1. What is Emigration?       2. Emigration Check 3. Emigration Act, 1983         4. Few Words about Recruiting Agents         5. Manpower Exports for Projects       6. Emigration Check Not Required (ECNR) Category 7. List of Applicants Entitled to 'Emigration Check Not Required' Stamp (ECNR) 8. Emigration Clearance 9. Application for Emigration Clearance 10. Guidelines of Emigration Clearance & Suspension Clearance 11. Guidelines for Emigrants    12. Special Concessions for the Gulf Repatriates      13. Do's and Don'ts for Indian in the Gulf 14. Redressal of Grievances        What is Emigration?   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 recruiting agent or employer) in any country or place outside India. Back to top   Emigration Check    Emigration check on Indian passports has been in vogue since 1922. Prior to 1981 when the work pertaining to overseas employment was transferred by the Ministry of External Affairs to the Ministry of Labour, the Emigration Act was administered by Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). With the increase in the quantum of emigration in mid 1970s due to oil-boom in the Gulf countries and various shortcomings noticed, the Emigration Act, 1922 was rejected and the Emigration Act, 1983, came into force w.e.f.30.12.1983. The Emigration Act, 1983, deals with the emigration of Indian workers for overseas employment on contractual basis and seeks to safeguard their interests and ensure their welfare. Back to top   Emigration Act, 1983   The Emigration Act, 1983 governs emigration of citizens of India. The salient features of this Act are as under:          (i) No Indian citizen (unless exempted) can leave India for taking up abroad work as defined in the Act without obtaining a certificate of emigration clearance from the Protector of Emigrants.      (ii) An emigrant worker can be recruited for a job in a foreign country either by a recruiting agent registered under the Act or by an employer, subject to his being permitted to do so under the Act.        (iii) No prior scrutiny of applications for registration of agents is required. Registration of recruiting agent has been made subject to an affidavit, an undertaking and an amount of security which shall not be less than rupees one lakh. When a certificate issued to a person has been cancelled, he shall not be eligible to make any application for another certificate until a period of tow years from the date of such cancellation.       (iv) The decision of the specified authorities in regard to cancellation, suspension and rejection of permits, registration and other matters are appealable to the Central government.      (v) Taking into account the concern expressed at various forums on the matter of exploitation of emigrants by recruiting agents and employers, provision has been made for offences of this nature and punishment by way of imprisonment up to a period of two years and fine up to two thousand rupees have been provided in the Act.      (vi) The Central government has the power to prohibit emigration to any country in the interests of the general public, etc. prohibit emigration due to outbreak of epidemics, civil disturbances, etc. in a country or prohibit emigration of any class or category of persons.   Back to top   Few Words about Recruiting Agents      Only the Recruiting Agents registered with the Ministry of Labour can conduct the business of recruitment for overseas employment after obtaining a Registration Certificate (RC) from the Protector General of Emigrants. The Certificate is granted after taking into account Recruiting Agent's financial soundness, trustworthiness, adequacy of premises, experience in the field of handling manpower export etc., and after obtaining security ranging from Rs.3 lakh to Rs.10 in the form of Bank guarantee depending on the number of workers to be deployed. The scale of security is as follows:       (i) Upto 300 workers - Rs. 3 lakh   (ii) 301 to 1000 workers - Rs. 5 lakh   (iii) 1001 workers and above - Rs. 10 lakh         The security is intended to secure due performance of the terms and conditions of the Registration Certificate and to meet the cost of repatriation of any recruited worker in the event of his being stranded abroad. Under Section 16 of the Emigration Act, 1983 an employer can recruit any citizen of India for employment in any country or place outside India either through a Recruiting Agent competent under the Act to make such recruitment or directly accordance with valid permit issued by the Central government under Section 15 of the Emigration Act. Indian workers are also deployed by the Indian Project Exporters on the projects undertaken by them overseas and emigration clearance to such workers is given by the Protectors of Emigrants (PEOs) after the Project Exporters have obtained appropriate clearance from the Ministry of Commerce/ Reserve Bank of India. The recruiting agents are authorised to charge as service charges from each workers at the following rates: -   Category Maximum service charges Unskilled workers Rs. 2,000/- Semi-skilled workers Rs. 3,000/- Skilled Workers Rs. 5,000/- Other than the above Rs. 10,000/- Back to top Manpower Exports for Projects     Apart from recruitment undertaken by Recruiting Agents, Indian emigrants are also deployed abroad by Indian Project Exporters on the projects undertaken by them overseas. The Project Exporter has to obtain appropriate clearance from the Ministry of Commerce/Reserve Bank of India before he is permitted to deploy workers abroad. Where the Project Exporter send the workers in a group they are required to furnish Bank Guarantee ranging from Rs.20,000/- to Rs.5 lakhs depending upon the number of workers to be deployed. The workers going abroad on an individual basis (either through Recruiting Agents or Project Exporters) or directly through a foreign employer are required to deposit security for one-way-airfare from the place of employment to the place of origin. Back to top   Emigration Check Required (ECR) Category     Categories of persons whose passports have been endorsed as "Emigration Check Required' (ECR), if intending to travel abroad for non-employment purposes, are required to obtain 'suspension' from the requirement of obtaining emigration clearance. The persons seeking 'suspension' are required to submit an application in the prescribed from, produce return ticket and passport with non-employment Visa. Earlier, they were also required to furnish proof of drawal of foreign exchange to finance their visit abroad or a sponsorship declaration. The requirement of proof of drawal of foreign exchange has been withdrawn from April 1991.     