Work visas at a travel counter: where the Emigration Act bites

A client walks up and says he only needs a tourist visa, the job in Dubai is already sorted. A placement consultant calls the same afternoon offering to send your agency candidates for every work visa file you process, for a cut. Both are routine at a multi-service counter, and both can turn a travel agency into the accused in a criminal case under the Emigration Act, 1983.

A work visa walk-in isn't a bigger tourist visa file. The Act defines "recruitment" to include any advertisement for a job abroad and any "arrangement... in relation to the employment" of a person outside India, in any country, not only the Gulf (Emigration Act, 1983, s.2(1)(m)). Only an MEA-registered recruiting agent may run that business. This post draws the line, with the eMigrate checks, a screening script and a refusal line your counter can use today.

What a travel agent can and cannot do with a work visa file

Yes, for genuine travel: tickets, holidays and ordinary tourist or visit visas. No, for recruitment: advertising a job abroad, promising one, or arranging the agreement that gets someone hired overseas is reserved for an agency holding a recruiting agent (RA) certificate under Section 10 of the Emigration Act, 1983. A 2019 handbook on safe and legal migration for law enforcement, hosted by Kerala Police, is blunt: travel agencies not registered as recruiting agents "cannot carry out Recruitment Activities" (Handbook on Safe and Legal Migration, 2019).

That doesn't mean a travel agency can never hold an RA licence. On eMigrate's "List of active RA", more than 360 of the 2,528 active RAs carried "travel" or "tour" in their name as of 17 October 2026, a snapshot that changes daily (eMigrate portal). The licence is the line, not your signage.

What the Act counts as recruitment, and what it doesn't

Section 2(1)(m) defines "recruitment" widely: any advertisement for the purpose of recruitment, any offer by advertisement to secure employment abroad, and any "correspondence, negotiation, agreement or arrangement" in relation to employment outside India (s.2(1)(m)). The clause reads "any country or place outside India", so Europe, Russia, Canada and the Maldives count exactly like the Gulf. A job post on your Instagram grid is an advertisement in the Act's own language, and an employer may recruit only through a registered agent or a direct-recruitment permit (s.2(1)(l), s.16).

Travel work (no RA licence needed)	Recruitment (RA licence required)
Ticketing a worker who already has an RA-issued contract and clearance	Collecting a "placement" or "job" fee from the candidate
Selling a Dubai or Bangkok holiday package	Selling a "visit visa plus job" package
Posting a group-tour offer on Instagram	Posting "Driver jobs in Dubai, salary 1,800 AED" on Instagram
Pointing a client to eMigrate's active-RA list, with no fee	Taking money per candidate from a placement agent

Posts like the one in the third row are what Punjab Police booked 43 travel agencies for between August and mid-October 2024: job ads on Instagram and Facebook without a licence, flagged by the Protector of Emigrants in Chandigarh (The Tribune).

Visit visa for a job waiting there: why the label doesn't save you

"Emigrate" in the Act means leaving India to take up employment abroad, "whether or not under an agreement... and whether with or without the assistance of a recruiting agent", in any country outside India (s.2(1)(f)). A client who leaves on a visit visa because a job is waiting on landing is emigrating for employment in the Act's own sense. MEA's advisory on illegal recruitment is just as direct about the visa: a valid job offer comes with a contract signed by employer, agent and worker, on a work visa, "except tourist visa", which "should only be used for the purpose of tourism" (MEA advisory, 14 December 2023). The visa stamp doesn't change what the trip actually is.

Courts keep seeing the pattern. A Telangana High Court order from June 2023 deals with an accused whose own counsel called him "only travel agent". The allegation: about ₹40 lakh reached his accounts and roughly 50 people were sent to Oman and Dubai on visit visas on the promise of jobs, under charges of cheating plus Sections 10 and 24 of the Act. Anticipatory bail was refused because custodial interrogation was found necessary (Telangana HC, Criminal Petition 4893 of 2023).

