ECR and Non-ECR Category in Passport

A passport issued to an Indian carries various types of particulars. Of these, various passports have a small stamp mentioning ECR, while the other passports have an ECNR stamp. So what is ECR and ECNR, and what does it mean?

ECR (Emigration Check Required)

• An ECR passport is generally issued to those individuals who have not completed the 10th class or are illiterate.
• Individuals whose passport is stamped with ECR need to undergo an additional Emigration Check; without this, they won’t be allowed to travel in ECR-specific countries.
• Individuals who need to go through this ECR have their passports marked with an ECR stamp, while others are marked as ECNR or Non-ECR.

NON-ECR (ECNR) (Emigration Check Not Required)

• Individuals completed a minimum of 10th class are issued an ECNR Passport.
• ECNR passport holders are not required to go through an Emigration check.
• Like other countries, ECNR passport holders can travel freely without any permission in ECR-specific countries.

Documents

Non-ECR Category/Eligibility

A Non-ECR passport is generally issued to individuals who meet the following criteria:-

• Diplomatic or official passport holders.
• All Gazetted Government employees, their spouses and dependent children.
• Individuals with an education qualification of 10th or above.
• All persons above 50 years of age.
• All children up to the age of 18 years. (For renewal, such children must provide documents supporting eligibility under the ECNR category; otherwise, their passport will be stamped as ECR).
• Income Tax Payers, along with their spouses and dependent children below 18 years old.
• Holders of a two-year diploma from an institute recognised by NCVT or SCVT, or a person possessing a diploma or equivalent degree from a Polytechnic.
• Registered nurses holding a nursing certificate.
• Professional degree holders.
• All person residing abroad for more than three years and their spouses.

ECR (Emigration Check Required) Country List

ECR (Emigration Check Required) is mandatory for only a few countries, whose list is given here: -