The 'suspensions' are granted by the eight offices of Protector of Emigrants and sixteen authorised Passport Offices. The Immigration authorities at the International Airports grant 'suspension' in emergency cases. Basically, those travelling abroad as tourists and whose passports carry ECR endorsement obtain these suspensions. Back to top   Emigration Check Not Required (ECNR) Category     Section 22 of the Emigration Act, 1983 provides that no citizen of India shall migrate unless he obtains emigration clearance from Protector of Emigrants. However, with a view to facilitating the movement of the workers, seventeen categories of persons (list given alter in this Chapter) have been exempted from this requirement and have been placed under 'Emigration Check Not Required' (ECNR) category. As such they are entitled to give the endorsement of "ECNR" on their passports from the Passport Offices showing proof of their eligibility. They are not required to obtain any clearance from the Offices of POEs before seeking employment abroad.        In addition to above, a worker belonging to any of the following six categories and having valid employment Visa endorsed on his/her passport can either approach the concerned PEOs or the Passport authority through a registered Recruiting Agent for ECNR endorsement on his/her passport:        (i) Supervisors (all professions); (ii) Skilled workers (all professions); (iii) Semi-skilled workers (all professions); (iv) Light/Medium/Heavy Vehicle Drivers; (v) Clerical workers of all categories including Stenographers, Stroke-keepers, Time-keepers, Typists etc., (vi) Cooks excluding those who seek employment in household duties (as cooks)           Persons going to Pakistan, Bangladesh and to the countries in North America and Europe (excluding CIS countries) are exempt from emigration check formalities. The pilgrims going for Haj and Umrah is Saudi Arabia and those pilgrims traveling with the declared purpose of performing Ziarat to Saudi Arabia, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Jordan and Egypt were exempted from the requirement of obtaining suspension from 'Emigration Check Requirement' from POEs/Passport Offices w.e.f. 12.5.1992, 8.1.93 & 22.10.1993 respectively. Sana 9Yemen) was added to the list of countries exempted from the requirement of obtaining emigration suspension for performing Ziarat w.e.f. May, 1997. From 14th July 1998 Japan, New Zealand and Australia have also been added to the list of countries for which emigration check is not required.     Back to top List of Applicants Entitled to 'Emigration Check Not Required' Stamp (ECNR)          (1) Persons going abroad in managerial capacity in Hotels, Restaurants, TeaHouses or other places of Public resort etc. possessing specialised degrees in these fields.       (2) All Gazetted Government servants.      (3) All Income-Tax payers (including Agricultural Income-Tax Payees) in their individual capacity. Proof of assessment to Income-Tax and actual payment of income tax for last three years to be insisted upon, and not merely payment of advance tax.      (4) All professional Degree holders, such as Doctors holding MBBS. Degree in Ayurved, or Homeopathy, accredited Journalists, Engineer, Chartered Accountants, cost Accountants, Lecturers, Teachers, Scientists, Advocates, etc.     (5) Spouses and dependent children of category of persons listed from (2) & (4).     (6) All persons who have been staying abroad for more than three years (the period of the three years could be either in one strech or broken0, and spouses and children of such persons.     (7) Seamen who are in possession of CDC or Sea Cadets. Deck Cadets:   (i) who have passed final examination of three years B.Sc. Nautical Sciences 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.     (8) All holders of Diplomatic/Official Passports.     (9) Dependent children of parents whose passports are classified as ECNR. In the case of such children ECNR classification to be restricted until they attain 24 years of age.     (10) Persons holding Permanent Immigration Visas, such as in UK, USA and Australia.     (11) Persons holding Graduate or higher Degrees. (If final Certificate not Available, provisional certificate plus marksheet to be attached).     (12) Persons holding diploma from recognised Institution like polytechnics.     (13) Nurses possessing qualifications recognised under the Indian Nursing Council Act; 1947.     (14) All persons above the age of 60 years.     (15) Fall visitors to Pakistan, Bangladesh, Japan, New Zealand and Australia.     (16) All persons going to any country in Europe (excluding CIS states) and North America.     (17) Persons possessing certificates of vocational training from Government/Government recognised Institutions.   Back to top   Emigration Clearance        No citizen of India shall emigrate unless he obtains from the Protector of Emigrants authorisation I the prescribed manner & form.       Every application shall be accompanied by -     (a) a true copy (verified and authenticated in the prescribed manner) of the agreement with respect to the employment for the taking up of which the applicant proposes to emigrate and where such agreement does not provide for all or any of the prescribed matters, also a statement (verified and authenticated in the prescribed manner) setting out the particulars with respect of such matters;       (b) a statement (verified and authenticated in the prescribed manner) as to the provision by way of security for meeting the expenses which may be incurred in case it becomes necessary to arrange for the repatriation to India of the applicant;       (c) a receipt evidencing the payment of the prescribed fee;     (d) such other relevant documents or copies of relevant documents as may be prescribed.     The Protector of Emigrants shall, after satisfying himself about the accuracy of the particulars mentioned in the application and in the other documents submitted along with the application authorise in the prescribed manner and from the emigration of the applicant or intimate by order in writing the applicants or, as the case may be, the recruiting agent or employer, through whom the applications have been made about the deficiencies and require him to make good such deficiencies within such time as may be specified in the order or reject the application.        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, namely :-         (a) that the terms and conditions of employment which the applicant proposes to take up are discriminatory or exploitative;        (b) 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;