A large number of Indians go abroad for employment every year including blue collared unskilled or semi-skilled workers, as well as highly qualified professionals. Registered Recruiting Agents play a vital role in securing demands from Foreign Employers, which ultimately facilitate overseas employment opportunities for Indians. Welfare and protection of Indian workers going to ECR countries being the mandate of Ministry of External Affairs, MEA reviews the processes and regulatory framework from time to time to safeguard the interests of Indian workers.
As per the provisions of Rule 10 of the Emigration Act 1983, no one can engage in recruitment for overseas employment unless they obtain a Registration Certificate (RC) from the Protector General of Emigrants (PGE). It has been observed that the registered Recruiting Agents are mostly based in big cities whereas a large number of aspiring semi-literate youth in distant places often fall prey to intermediate agents in their quest to go abroad for employment. The Ministry of External Affairs has therefore felt a need to expand the network of registered RAs across the country, particularly in hitherto uncovered areas. The objective being multifold - (i) to provide access to the network of registered RAs to aspiring emigrants even in the remotest of places; (ii) to provide business opportunity to new entrepreneurs in the field of overseas employment; and (iii) to provide an opportunity to persons who are already engaged in recruitment related activities indirectly like Travel Consultancy, Travel Agency, Trade Testing Centres etc. and persons who are engaged illegally in recruitment for overseas employment to register. The scheme offers an opportunity to everyone to make a decent living for himself while helping other fellow Indians to seek employment abroad.
Presently, any person seeking to register as a Recruiting Agent has to deposit a bank guarantee of rupees fifty lakh as security. To make it simpler and affordable for young entrepreneurs and all those interested in taking up overseas recruitment as a profession, the MEA has decided to open registration of RAs with a reduced bank guarantee of rupees eight lakh only, for obtaining a Registration Certificate with permission to recruit upto 100 workers, for overseas employment during the five years' validity of the RC. The new scheme also has a provision to enhance the number of permissible recruitment limit in multiples of 100 on submission of additional corresponding bank guarantee of rupees eight lakh per 100 additional workers.
All Indian citizens who are graduates, are eligible to apply for a RC. Applications for the new Scheme shall be made online and payments also shall be made online. The processing / grant of RC shall also be done online. This will be an ongoing scheme with no closing date for applications.
We help entrepreneurs become registered recruiting agents for overseas employment opportunities and legal registration.
