Thursday 09 / May / 2024
Muscat: India’s Ministry of External Affairs has decided to postpone the launch of the eMigrate service, after receiving a raft of complaints from overseas Indians regarding the difficulties they faced in signing up for the system.
Planned to be launched on January 1, 2019, all Indians employed in 18 nations, with Oman being one of them, had to register at least 24 hours before travelling overseas to begin or resume their employment. Those who failed to register would not be allowed to fly to their destinations. The move was intended to ensure overseas Indians were being fairly treated.
This meant that Indians living in Oman who travelled home on holiday, on business, or even for a family emergency, would not be allowed to return to the Sultanate unless they registered, which might not always be possible. Some 650,000 Indians live and work in Oman. “The Ministry has been receiving representations from various quarters, including non-ECR passport holders already registered in ECR countries regarding the difficulties faced by them during registration on www.emigrate.gov.in,” said MC Luther, Joint Secretary and Protector General of Emigrants.
“The Indian missions in those countries have also forwarded representations received by them from the local community. In view of the above, the competent authority has decided to keep this advisory regarding registration of non-ECR passport holders in abeyance until further orders. However, if any emigrant wants to register voluntarily as earlier, he/she can do so.”
A senior official at the Indian Embassy in Oman also confirmed the same, saying, “This system has currently been kept in abeyance. This is a decision which has just come in and there were a number of clarifications being sought, so this may have well been the reason to put it on hold for the time being.”
Munu Mahawar, India’s ambassador to Oman, had previously said that they had forwarded several pressing concerns over the eMigrate service to the Ministry of External Affairs in India to seek clarity on the same.
“Some of these clarifications that people are seeking, particularly regarding whether registration can be done from here, or whether a local telephone number can be used, will come out in due course; so, we will have to be patient. Some of these points have already been clarified, and I am sure there will be more clarity as and when new queries are posed. I am quite confident that the way in which the system is implemented will not cause inconvenience,” Mahawar told Times of Oman.
“The whole idea is to ensure there is protection for this vulnerable section, and at the same time no inconvenience is caused to them, but we have to be patient. These are very genuine queries, and I am sure we will come out with clarifications, but this is not Oman-specific. We have to consult our ministry, and I am sure they will address these concerns next month.”
Some of the most common questions people living in Oman had included were the need for an Indian SIM card, since so many people here would not have one. Another pressing query was the need to register every time one intended to depart India, even if Indians were going home for just a few days on a business trip, or in the unfortunate case of a family emergency, where this bureaucratic procedure would be considered a hindrance.
Meeting with ambassador
The Indian Social Club had also arranged to meet the ambassador and other embassy officials to see how best they could help Indian expats with the eMigrate system.
“We meet with the ambassador regularly to discuss the things that affect the community here, and the Indian Social Club (ISC) is looking to do this together,” said Sandip Karnik, convener of the Marathi wing of the ISC.
“I am waiting for the invite from the ambassador and then we can discuss this with him. This is a source of confusion, because nobody knows exactly what this is. One day, someone posted it on a WhatsApp group, and everyone asked him what it was, because it came all of a sudden and no one knew this. No one knows how this is happening or what is going to happen.”
“People want to know what is going on, because when such a big move is made, people will want to know if it is authentic and will wait for it to come from the embassy,” he added. “If it is authentic, then what are the guidelines? Everything should be clear. No one knows about the authenticity. They should be given sufficient time to understand what this is, or there should be an open forum over this.”
Karnik said, “If something official is going to come, then we have to accept it, but it will not be convenient. Many of those who stay in the Gulf go home on an emergency or a short vacation, and some of us go three to four times a year. India is quite close by and the fares are reasonable, so if I have to attend a wedding, for example, every time I fly out, I cannot arrange for this registration. It is absolutely not possible. If you have a planned vacation, then it is possible.”
Other Indian expats in Oman were also of a similar opinion. Latif Khan, who runs a business here, said he travelled often to India to meet with suppliers.
“I go to India once every two weeks, so how can I register every time I go?” he asked Times of Oman. “It would be better if there was some way to instantly do this at the airport. It would save us so much time, because this is really inconvenient. When we go home, there are so many things to take care of and this will only cause trouble.”
“If I have to go home for a family emergency next year, there will be no way I will even remember to register for such things,” added Aarti Kumar.
“Anyone who goes home for such a reason will not be in the mental state to register for this, and this will only make things worse when they go to the airport and find out that they cannot board the plane because of such a small matter.”
Indians who work in the 18 nations of Afghanistan, Bahrain, Indonesia, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Malaysia, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, South Sudan, Syria, Thailand, the UAE and Yemen have to register on the eMigrate platform. According to data from the National Centre for Statistics and Information, 664,227 Indians live in Oman. Of them, 48,115 are female and 616,112 are male.
