On 14th of November, 2018, the Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi, issued a notice regarding the ECNR online registration mandate. Since then, there are a lot confusion remains to those Indian expats who are working in those 18 ECR countries.
Previously only people with ECR (Emigration Clearance Required) category passports needed to register while traveling to those 18 ECR countries (Afghanistan, Bahrain, Indonesia, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Malaysia, Oman, Qatar, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Sudan, South Sudan, Syria, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen).
Now, according to a notice issued by the MEA on November 14, even people with ECNR (Emigration Clearance Not Required) category passports need to register through the website (www.emigrate.gov.in)” an advisory issued by Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi.
Failure to do so will result in the off-loading of unregistered non-ECNR emigrants at all international airports across India, starting January 1, 2019.
Thus, ENCR online registration is strictly mandatory.
Here we have collected some important frequently asked questions and their answer as published on the FAQs page of emigrating website. We hope it will make you even clear about the ECNR online registration process.
Frequently Asked Questions on ECNR Online Registration Process
Question 1: What is this recent Advisory is all about?
Answer 1: As per the MEA’s advisory dated 14th Nov 2018, ECNR Passport holders traveling to 18 ECR Countries on Employment visas must register in eMigrate system at least 24 hours before their departure. Their registration confirmation would be verified by the Bureau of Immigration (BoI) at emigration counters before their departure. One may go through the Advisory for more details.
Question 2: Is it applicable to those who are already working in these 18 notified countries? If yes, how and when should they register?
Answer 2: No. Those already working overseas are not required to register while they are overseas. However, if they come on vacation and return on the same employment, they need to register. This is only required one time for a given employment duration.
Question 3: Do investor visa holders also need to register on the online portal?
Answer 3: No. Only travelers on Employment Visa need to register on the emigrate portal.
Question 4: Will it affect when they go on vacation?
Answer 4: If the emigrant has already provided the duration of his employment at the time of initial registration, and the vacation falls within the contract period, he/ she is not required to register again. But if one has not registered at the time of initial departure, he/ she may register at the time of return from vacation.
Question 5: What happens to the ECR category when they get an ECNR passport after working overseas for three years?
Answer 5: They will register like all other ECNR passport holders going for employment to ECR countries, and they will not be required to obtain EC.
Question 6: Do they have to register again though they might have come through emigrate while having an ECR passport? Many of them would not be computer literate.
Answer 6: If they had gone initially thru’ eMigrate, they must have gone through the EC route while holding an ECR passport. No registration is required for them unless they replace their passports with an ECNR category one.
Question 7: I understand the registration should be done between 21 days to one day before the planned departure. Is that correct?
Answer 7: The requirement is to register at least 24 hours before departure to allow sufficient time for information to be passed to the emigration counter for verification.
Question 8: Could you elaborate on the reasons for implementing this new rule and what benefits Indian workers will receive?
Answer 8: This registration aims to capture the data of Indian emigrants so that they can be reached without delay in case of any eventuality. Implementation of this registration is only phased I of the plan to ensure that the system works smoothly and there are no hiccups.
Question 9: What are the main details that they have to provide for registration, and how will you ensure no contract substitution or other types of exploitation?
Answer 9: The information required to be filled minimal, like name, passport number, country of employment, FE name. This registration has no bearing on the employee’s contract. As regards exploitation, any Indian faced with any distress situation already has access to MADAD, eMigrate, and 24×7 Pravasi Bharatiya Sahayata Kendra (PBSK) to register their complaint/ grievances.
Question 10: Is there any fee involved? If yes, how much and when should this be paid?
Answer 10: Registration is free of cost.
Question 11: Will this cause any concern to the foreign employers?
Answer 11: The registration process is as unobtrusive as possible, with no impact on the employment contract. There are absolutely no reasons for the Foreign Employers to be concerned about the process or its objective.
Question 12: Once applied, can someone cancel the Registration?
Answer 12: Cancellation of Registration is not allowed.
For more information, please visit Emigrate Official Website.