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
Respected sir, I am a nurse.I recruited on February for a hospital in uae as a staff Nurse.I got visa on june 4th 2015. in my passport ECR stamp is not there.but I heard now nurses cannot travel to ECR countries by airport.because of the new rule. Is it true or not.
@Jeena
Your passport is by default with ECNR status due to not having ECR stamp.
You can travel to UAE for job.
i got my passport issued in ECNR in may 2006,now i am travelling to Qatar do i need to do anything with POE.
@Kuldeep
As your passport already has ECNR status, you need not to do anything with PoE.
Hi sir please help me on this, I am in Malaysia now on employment visa for two years with ECR stamp. here first i came on tourist visa to KL and here i got employment, now i want to go India and come back with period of 15days, is there any problem to me ? I am a master degree holder . if any issue then how can i get remove ECR stamp from malaysia.
please help me on approach
@Bhaskar
You can get ECNR status by applying for reissue of passport. It can also be done in Malaysia.
If you try to travel back from India without ECNR status, you may not be allowed to travel.
@pankaj bhai mai uttar Pradesh saharanpur se hu mai Malaysia ja rha liken mera passport ecnr nhi huwa hai mai kaise jao Malaysia visa bhi lag gaya mera
@Abuzar
Bhai Jaan, aap PoE office jaake emigration clearance kara lo, agar ECNR passport nahi ban pa raha to.
Dear Sir, I have applied for reissue of my passport on 27/02. My passport status says – Passport application is under review at Regional Passport Office. An objection letter also received : “OBJ69
You have not furnished relevant supporting documents as proof of ECNR.
If you are eligible for Emigration Check Not Required, Please forward relevant certificate (attested)/document as per Column 2.15 under section B of Passport Instruction Manual available with the new Passport Application Form. ” Against this letter , I have already submitted my 10th Certificate twice to RPO , but nothing is happening. Please suggest me a way forward to get my passport. Thanks
@Ankur
Please register complaint here: http://passportindia.gov.in/AppOnlineProject/ccgm/ServiceRequestHomeAction
Hiiiii sir I have completed. My 10 std in uthar pradesh delhi bord and in my passport it is esr and know if make ecnr with that certificate it will b ok for ecnr what? ????
@Hussain
You would need Matriculation Pass Certificate to get ECNR.
Sir mera nam rajeevan mera ko abi u a e ka employment visa milkaya visa ka proffesion bottel washer ma s s l c pass nahi ma pahala 8 sal pahala u a e ayyatha lakin 8 maheena ka bad cancell kar ka aya abi meroko emigration chahiya ? mera profesion problem hai ? please thank s
@Rajeevan
Please get emigration clearance from PoE office.
Sir,
I got offer in Saudi. Now my passport ecr and stamped Saudi visa. Our agent telling now POE stopped ECR, comming 25 th I have to join 25th. Any option have to change Ecr to Ecnr same passport. Or shall I apply to get re issue, re issue means in airport they will permit aa.because Saudi visa stamped old passport. Travelling time ?? How I will solve this problem
@Sivaram
Get passport reissued for ECNR under tatkal scheme.
Visa on old passport would remain valid and you need to carry both passports.
Sir. I got job offer from Oman. My visa arrai ed June 17. I am travel on July 5.th . Air port immigration people told my passport was ecr type. So u are not eligible for travel Oman. So u please take Poe from immigration department. While approching immigration people they told now Poe is difficult.so please take New passport port. So I am appalying ‘re issue passport
Now I got new passport. But my old passport was cancelled. Now my visa ha e my old pastport no. So now I need to change my visa .Please give brief explanation. Regards A.Prabu
@A.Prabhu
Visa on old passport would remain valid and you need to carry both old and new passports.
Sir i am a staff nurse. Working in Oman. Now I got one another offer. So i am resigned. I am going back to kerala in a week. I have the original offer letter. When I got my new visa, any emmigration problems in my return journey? Plz give me a advice….
