Passport Emigration Clearance Service (ECR)

Passport Emigration

We provide Emigration clearance ECNR for House Driver, House Boy and House Maid for Saudi Arabia.

Those people who have ECR passport require to get this process done to travel to Saudi Arabia.

Charges and duration for Emigration clearance for House Driver, House Boy and House Maid for Saudi Arabia is mentioned below.

FEES AND DURATION FOR INDIAN EMBASSY ATTESTED AGREEMENT, FE, POA AND DM OF SAUDI ARABIA FOR HOUSE DRIVERS, HOUSE BOYS AND HOUSE MAIDS

DETAILS OF SERVICES	SEGMENT	AMOUNT	DAYS OF COMPLETION
INDIAN EMBASSY ATTESTED AGREEMENT/ FE REGISTRATION / EMIGRATE SYSTEM/ ONLINE POA & DM	HOUSE DRIVER	₹16,500	10 WORKING DAYS
INDIAN EMBASSY ATTESTED AGREEMENT/ FE REGISTRATION / EMIGRATE SYSTEM/ ONLINE POA & DM	HOUSE BOY	₹16,500	10 WORKING DAYS
INDIAN EMBASSY ATTESTED AGREEMENT/ FE REGISTRATION / EMIGRATE SYSTEM/ ONLINE POA & DM -	HOUSE MAID	₹22,000	10 WORKING DAYS
E - WAKALA	HOUSE DRIVER / HOUSE BOY	₹10,000	3 WORKING DAYS
E - WAKALA	HOUSE MAID	₹20,000	3 WORKING DAYS
FAMILY VISIT VISA EXTENTION	MONTH BASIS	₹4,000	3 WORKING DAYS

Documents required for emigration Clearance – for domestic service workers (House Driver, House Maid, House Boy)

• Visa details
• ID copy of sponsor
• Passport copy of candidate
• Wakala Card
• Car Registration – (Only applicable for house driver)
• Car Insurance (Only applicable for house driver)

What is emigration?

"Emigrate" and “Emigration” means the departure out of India of any person with a view to taking up any Employment (whether or not under an agreement or other arrangements to take up such employment and whether with or without the assistance of a registered Recruiting Agent (RA) or Employer) in any country or place outside India.

(Refer Definitions under section (2) (f) of chapter I of the Emigration Act, 1983).

What is employment (in the context of employment abroad under Emigration Act 1983)

Employment” means any service, Occupation or engagement (not being service, Occupation or engagement under the central government or a state government), in any kind of work within the meaning of clause (0) (definitions under section (2) (0) of chapter I of the Emigration Act, 1983), for wages or for reward and all its grammatical variation and cognate expressions shall be construed accordingly. Under clause (0) “work means

• Any unskilled work, including any form of industrial or agriculture labour
• Any domestic service
• Any service, not being a service in a managerial capacity, in any hotel, restaurant, tea-house or other place of public resort
• Work as a driver of a truck or other vehicle, mechanic, technician or skilled labourer or artisan
• Work as an office assistant or accountant or typist or stenographer or salesman, or nurse or operator of any machine
• Work in connection with, or for the purpose of, any cinema, exhibition or entertainment; and

Any such work of a professional or of any other nature as the central government may, having regard to the need for the protection of citizens of India who may be employed in such work outside India and other relevant circumstances, specify by notification.

What is ‘Emigration clearance’?

Emigration clearance (EC) is a kind of legal authorization for ‘emigration’ obtained in the prescribed manner and form from the Protector of Emigrants (POE). Emigration clearance is issued under provisions of Sec 22(1) of the Emigration Act 1983. This authorization is currently issued in the form of a ‘security sticker’ duly signed by the POE and gets pasted on the Passport of the emigrant who requires Emigration clearance. A sample ‘EC’ sticker is given below

Who requires Emigration Clearance?

All Indian citizens whose Passport has been categorized as “Emigration Check Required”(ECR) are required to obtain Emigration clearance(EC) from the POE’s before proceeding to specified “ECR Countries” for the purpose of Employment. As of now the Passports of all those persons whose educational qualification is below matric are categorized as ECR Passports. An endorsement (ECR seal/stamp/remark) to this effect is provided either in the second page or in the last page of the Passport (as given in Pictures below) by the Passport authorities at the time of issue of Passports.

What is ECNR? Who are the persons exempted from ‘Emigration Clearance?’/ List of persons/categories of workers who do not require ‘Emigration Clearance’/ List of persons in whose case’ Emigration check is not required’(ECNR)/Eligible for ECNR Passport.

‘ECNR’ denotes “Emigration Check Not Required”. All those persons whose Passports do not bear endorsement of ECR seal/stamp/remarks are all exempted from obtaining ‘Emigration Clearance’ from the POE. The following is the list of persons who do not require “Emigration Clearance” or the persons eligible for ‘ECNR’ Passport:

• All holders of Diplomatic/Official Passports.
• All gazette Government Servants.
• All income-tax payers (including Agriculture Income Tax Payees) in their individual capacity.
• All professional degree holders, such as Doctors holding MBBS degrees or Degrees in Ayurved or Homoeopathy; Accredited Journalists; Engineers; Chartered Accountants; Lecturers; Teachers; Scientists; Advocated etc.
• Spouses and dependent children of category of persons listed form (2) to (4).
• Persons holding class 10 or higher qualification.
• Seamen who are in possession of CDC or Sea Cadets, Desk Cadets (i) who have passed final examination of three year B.SC Nautical Science Courses at T.S. Chanakya, Mumbai; and (ii) 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, Mumbai/Calcutta/Chennai.
• Persons holding permanent immigration Visas, such as the visas of UK, USA and Australia.
• 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 like Polytechnics recognized by Central/State Governments.
• Nurses possessing qualification recognized under the Indian Nursing Council Act, 1947.
• All persons above the age of 50 years.
• 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.

Children below 18 years of age.

What are ‘ECR Countries’? List of countries for which ‘Emigration Clearance’ is mandatory.

"Emigration Check required" (ECR) countries are those countries which are currently specified as ‘ECR’ by the Government of India. It is mandatory for all persons holding ECR Passports to obtain ‘Emigration Clearance’ (EC) from the ‘POE’ before proceeding on employment to any of these ‘ECR’ countries. List of 17 ECR countries is as below:

• United Arab Emirates(UAE)
• Kingdom of Saudi Arabia(KSA)
• Qatar
• Sultanate of Oman
• Kuwait
• Bahrain
• Libya
• Jordan
• Yemen
• Sudan
• Syria
• Lebanon
• Afghanistan
• Malaysia
• Thailand
• Indonesia
• Iraq

What are the countries for which “Emigration Check Not required” (ECNR)? /List of ECNR countries.

All those countries which are not notified as ‘ECR’ by the Government of India are all ‘ECNR’ countries. The list of ECNR countries is as below:

A	L
Albania	Lao People’s Democratic Republic
Algeria	Latvia
Andorra	Lesotho
Angola	Liberia
Antigua and Barbuda	Liechtenstein
Argentina	Lithuania
Armenia	Luxembourg
Australia
Austria
Azerbaijan
B	M
Bahamas	Madagascar
Bangladesh	Malawi
Barbados	Maldives
Belarus	Mali
Belgium	Malta
Belize	Marshall Islands
Benin	Mauritania
Bhutan	Mauritius
Bolivia	Mexico
Bosnia and Herzegovina	Micronesia
Botswana	Moldova
Brazil	Monaco
Brunei	Mongolia
Bulgaria	Montenegro
Burkina Faso	Morocco
Burundi	Mozambique
	Myanmar
C	N
Cambodia	Namibia
Cameroon	Nauru,Nepal
Canada	Netherlands
Cape Verde	New Zealand
Central African Republic	Nicaragua
Chad	Niger
Chile	Nigeria
China	Norway
Colombia	P
Comoros	Pakistan
Congo	Palau
Costa Rica	Panama
Cote d’lvoire	Papua New Guinea
Croatia	Paraguay
Cuba	Peru
Cyprus	Philippines
Czech Republic	Poland
	Portugal
D	R
Democratic People’s Republic of Korea	Republic of Korea
Democratic Republic of the Congo	Romania
Denmark	Russian Federation
Djibouti	Rwanda Saint Kitts and Nevis
Dominica
Dominican Republic
E	S
Ecuador	Saint Lucia
Egypt	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
El Salvador	Samoa, San Marino
Equatorial Guinea	Sao Tome and Principe
Eritrea	Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles
Estonia	Sierra Leone
Ethiopia	Singapore
F	Slovakia
Fiji	Slovenia
Finland	Solomon Islands
France	Somalia
G	South Africa
Gabon	Spain
Gambia	Sri Lanka
Georgia	Suriname
Germany	Swaziland
Ghana	Sweden
Greece	Switzerland
Grenada	T
Guatemala	Tajikistan
Guinea	The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
Guinea-Bissau	Timor-Leste
Guyana	Togo
H	Tonga
Haiti	Trinidad and Tobago
Honduras	Tunisia
Hungary	Turkey
I	Turkmenistan
Iceland	Tuvalu
Iran	U
Ireland	Uganda
Israel	Ukraine
Italy	United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
J	United Republic of Tanzania
Jamaica	United States of America
Japan	Uruguay
K	Uzbekistan
Kazakhstan	V
Kenya	Vanuatu
Kiribati	Venezuela
Kyrgyzstan	VietNam
	Vatican City
	Z
	Zambia
	Zimbabwe

When ‘Emigration Clearance’ is required?

