Muscat: All Indians travelling to Oman for employment with non-ECR passports have to register online at the Indian government's e-Migrate portal, or else will be offloaded, India’s Ministry of External Affairs has said.
The new rule will be implemented from January 1, 2019, according to a notice issued by the Ministry of External Affairs in India.
The government of India has listed 18 countries including Oman, where registration is mandatory for non-ECR passport holders who are travelling on employment visa.
Indian citizens will have to complete the registration at emigrate.gov.in. 24 hours prior to their departure.
The new rule is to provide protection and welfare to the Indian emigrants abroad, said the ministry in the notice.
"The registration on Non-ECR passport holders will be mandatory and required to be completed at least 24 hours prior to the actual departure," read the notice.
Starting January 1, 2019, no Indian emigrant holding Non-ECR passport would be allowed to go to these 18 ECR countries for employment without prior registration in eMigrate, as a measure of extending protection and ensuring their welfare overseas.
"Off-loading of unregistered non-ECR emigrants at the airports would be effected by the appropriate authority after January 1, 2019."
Afghanistan, Bahrain, Indonesia, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Malaysia, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, South Sudan, Syria, Thailand, UAE and Yemen are the 18 countries listed by India.
Launched in 2015, e-Migrate is an online registration system for foreign employers to recruit Indian workers. Indian citizens with ECR stamp on their passports have to get their jobs offers cleared through the e-Migrate system.
To register, visit the website and key in the details at the link ‘ECNR registration’, and follow the steps to fill the registration form. On successful completion of registration, the emigrant would receive an SMS/email, the announcement said.
Indian citizens paying Income tax and those with educational qualifications above matriculation are eligible for ECNR passports.
Indian citizens without a matriculation certificate need to get an emigration clearance from the office of the Protector of Emigrants of India to travel abroad to 18 countries to seek employment.
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