@Reji
In case you have ECR status passport, you would need to get passport reissued with ENCR or get emigration clearance from PoE office before leaving India.
Hello sir..today I got my passport but there is no stamp of ecnr and I’m going to dubai as a CCTV technician post …now I want know what can I do for this stamp how can I got it…what is the process what type document I need please reply
@Md Akram
Your passport is by default with ECNR status as it does not have ECR stamp.
Dear Mr.Pankaj,
I have a query on renewed passport. I have renewed my passport in Doha & received it this week. I heard as per the new & enhanced security measures the passport has two images… One the real colour image on the left side of the second page in the PP & a ghost image of the same on the right side. But in my PP I have only the original image on the left side, there is a blank image on the right side… Does it cause any issues…? I’m concerned.. Pls guide me
@Ronald
We don’t have much information on this. Please consult passport office regarding it.
Hi dear.
I recently came to Qatar in January and before coming here and joining my job I got POE clearance as my passport was having ECR stamp. Now I want to come back to India for 10 days. At the time of coming I was having 6 months visa with profession as Accountant. But after medical and everything here in Qatar, I have got new Visa stamped on my passport and also the designation is changed to Telecom Engineer from Accountant.
So my question is do I need the clearance again from POE if I come to India ? To mention my employer is same as in previous Visa.
And what are the conditions when you need the clearance again.
Please reply me at the earliest as I hav to finalise the trip.
@Saif
Its better that you get clearance again.
Sir, i take passport on 2009. Now i get a job visa to uae. I passed sslc.am i emigration clear ? What is my next step to go to uae for job purpose ?
@Rahul
if your passport has ECR stamp, then you would need to get ECNR status or emigration clearance from PoE office.
How to find my passport as ecr or ecnr
@Hasan
If passport has ECR stamp, then its ECR; else its ECNR.
Hi sir, this is shami from chennai,
As I was traveling to dubai in tourist visa, in my passport there is no any notification of ecnr stamp I have taken my passport in 2013 if I need to consult to POE for getting ecnr stamp.please reply me soon sir
@Shami
First, your passport is already with ECNR status as it does not have ECR stamp.
Second, for tourist visa, ECR/ECNR does not matter.
hi ,
i am in muscat we arrange house maid from india here everything in embassy agreement eveything finished , what is the procedure for emigration clearance in india how may day it will take please explain to me ,
@Vimal
Clearance need to be taken from PoE office and it takes 3-4 days to get it.
hello sir.!!
sir main 2012 me passport apply kiya tha,documents me maine 10 certifict submit kya tha.2013 mai diploma engg kar chuka hu,meri job uae me ho gyi hai.mai ab jana chahta hu,!!uske liye kya procedur hai.
ecr or ecnr ka hai,
in my passport nthng is written there abt ecr or ecnr,that how i wl identify it ecr or ecnr passport.!! Or hr bol rhe hai ki ecnr stamp krwana hoga.how i wl get ecnr stamp,without stamp ka mai ja sakta hu ya nhi.
@Md Huzaifa
Your passport is already with ECNR status as it does not contain ECR stamp.
You need not to get any further clearance or stamping for traveling to UAE for job.
Sir,
I am working in UAE and i have sponsered my wife visa but on her passport its mentioned ecr check is require.. Please let me know if i have to change it before she travels or is it not required for residence visa.. She will be travelling next week
@Obaid
She does not need ECNR as she is not traveling on employment visa.
Dear sir,I have an ECR passport which can’t be changed…I live in Dubai.!!
If I show that I live here for more than 3 years, then am I eligible to travel on employment visa without ECNR stamp ?
as I heard I will be exempted and there wont be any issue.!! I am scared of coming back to india befor. 3 years as that will be a problem if I won’t be able to go back.!!
@Nikhil
You can get ECNR status by applying for reissue of passport along with passport copies showing more than three years stay outside India.
You won’t be allowed just by showing 3 years stay at the airport.