A Punjab and Haryana High Court order from January 2026 records an FIR over roughly ₹10 lakh taken on the promise of a work visa and a job in Europe: a fake Morocco visa, a Dubai visa, then a Russian visa that turned out to be a "tourist visa instead of a work visa". That FIR was under IPC cheating and forgery sections, a co-accused is recorded as running a travel-agent business, and the petitioner spent about 87 days in custody before bail (P&H HC, CRM-M-71508-2025).

None of this means every visit visa sold to someone with distant work plans is automatically a crime. A December 2023 Telangana High Court order quashed proceedings against an agency's proprietor because seized passport copies and visa paperwork alone, with no witness examined who had approached the agency, weren't enough to prove recruitment (Telangana HC, Criminal Petition 2801 of 2019). What gets prosecuted is the job promise and the money attached to it. If an enquiry looks close to this line, get a lawyer to look at it before deciding it's safe, not after.

What section 24 actually carries

Section 24(1) covers anyone who emigrates other than in conformity with the Act, runs recruitment without the Section 10 certificate, overcharges an emigrant, or cheats one. Punishment is imprisonment up to two years and a fine up to ₹2,000, but unless the court records "special and adequate reasons", the minimum is six months and ₹1,000 (s.24).

Section	What it carries
s.24(1)	Up to 2 years + ₹2,000 fine; minimum 6 months + ₹1,000 absent special reasons
s.24(3)	Breach of a clearance condition: up to 1 year or ₹2,000, or both
s.25	Whoever was in charge of a company's or firm's business is deemed guilty with it, unless they prove no knowledge or due diligence
s.26	All offences are cognizable; police can arrest without a warrant
s.27	No central sanction needed to prosecute when the complainant is the emigrant or close family

A ₹2,000 fine reads as nothing. The real cost sits elsewhere: the FIRs above carry IPC cheating charges, one adds forgery, the offence is cognizable, and Section 25 reaches whoever actually runs the business, so a private company or partnership doesn't shield the owner. For how a cheating FIR plays out once filed, see how a cheating FIR runs against a travel agent.

Enforcement keeps landing on travel counters

This isn't a risk picked out of old statute. MEA's Minister of State told the Rajya Sabha, in a written reply reported in November 2024, that 3,094 illegal recruitment agents had been notified on eMigrate as of October 2024, and that "various travel agents in Punjab... are carrying out this work illegally", with 38 FIRs against Punjab-based illegal recruiters (News On AIR). By mid-October 2024 Punjab Police had booked 43 agencies for advertising jobs abroad without a licence, and arrested 25 of the 34 accused in its August and September FIRs (The Tribune). Punjab's own travel-agent licensing law is a separate state regime; this enforcement sits on top of it.

eMigrate's unregistered-agent grievance list keeps growing: 3,505 names by January 2026, per MEA's submission to a parliamentary panel (The Economic Times), and a pull of the portal's list on 17 October 2026 returned 4,331 entries, roughly 500 carrying "travel", "tour" or "holiday" in the name (eMigrate portal). It's a list of unregistered agencies against which grievances were received, not convictions, but it shows where complaints land. In Haryana, an amendment notified on 4 May 2026 took overseas-employment work out of the state travel-agents Act after MEA warned its provisions could be used to bypass the Emigration Act (The Tribune). See the state travel-agent laws roundup, which pre-dates this change.

The eMigrate checks before you refer anyone

Run these before you send a client to any "placement consultant", or accept a referral from one.

1. Search the agent's name on emigrate.gov.in under "List of active RA". Confirm the RC number, state and status are current.
2. Search the same name on the unregistered or illegal-agent list. A clean result isn't proof of a licence, but a hit here is a hard stop.
3. Ask for the three-party employment contract (employer, RA, worker) and a work visa, never a tourist visa (MEA advisory).
4. Check who pays what. A registered RA cannot collect more than ₹30,000 in service charges from the worker, only by digital payment or bank draft and against a receipt; the visa fee, pre-employment medical, air ticket and boarding and lodging before deployment are for the foreign employer to bear (Emigration Rules, 1983, rule 25). GST comes on top, which MEA's advisory puts at 18%, so ₹35,400 in all (MEA advisory).
5. For an ECR passport to a notified country, confirm clearance has actually been obtained, not promised. Unsure if a passport is ECR or ECNR? Run that check first (ECR/ECNR check before you ticket).
6. Give the client the helpline either way: PBSK toll-free 1800 11 3090 (MEA advisory).

