You have been issued new passport with endorsement ECR

2) you should not apply for visa with the old passport as new passport has been issued to you with ECR

3) suppression of material facts is an offence

4) your visa can be revoked if it is found that you hav e travelled on passport without ECR which is required as per new passport issued to you

Once new passport is issued the old passport stands revoked hence you cannot travel with old passport

It is true that ECR is applicable to 18 countries only

However apply for visa with new passport only

Already advised you telephonically

As I don't have enough time to change the ECR stamp on my passport, I wanted to know if it is ok to apply for H1-b visa with the present passport and travel to US?will it cause any issues?

You may apply for H1b visa which can be processed separately, in the event of any objection you will come to know about it now during the visa process stage itself.

However it is advisable to apply for change of status from ECR to NECR because it may create problem at a later stage too when you will visit back India and return to foreign country.

But would it matter if i am travelling to USA? ECR/NECR comes into picture for only 18 countries which happen to be mostly middle eastern countries.

ECNR is required only if you are traveling to any of the below 18 countries for job/business: United Arab Emirates (UAE), The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain, Malaysia, Libya, Jordan, Yemen, Sudan, Brunei, Afghanistan, Indonesia, Syria, Lebanon, Thailand and Iraq.

I need to have non-ECR stamp on my passport, because of the shortage of time, i wont be able to apply for re issue of passport. What would be the best course of action in this situation?

As per the Emigration Act, 1983, certain categories of Indian passport holders require to obtain "Emigration Clearance" from the office of Protector of Emigrants (POE) for going to certain countries.

As per the Emigration Act, "emigration" means the leaving of India of any Indian citizen with the intent of taking up employment in a foreign country.

The idea behind ECR is for the safety of Indian citizens due to the legal conditions of other countries and is based on various situations/conditions.

For passports issued before January 2007, no notation in the passport means ECR.

For passports issued in or after January 2007, no notation in the passport means ECNR. If Emigration Check is Required, there will be an endorsement in the passport regarding ECR.

If you are subject to ECR, emigration clearance from POE to enter any of the following countries for employment is required:

Afghanistan

Bahrain

Brunei

Kuwait

Indonesia

Iraq (emigration banned)

Jordan

Lebanon

Libya

Malaysia

Oman

Qatar

Sudan

Syria

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA)

Thailand

United Arab Emirates (UAE)

Yemen

Effective October 1, 2007, if you are traveling to any of the above countries for purposes other than employment, you don't require emigration clearance.

If you are traveling to any country other than those mentioned above, you don't require emigration clearance, irrespective of whether you are eligible for ECNR (as described below) or not.