‘Emigration Clearance’ is mandatory only when an ‘ECR’ Passport holder is proceeding on ‘Employment’ to any of the specified ‘ECR’/”Emigration Check Required” countries.

When “Emigration Clearance is Not Required”?

Emigration Clearance’ is not at all required in all the following cases/circumstances:

• All ‘ECNR’ Passport holders do not require “Emigration Clearance” for travelling to any country irrespective of the category of the country and irrespective of the purpose of travel.
• All ‘ECR’ Passport holders when travelling to any of the ‘ECNR’ country do not require ‘Emigration Clearance’ irrespective of the purpose of travel.
• All ‘ECR’ Passport holders when travelling to any of the 17 specified ‘ECR’ countries for purposes “other than employment” like tour visit/business visit/family visit etc. do not require emigration clearance. However, they should carry a valid two-way return air ticket as a form of assurance of their return to India before the expiry of the Visa period. Further they may be required to carry a letter from the sponsor of their visit and other documents as may be specified by the Immigration authorities at the Immigration check counters at all International airports in India; and
• All pilgrims going for Haj and Umrah to Saudi Arabia and those Pilgrims travelling with the declared purpose of performing Ziarat to Saudi Arabia, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Egypt and Yeman do not require emigration clearance irrespective of their Passport category.

How to obtain “Emigration Clearance” from the POE? What is the procedure for obtaining ‘Emigration Clearance’?

• ‘Emigration clearance’ can be obtained from the POE’s either as ‘Individuals’ directly or through a Registered Recruiting Agent (RA) as part of bulk recruitment done by him, by applying to the POEs in the manner and form prescribed for the purpose.
• Currently, to obtain ‘Emigration Clearance’ the application has to be ‘filed online’ under the appropriate category (individual/RA) in the Ministry’s Website viz. www.poeonline.gov.in (screenshot)
• On successful filing of the application a token number and the date of appearance before the POE, is assigned on-line to each candidate individually in the website. A print-out of the token number assigned (screenshot) has to be taken and presented to POE with all other documents as prescribed for obtaining “Emigration Clearance”.
• After scrutiny of the documents presented and on the complete satisfaction of the requirements, ‘Emigration Clearance’ is granted by the POE on the same day on which the application is filed.

What are the “documents” required for obtaining “Emigration Clearance”?

Semi-skilled individuals who seek emigration clearance directly from the Protectors of Emigrants (and not through Recruiting Agents) are required to produce the following documents in original for scrutiny and return:

• Passport valid for a minimum period of six months with valid visa.
• Employment Contract from foreign employer duly attested by the Indian mission of that country.
• Challan towards deposit of prescribed fee.
• Insurance policy – Pravasi Bhartiya Bima Yojana(obtained for the period of the contract.)

Documents Required for Semi-Skilled workers (Individuals):

Semi-skilled individuals who seek emigration clearance directly from the Protectors of Emigrants (and not through Recruiting Agents) are required to produce the following documents in original for scrutiny and return:

• Passport valid for a minimum period of six months with valid visa.
• Employment Contract from foreign employer duly attested by the Indian mission of that country.
• Challan towards deposit of prescribed fee.
• Insurance policy – Pravasi Bhartiya Bima Yojana(obtained for the period of the contract.)

Documents Required for Unskilled Workers (individuals)

Unskilled workers and women (not below 30 years of age) seeking employment abroad as housemaids/domestic workers shall furnish in original the following documents at the time of obtaining emigration clearance:

• Passport valid or a minimum period of six months with valid Visa.
• Employment contract from the foreign employer duly attested by the Indian Mission or Permission letter from the concerned Indian Mission/Post.
• Challan towards deposit of prescribed fee.
• Insurance policy PBBY obtained for the period of contract.

Documents required for skilled/semi-skilled workers (Through Recruiting Agents)

Recruiting agents who seek emigration clearance for skilled/semiskilled workers are required to produce:

• Passport of the worker valid for a minimum period of 6 months with valid visa.
• Original Employment contract, demand letter and power of Attorney from the foreign employer.
• Challan towards deposit of prescribed fee.
• Insurance Policy-Pravasi Bharatiya Bima Yojana obtained for the period of contract.

Documents required for unskilled workers(Through Recruiting Agents)

In addition to the requirements for Skilled/semiskilled workers, all employment documents mentioned in (ii) above have to be duly attested by the Indian Mission.

The Protector of Emigrants, after satisfying himself about the accuracy of the particulars mentioned in the application and in the other documents submitted along with the application, grants emigration clearance in the prescribed manner and form. In case there is any deficiency, the POE intimates the same by an order in writing to the applicant or, as the case may be, the Recruiting Agent or employer, through whom the applications have been made. Grounds on which, POE can reject an application for ‘Emigration Clearance.