Example: A client says a "placement consultant" wants ₹2,50,000 for a Gulf driver job, covering "visa, ticket, medical and placement". A licensed RA may collect at most ₹30,000 in service charges from the worker under rule 25, ₹35,400 with 18% GST; ticket, medical and visa fee are meant to be the employer's cost, not the worker's (rule 25). The gap, ₹2,14,600, is the number worth questioning before anyone pays it.

What your counter can still legally do

Plenty stays yours to sell. Point a client to a licensed RA without charging for it, issue the ticket once the RA's contract and, for an ECR passport to a notified country, the clearance are in hand, and keep selling the ordinary travel services you already offer. For an ECNR professional with a direct employer contract who needs no clearance, ticket against that contract like any business traveller.

What you shouldn't do is take a fee for the referral itself. Whether a counter that takes a referral commission from an RA is itself doing "recruitment" under the Act's wide definition hasn't been tested in any order found for this post, and the Rules already bar a registered RA from employing sub-agents (Emigration Rules, 1983, rule 10). Until a court settles it: refer for free, don't take a per-candidate commission from an RA or placement agent, and get a lawyer to look at any tie-up before you sign it.

Getting your own RA licence is a real option, not a loophole, but it isn't a side hustle. The Rules, amended through 2017, describe a ₹50 lakh bank guarantee (or ₹8 lakh per 100 workers), a bachelor's degree or diploma, three years of filed ITRs and an office of at least 50 sq m (Emigration Rules, 1983, rules 7-10). Check current fees on eMigrate first.

Screening questions and a refusal script you can use today

Put these six questions in front of whoever takes the first enquiry call for any international booking that even hints at work:

1. Is this trip for a holiday, a family visit, business meetings, or a job?
2. Has anyone promised you work, a salary or a "work permit" after you land?
3. Who referred you to us, and has anyone asked you for a "placement" or
   "processing" fee?
4. Do you have an employment contract signed by the employer and a registered
   recruiting agent? What is the agent's RA/RC number?
5. Is your passport ECR or ECNR, and is the destination on eMigrate's ECR
   list?
6. Who is paying for the visa and the air ticket? (If an "employer" is
   involved, a genuine one normally pays.)

Question 4 screens hardest: a real job offer comes with a signed contract and an RA number you can look up, not a verbal promise. Question 6 ties to rule 25(3): a real employer bears the ticket and visa cost.

Decision rule: if question 1 or 2 points to work, don't sell a visit-visa package. Refer to a licensed RA from eMigrate's "List of active RA", and ticket only once the contract, and clearance where it applies, is in hand.

Refusal script, to read or paste into WhatsApp:

We book holidays, visit visas and tickets. We can't send anyone abroad on a
visit visa for a job: under the Emigration Act, only an MEA-registered
recruiting agent can arrange overseas jobs, and going on a tourist visa to
work puts you at risk at the airport and abroad. You can check registered
agents on emigrate.gov.in under "List of active RA". A registered agent
can't charge you more than Rs 30,000 plus GST for its services. Once you
have their contract, we'll happily book your flight.

One Hinglish line, for a client who'll take it better that way:

Job ke liye visit visa pe bhejna kanoon ke against hai, aur khatra aapka hai.
MEA-registered agent ki list emigrate.gov.in pe hai, unka contract aa jaye to
ticket hum bana denge.

File note to keep with the enquiry record, whichever way the call ends:

Date:
Client name:
Destination:
What was asked (e.g. "visit visa for job in Dubai"):
What we declined:
What we advised (eMigrate RA list / helpline 1800 11 3090):
Staff name:

Audit your own Instagram and WhatsApp posts

A post offering a job, a salary, an employer or a "work permit" abroad is the kind of advertisement the Act's definition of recruitment covers (s.2(1)(m)), whether you meant it as a serious pitch or just to look like you handle "everything". The Punjab FIRs of August to October 2024 started exactly there: the Protector of Emigrants flagged the posts, then police registered cases (The Tribune). Go through your grid, your Status updates and your broadcast lists, and pull anything naming a job, a salary or an employer abroad; keep travel posts to travel, and advertise Gulf or European job files only once you actually hold the RA licence.

