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29 March 2024

Indian's name is 'Emigration Check Required'

Published
By VM Sathish

‘Sagar Ramachandra Emigration Check Required Chikane’ – is a very long name for anyone to have.

Even if the man in question hails from the South of India where a person’s name includes his father’s name and the family name, apart from his own moniker.

However, for this welder from Tamil Nadu in India, who still has to travel to the UAE - before June 2014 -  according to his visa, his emigration status has been ‘officially’ incorporated into his name.

Not by Chikane himself, but by a typing clerk involved in the visa process. Chikane spotted the mistake and has currently requested that the UAE Ministry of Interior to correct his name on the visa.

‘Emigration Clearance Required’ is a section in Indian passports where depending on one’s educational status and employment offer, one can get a permanent exemption stamped on the passport.

If not, then every time the passport holder travels, he needs to get the necessary emigration clearance.

New-look passports

Part of the confusion may stem from the fact that new Indian passports issued by the government have changed the positioning of ‘Emigration Clearance Required’ column.

In Chikane’s case, who had a new passport, the concerned typist seems to have added ‘Emigration Clearance Required’ as the name of the passport holder’s father.

Earlier the Emigration Check Required column used to be on the second page of the passport.

In the new format, the column is printed along with other family details on the last page of the passport. This might cause confusion among typists working in the UAE.

Ambassador alerted

Indian Ambassador to the UAE, TP Seetharam has been informed about the confusion this is causing, according to embassy sources.

“The problem will be if somebody lands in the UAE on a Thursday. Such passengers may be stranded here for three days because emigration offices are closed,” said the source.