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
Hii
My friend want to bring his wife on family visa for UAE. But his wife studied until fifth standard only
Does Emigration clearance required for family dependent visa in uae?
@Mohd Ikbal
As she is not going on employment visa, ECNR is not required for her.
Sir I ve got a job in Qatar bt I m just 9th pass nf my work permit visa has already arrived bt there is ecr in my passport what shud I do sir pls guide me
@Neha
You can get emigration clearance from PoE office.
hi i have ecr on my passport i got offer from china visa for 3 years it is possible to go or any problem for me pls help me???
@Nilesh
For going to China, ECNR is not required. So you can go even with ECR status passport.
Sir,
My father do jobs in Saudia in a company for more than 5 year, he had issued visa for my mother through company(visit visa).
My mother has ecr status passport,is she requires ecr paper with her….
Visa is already stamped on passports….plz help
@Quamar
As your mother is not going on employment visa, she won’t need ECNR status and can travel on ECR passport.
Dear sir
This is my second renewed passport which is bearing stamp of and recently I came back from Bahrain ,befOre going I did my POE cleclearance . Now I am getting an opportunity to go to UAE ,do I need POE clearance?
Please I want to get rid of immigration clearance? Advice
@Afzal
Yes, you would need to get emigration clearance again from PoE.
In case you are eligible for ECNR (check here: http://passportindia.gov.in/AppOnlineProject/onlineHtml/NonEcrDocuments.html), you can get passport reissued with ECNR and it would solve issue permanently.
I have a date of birth clash in my tenth passing certificate and birth certificate. I want the tenth passing certificate D.O.B to be final. They are not issuing me passport due to clash. What can I do? I was born after 1989 so Birth Certificate is a must. I tried getting a new birth certificate but it is not possible. Please suggest some way? Can I produce an affidavit?
@Monica
Only birth certificate would be considered for people born after 1989.
So it not required to go to POE Office n get ECR Clearence, if m going to China for 3yrs full time work.
@Nilesh
No, no need to goto PoE office and emigration clearance for China.
Dear sir my current job switch in dubai please given me a information which type of passport required ecnr or ecr my higher education is intermediate(12)
@Rahul
For employment in Dubai, you would need ECNR status passport.
hello sir my name is kiranjit singh
My father send me visa from UAE and now i have a entry work permit for uae.
but now i see in my passport there is a stamp like that ECNR and also write by hand upto 18 year.. and now I’m 21+ Now tell me but i need to do now i need to do ECNR or NOt If yes then tell me but i do… re-issue of passport or POE.. If i done POE on my passport then how much take a time to get POE…. and also tell me Fee.. For POE
@Kiranjit
You need to get ECNR status on your passport before leaving India.
Better is to get passport reissued as it’s a permanent solution.
Emigration clearance from PoE is a one time fix and would cost around 1000-1500 Rs.
how much take a time to get PoE
@Kiranjit
It should take 3-4 days.
I have ecr in my passport and i am working in uae since 2012 now i want to change my company, need to ecnr again to go uae
@Parvez
If your passport don’t have ECNR status and you wish to change company, then you need to get emigration clearance again before leaving India.
You can also get passport reissued to get permanent ECNR status as you have already spent more than 3 years outside India.
good evening
sir, i applied emigiration for the saudi arabia two month is over . i did not get any reply . theY said work is close thats why. could y tell me please why their is not open for saudi
@Suhail
Not sure what happened with your case.
Please contact PoE office to enquire about same.
Dear Sir,
My passport date of birth not matching with my metric (High school) certificate,
i want to update so please advise me about required steps,
@Noor
If You are born before 1989, you can get DoB updated in passport by submitting high school certificate.
Else, only date in birth certificate would be considered.
Hello, sir.
I just received my passport & i’m so confused about ecr & ecnr stamp.. how do I know that my passport has ecr or ecnr stamp please clarify. I have given them my 10th certificate in verification at PSK Office.
@Shankar
In case your passport does not have ECR stamp, its by default with ECNR status.
Hi sir i i got paasport in 2015 and have applide with 10th class marklist and I Got job from dubai visa will come in two days and my doubt is whens applying passport there is a question that Are You Eligible For Non ECRN Categire? Ans i mark Yes but my doubt is am i still need any stam to move to dubai and any immigration check up in airports please solve my problem please sir
@Babajan
In case your passport has ECR stamp, then you would need emigration clearance from PoE office.
Else, you don’t need to do anything.
Sir..I work in UAE…recently I applied for my sister’s employment visa in my company.!!
today was her ticket but at airport people sent her back to home as ECR stamp was required.!!
Please advise about the next step.!!
nd what is pravasi bima policy ?
@Nikhil
Either she can get passport reissued for ECNR status by submitting eligibility proof or she can get emigration clearance from PoE office
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
My sister has ecr stamp on her passport we r going to thailand for vacation will she have any prob. If yes wht to do
@Sweety
ECNR is not required if one is not going for employment.
Dear sir.
I have ecr on my passport. But my kuwait visa as already arrived. I want remove ecr stamp. So shall I apply for new passport.
@Naveed
Visa on old passport would still be valid and you need to carry both passports.
Sir.
I want 2 remove ecr stamp permanently. Wat should I do 2 remove.
Ok sir thank you so much,really i dont want any clearence about emmigration and i have doubt is there any immigration in airport please tell me
Now can i go for dubai for my with out any problem can they let me go to dubai please help me sir
@Babajan
If you have ECNR status passport or have emigration clearance from PoE office, then you won’t face any issue at the airport while leaving for Dubai.