sir in my passport nothing is written ecr nor ecnr n i want to go to qatar i have qatar working visa so i want to check immigration or not…
plzz help me..
@Abdul
If ECR is not mentioned, passport is by default with ECNR status. So you don’t need to do anything wrt ECR/ECNR
Hello Sir,
I have ECR on my passport but I also have an employment visa already stamped on my passport as im working in UAE since 1ys, as you mentioned in your earlier post that i will require ECNR status while travelling back to UAE after my vaccation but I just saw on the indian passport website that if a person already has employment visa stamped on his passport he does not require clearance from POE.
Plz check Q83
http://www.passportindia.gov.in
@Ahmed
The FAQ point only is valid for people with clearance from PoE office. They meant that people with PoE clearance need not to get clearance again if they are coming only for a short visit.
Hello Sir My passport has ecr status by default i am graduated now
And am planning to go Singapore on S Pass for employment
Is there any problem will occur due to my ecr passport in my visa or emigration process…?
@Sanket
For Singapore, ECNR is not required. So you can even travel on ECR status passport.
sir i m from mumbai
i want to go to qatar and someone is sending working visa for me
my question is in my passport nothing is written ecr nor ecnr so what i have to do plzz help…
@Abdul
If nothing is mentioned, then your passport is by default with ECNR status and you need not to do anything wrt ECR/ECNR.
Hello Batra ji … I’m a student and want to apply a fresh passport with urgently requirement …could you pls advise me what I need to know because I don’t know anything about this …every agents saying different things to do.. so I need your help..thanks …
@Biswas
You can apply for passport online under tatkal scheme. There is no need of agents in the process.
Hello sir /madam I am suresh from cuddalore. I have passport with ECR stamp. I completed degree but I have only professional certificate still degree certificate not coming. I want ECNR stamp on my passport how can I change. Where should I get, when Will I get, what are the documents required. Please tell me in brief answer…
@Suresh
You can apply for reissue of passport for ECNR status by submitting just 10th class certificate.
Dear Sir,
I have received attested employment contract from Indian Consulate in UAE to hire housemaid from India with ECR stamp on PP from India. Do I need to send the original to POE office for clearence or copy will do.
@Sony
You would need to show original copy in PoE office.
dear pankajji,
main ecnr ka status passport change kerva ke kiya lekin problem yeh hain ki meri employment paper visa khtm ho gayi hain or voh log done aayega aisa bol rahe hain can u plz say me approx amount what could they will charge me???
@Ahmed
You would need to get new visa issued.