Where the Overseas Mobility Bill stands in October 2026

Still a draft, not yet law. MEA invited public comments on the draft Overseas Mobility (Facilitation and Welfare) Bill, 2025, by 7 November 2025, proposing an Overseas Mobility and Welfare Council to coordinate the ministries involved in migration (MEA notice, News On AIR). The Economic Times reported on 8 October 2026 that, per MEA's submission to the parliamentary panel on external affairs, the draft bill and a draft Cabinet note have gone to other ministries for comment; it still needs Law Ministry vetting, Cabinet approval and Parliament before becoming law (The Economic Times, 8 October 2026).

Until then, the Emigration Act, 1983, its Rules and the RA registration certificate are the law your counter answers to. Treat any "Overseas Placement Agency" licence or new penalty described in reporting as a draft, not a rule you can rely on yet.

Common questions

How do I get a recruiting agent (RA) licence?

You apply on eMigrate itself. The Rules, amended through 2017, list a fee of ₹25,000 or ₹10,000 by category, a bachelor's degree or two-year diploma, three years of ITRs, a bank guarantee of ₹50 lakh (or ₹8 lakh per 100 workers), and an office of at least 50 sq m (Emigration Rules, 1983, rules 7-10). Confirm current figures on eMigrate first.

Visit visa pe job ke liye bhejna legal hai kya?

Nahi. MEA's advisory says a tourist visa should be used only for tourism, and a genuine job offer comes with an employment contract and a work visa, not a visit visa (MEA advisory). Sending someone on a tourist visa "for a job waiting there" is emigration for employment under the Act's own definition, whatever the visa label says, and it's a pattern that keeps recurring in FIRs naming travel agents.

Is it automatically a crime if a tourist I booked later takes up work abroad?

No. Prosecutions turn on promising or arranging the job and taking money for it, not the existence of a visit visa. A December 2023 Telangana High Court order quashed proceedings where police had seized visa paperwork but examined no witness who had approached the agency (Telangana HC, Criminal Petition 2801 of 2019). If a booking looks close to that line, get legal advice before deciding it's safe, not after.

Does an ECNR passport mean the recruitment rule doesn't apply?

No. Clearance and the recruitment licence are different rules. ECR status decides whether a worker needs clearance before leaving for a notified country; Section 10's recruitment rule applies to arranging employment in any country, ECR or not (s.2(1)(m), s.10). An ECNR passport skips the clearance step; it does not make an unlicensed arrangement legal.

The short version

• Tickets, holidays and ordinary visit visas are travel work. Advertising, promising or arranging a job abroad is recruitment, reserved for an MEA-registered recruiting agent (Emigration Act, 1983, s.2(1)(m), s.10).
• A client leaving on a visit visa "because the job is waiting there" is emigrating for employment in the Act's own words, whatever the visa label says (s.2(1)(f)).
• Section 24's fine tops out at ₹2,000, but the minimum is six months in jail absent special reasons, and the FIRs cited here carry IPC cheating charges too; custody, not the fine, is the real cost (s.24).
• Check any placement partner on both of eMigrate's lists, active-RA and unregistered/illegal-agents, before you refer or accept a single candidate (eMigrate portal).
• A registered RA cannot legally collect more than ₹30,000 plus GST in service charges from the worker, and visa, ticket and medical are the employer's cost; a "package" charging the worker far more for all of it is the red flag (Emigration Rules, 1983, rule 25).
• Refer to a licensed RA for free, don't take a per-candidate commission from one, and audit your own social posts for job ads.
• The Overseas Mobility Bill is still a draft moving through ministries as of October 2026; the 1983 Act governs until Parliament says otherwise (The Economic Times).