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All Indian expats working in UAE must register online

Dependents of Indian expatriates working in the UAE need not register on the e-migrate platform.

All Indian expatriates working in the UAE have to do a mandatory one-time registration on the country's e-migrate platform, www.emigrate.gov.in, confirmed Vipul, Consul General of India to Dubai.
The rule is applicable to all Indian nationals working in all 18 countries listed by India's Ministry of External Affairs.
Failure to do so will result in the off-loading of unregistered non-ECNR emigrants at all international airports across India, starting January 1, 2019. Vipul also clarified that dependents of Indian expatriates working in the UAE, such as spouses or children, need not register under the platform.
Also read: New rule for Indian nationals seeking jobs in UAE
He said, "If you are working in an ECNR nation, and you have an employment visa stamped on your passport, you will have to register on the e-migrate platform. Spouses or children who have jobs, but are on a dependent visa, need not register on the platform."
Expatriates travelling to India on a short holiday or an emergency trip are also required to complete the registration, confirmed Vipul. "The process does not take more than five minutes," he explained.
According to a notice issued by the MEA on November 14, expatriates are required to complete the registration at least 24 hours prior to departure.
However, the e-migrate website www.emigrate.gov.in has been mostly down since since Thursday morning.
Indian mobile number must for registration
Since a one-time password (OTP) is required to complete the registration on the platform, expatriates are required to use an Indian mobile number to finish the formality. "It is not required that the SIM card is registered under your name. As long as it is an Indian number, it is fine," added Vipul.
The e-Migrate system was launched by the Indian government on June 1, 2015, to reduce the number of fraudulent jobs offers in India, particularly targeted at the country's working class.
"It is also to keep track of the numbers of people who are exiting India for employment in any of the ECNR countries. Furthermore, the workforce of Indians in ECNR countries are very high. This decision has been made to safeguard their interests," he added.
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.
"Indian tops the world in the number of migrants sent abroad and more than half of the 16.59 million live in the Gulf region, according to a 2017 UN report titled 'International Migration Report'.

The United Arab Emirates has the largest number of Indian migrants, who number 3.31 million. In all the Gulf countries together, Indians totaled 8.9 million, according to the report. Of them, 2.27 million were in Saudi Arabia, 1.2 million in Oman and 1.16 million in Kuwait.
dhanusha@khaleejtimes.com