Ministry of External Affairs Government of India

You can check the details of registered Recruiting Agents on eMigrate portal (https://emigrate.gov.in/).

Initial registration has to be done in eMigrate system (https://emigrate.gov.in/) directly from any computer with internet facility.

Contact the foreign company directly to is this letter is genuine.

You can lodge a complaint in eMigrate system (www.emigrate.gov.in) or call up OWRC on 1800 11 3090 for further assistance.

The complaint can be registered on the online portal of the ministry eMigrate (https://emigrate.gov.in/) or sent to the Protector General of Emigrants, MOIA along with details for taking necessary action.

To provide useful information, guidance and counselling to Indian workers who are employed abroad or want to seek jobs abroad and to address the other related issues faced by them, the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs has set up a call centre called the Overseas Workers Resource Centre (OWRC) in Gurgaon, India. The OWRC operates round the clock 365 days a year to provide need based information in 11 languages (English, Hindi, Punjabi, Kannada, Malayalam, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Gujarati, Marathi, Odia) through the toll free number 1800113090 in India and through regular landline +91-124-2341002 . You can seek information or register your complaints on the website of OWRC viz., www.owrc.in on issues like:

• authenticity of recruiting agents;
• emigration clearance procedure;
• procedure to go abroad;
• legal/financial assistance in problems cases of NRI Marriages;
• exploitation by recruiting agencies;
• withholding of passports and related documents by employers;
• visa status;
• transporting mortal remains;
• withholding and delaying of wages and other entitlements by foreign employers;
• problems of detention, removal and so on.

You can also seek information on OWRC’s email helpline[at]owrc[dot]in

The Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs has also setup Migrant Resource Centres (MRC) in India at Kochi, Hyderabad and Gurgaon where you can visit the centre for information regarding:

• The procedure for legal migration and precautions to be taken while migrating,
• Status of Recruiting Agents and other service providers,
• Kinds of difficulties that can be faced abroad by Indian workers interested in going abroad.

The address, telephone nos. and email addresses of these centres are as below:

All the above Migrant Resource Centres are linked to the OWRC call centre. So you can avail the facility of getting all the information provided by OWRC and also register your grievances.

All persons, having Emigration Check Required (ECR) endorsed passports and going to any of the 17 ECR countries for taking up employment require emigration clearance which can be obtained from POEs. Persons who do not have the ECR stamp on their passports do not require emigration clearance.

A person could take up employment in a foreign country either through a registered recruiting agent or directly through a foreign employer or a project exporter. The Protector of Emigrants, after satisfying himself about the accuracy of the particulars mentioned in the application and other documents submitted along with the application, grant 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.

Information about the registered as well as active Recruiting Agents (RA) is available at the Ministry’s website

Documents Required for Skilled/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.
• Challan towards deposit of prescribed fee.
• Insurance Policy under Pravasi Bhartiya Bima Yojana.

Documents Required for Unskilled/Women Workers (Individuals)

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

• Passport valid for a minimum period of six months with valid Visa.
• Employment contract from the foreign employer duly attested by the Indian Embassy or Permission letter from the concerned Indian Embassy / Consulate.
• Challan towards deposits of prescribed fee.
• Insurance policy Under Pravasi Bharatiya Bima Yojana (PBBY).

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.
• Deposit of prescribed fee.
• Insurance Policy- Pravasi Bharatiya Bima Yojana.

Documents required for Unskilled/Women 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 IndianEmbassy.

• The specimen employment contract lays down the basic terms and conditions of employment including salary, accommodation, medical cover, transport, etc.
• In the case of vulnerable categories of workers i.e. unskilled Labor and housemaids/domestic workers, in respect of six countries viz. Yemen, Lebanon, Libya, Jordan, Sudan, and Kuwait, these employment documents are required to be attested by the concerned Indian Embassy / Consulate (s).

Emigration clearance to women to work abroad as housemaids/domestic servants etc.

On the recommendations of the National Commission for Women, a ban was imposed on grant of emigration clearance to women below the age of thirty (30) years for all kind of employment in any ECR country.

• Such women who have come on leave to India and wish to go back to the same foreign employer are not subject to the said ban and the POEs have been empowered to grant a ‘no objection certificate’ to such women applicants to facilitate clearance by Immigration Authorities at the International Airports in India.
• The said ban is not applicable to (i) women holding passports without ECR (Emigration Check Required) endorsement; and (ii) women going to any of the ECNR countries.

There are 10 Protector of Emigrants (POE) offices across India. The details are as below:

Initial registration has to be done in the emigrate system directly from any computer with internet facility.

No

Emigration Act, 1983 provides that no citizen of India shall migrate unless he obtains emigration clearance from Protector of Emigrants. Similarly, it has been recognized that certain countries (currently 18) do not have strict laws regulating the entry and employment of foreign nationals. They also do not provide avenues for grievance redressal. Thus they have been categorized as Emigration Check Required (ECR) countries. Hence, all persons, having ECR endorsed passports and going to any of the 17 ECR countries for taking up employment require emigration clearance. However, ECR passport holders going to any ECR country for purposes other than employment do not require emigration clearance. No specific mention of ECNR is made on the passports and the ones not endorsed as ECR, automatically belong to ECNR category. The 18 ECR countries are: Afghanistan, Bahrain, Indonesia, Iraq, Jordan, Qwait, Lebanon, Libya, Malaysia, Oman, Qatar, South Sudan, North Sudan, Syria, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen.