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
Hi myself jayesh and my paasport is issued in 2010 n 2nd page is blank I got a job in dubai n visa will come is my paas port required to do emigration or id my pass port is ECNR pls guide ASAP
@Jayesh
If there is no ECR stamp, passport is by default with ECNR status.
I am traveling to Bangkok for 4 days on holiday ,my passport is ecr stamped ,what shud I do to get immigration clearence ?
@Rahool
You don’t need ECNR status or emigration clearance for travel on non-employment visa.
Revathy says ,
Sir,
I am age 54 years, my passport mention ecr require. But i am going to singapore as a tourist with my husband. His passport have ecnr. i want know i require ecnr certificate in passport.
@S.Revathy
There is no need of ECNR status for tourist visa. You can visit Singapore without any issue.
I am a graduate. I have taken the passport in 2015. I have got a job in oman and have got the offer letter and the employment visa do I need to get the encr status stamped my second page is blank.
Request you to reply soon as I am moving soon in a week
@Himalay
Your passport is already with ECNR status as there is no ECR stamp. So you need not to do anything wrt ECR/ECNR.
My wife was selected in kuwait ministery as a staff nurse , her visa work are processing there we expect visa on june 3rd week , how she will get ecr for going kuwait
@Praveen
She would need ECNR status or emigration clearance only in case she has ECR stamp in her passport.
If needed, She can get emigration clearance from PoE office or can get passport reissued for ECNR status.
Dear Sir
Plz advice my wife passport second page ecr already. Now we visit my family in oman .so ecr stamps require or not plz tell me.
@Arvind
As she is not going on employment visa, she won’t need ECNR status or emigration clearance. She can fly even with ECR status.
Hi sir, i have my passport with ecr coz i m 9th pass bt my husband doesnt hve any thing printed tat means by default he is ecnr …..will i require emigration clearance before hand if i visit thailand , dubai or singapore for recreational purpose….n can u plz suggest me a way to remove the ecr status frm my passport as well…
I forgot to mention my passport expires in 2023 and thn i m also MD of my company n my company is just an year old n i m a regular tax payer
@Zoya
If you are not going to any of the listed countries for employment, then you won’t need ECNR status.
Your husband passport is by default with ECNR status.
thank you so much for your reply, but you dint replied how can i get my passport ecnr as i am a regular tax payer and Managing director of my company
hi sir,
as i have told you earlier that my passport has ecr status and for travelling as a tourist i dont need emigration clearance as told by you . i just have one doubt ….DO I HAVE TO TAKE VISA BEFORE HAND FOR THE COUNTRIES WHICH GIVE VISA ON ARRIVAL LIKE THAILAND , SINGAPORE ETC …PLZ REPLY
thank you,
zoya
@Zoya
You don’t need to get visa in case its on arrival.
If you want ECNR, you can apply for reissue of passport along with any of the eligibility proof mentioned on this page: http://passportindia.gov.in/AppOnlineProject/onlineHtml/NonEcrDocuments.html
Thank you so much Mr. Pankaj for responding to all my queries
Dear sir,
How much time taken ECNR process. My passport required ecnr stamp.
I got offer employment visa in uae.
But very argunt .
@Sabeer
It would take same time as passport issue as passport needs to be reissued for ECNR status.
Hi Sir,
I am Rakesh and I just wanted to inform you that my passport had been issued to me in 2008. Recently I got a job offer from Abu Dhabi and the employer also emailed me to notify whether I required ENR……Going through the conversations above, I have checked my passport and I could see from 2nd page its blank…kindly guide me whether I need to apply for ENR status….
@Rakesh
As your passport does not have ECR stamp, its by default with ECNR status.
Sir mere passport pr ecr ki seal lgi he mene 2007 me passport bnwaya tha. mujhe Togo west Africa se ek job offer aaya he .I an a engg..waha visa on arrival h. To mujhe kya koi dikkt hogi ?
@Gourav
ECNR is not required for Togo, so you can even go with your ECR status passport.
Hi,
My Passport I have received from Vizag in Andhra Pradesh and right now I am in Bangalore and I need to Apply for ENCR, can I apply in Bangalore or I should go to Vizag?
Thanking you in Adv
@Suresh
Yes, you can apply in Bangalore.
Dear sir…i got visa from kuwait with company contract paper..with kuwait chambers of commerce and forighn effars kuwait sell…but without indian embasy sell…can i get ecnr stamp
@Ali
In case you want emigration clearance from PoE office, then you would need indian embassy stamp
If you are going for passport reissue for ECNR, you don’t need visa.
My agent is saying .he will put ecnr stamp in visa.not in passport.
I have completed more than 3 years in abroad in malaysia, Since am trying to get visa in UAE but my passport status still have ECR , Is that mandatory to delete ECR from passport even complete more than 3 years in abroad ?
@Areef
Yes, you would need to get ECNR status on passport for traveling to Malaysia on employment visa.
bhai sahab, namaskar
i was going dubai today but after all clearance they stopped me at emigration and asked for ECNR. i have done post graduate and going on employment visa. my passport was made from patna and i am living in new delhi.
Please help me how can i get it done and how many time required because my ticket extended for 4 days only. please help me
@Akhtar
You need to apply for reissue of passport or get emigration clearance from PoE office.
Hi my friend my passport issu 2006
So that time I don have ssc memo
2015 im geef ssc exzam
so I need ECNR is posubul
so please send me my email
@Ejas
Please get passport reissued after submitting copy of SSC certificate to get ECNR status.
hello sir,
if a nurse (female ) selected get a job visa through a private agency .how she can can get emigration clearance ? .please advise thank you
@Sinto
You can apply at PoE office for emigration clearance.