Subject to the other provisions of this Act, the Protector of Emigrants may reject an application for emigration clearance on any one or more of the following grounds:

• that the terms and conditions of employment which the applicant proposes to take up are discriminatory or exploitative
• that the employment which the applicant proposes to take up involves work of a nature which is unlawful according to the laws of India or offends against the public policy of India or is violative of norms of human dignity and decency;
• that the applicant will have to work or live in sub-standard working or living conditions
• that having regard to the prevailing circumstances in the country or place where the applicant proposes to take up employment or the antecedents of the employer under whom the applicant proposes to take up employment or any other relevant circumstances, it would not be in the interest of the applicant to emigrate
• that no provision or arrangement has been made for meeting the expenses which may be incurred in case it becomes necessary to arrange for the repatriation to India of the applicant, or that the provisions or arrangements made in this behalf are not adequate for the purpose.

What is “Emigration Check Required Suspension” (ECRS)? / What is ECRS? / Whether ECRS is still in vogue?

Previously, the categories of persons whose passports have been endorsed as “Emigration Check Required”, if intending to travel abroad for purposes other than employment were required to obtain “Suspension” from the requirement of obtaining emigration clearance from the POE. However, with effect from 1st October, 2007 the requirement of obtaining ‘suspension’ has been done away with for the ECR passport holders going abroad for purpose other than employment. Hence, issuing of ‘ECRS’ is no more in practice in POE’s office. (Refers: Government of India order no……………………… dated………………………..

List of Countries for which ‘Emigration Clearance’ is banned/suspended temporarily until further orders of Government of India.

Previously, the categories of persons whose passports have been endorsed as “Emigration Check Required”, if intending to travel abroad for purposes other than employment were required to obtain “Suspension” from the requirement of obtaining emigration clearance from the POE. However, with effect from 1st October, 2007 the requirement of obtaining ‘suspension’ has been done away with for the ECR passport holders going abroad for purpose other than employment. Hence, issuing of ‘ECRS’ is no more in practice in POE’s office.

• Under ‘banned’ category:
  1. NIL
• Under temporary suspension category
  1. Libya
  2. Yemen

Restrictions on Emigration clearance to certain categories of people:

Government of India has imposed the following age restriction for intending emigrants:

• For women (ECR passport holders):
  1. Women ECR passport holders should have completed at least 30 years age on the date of applying for Emigration clearance.
• For men (ECR passport holder)
  1. Men should have completed at least 18 years of age on the date of applying for Emigration clearance.

Pravashi Bhartiya Bima yojana:

What is PBBY? What are its benefits?

PBBY (Pravasi Bharatiya Bima Yojana)

In an effort to safeguard the interests of the emigrant workers, the Government of India had introduced the “Pravasi Bharatiya Bima Yojana” initially in the year 2003. After considering the effectiveness of the scheme, the Pravasi Bharatiya Bima Yojana 2006 has been notified on 25th Jan. 2006 with a view to provide broader and higher coverage to the workers. The same has been revised again in 2008 and currently it is offered at the revised rates as described below. It is an insurance compulsory for those emigrants who need Emigration Clearance (ECR passport holders) from POEs.

The salient features of this revised scheme (wef 1.04.2008) are:

• An insurance cover of a minimum sum of Rs. 10.00 lakh payable to the nominee/legal heir in the event of death or permanent disability of insured person due to accidents in the place of work. Besides offering a cover of Rs. 10 lakh due to accident, the insurance scheme offers several other benefits to the emigrant worker and his/her dependants.
• This policy is valid for a minimum period of two years or the actual period of employment contract subject to a maximum of three years.
• The insured person is reimbursed actual one-way economy class airfare by the insurance company, if he falls sick or is declared medically unfit to commence or continue working.
• In case of death, besides the cost of transporting the body, the cost incurred on the one-way airfare of one attendant is reimbursed by the insurance company.
• The insurance policy also provides medical cover of a minimum of Rs.75,000 as cash-less hospitalization or reimbursement of actual medical expenses of the insured emigrant worker on grounds of accidental injuries or sickness occurring during the period of insurance whether in India or in the country of his employment.
• It provides maternity benefits to women emigrants subject to a minimum cover of Rs. 25 000.
• It also provides for reimbursement of legal expenses due to disputes with employer etc.upto Rs 30000.
• The spouse and two dependent children up to 21 years old shall be entitled to hospitalization cover for a maximum Rs. 50,000 during the period of coverage.
• The premium charged will be Rs. 275 and Rs. 375 Plus service tax, for the policy periods of two and three years, respectively.