How to Check a Gulf Job Recruiting Agent Is Genuine Before You Pay
Any agent recruiting for jobs abroad must be registered on eMigrate and can charge at most Rs 30,000 plus GST. How to check one from Kochi and complain.
Before paying any agent for a job abroad, search for the agency on emigrate.gov.in, the Ministry of External Affairs portal that lists every registered recruiting agent. Under the Emigration Act, 1983, no one may recruit Indians for overseas jobs without that registration, and a registered agent may charge you at most Rs 30,000 plus 18% GST for its services, paid digitally or by bank draft, against a receipt. If the agency is not on the list, or wants more than that in cash, walk away.
- How to check registered recruitment agency?
- How to know fake recruitment agency?
- Do you need emigration clearance?
- Where is the Protector of Emigrants office in Kochi?
- Where do you complain if you have been cheated?
How to check registered recruitment agency?
Go to emigrate.gov.in and look up the agency in the list of registered recruiting agents linked from the front page. Kerala Police's handbook on safe migration notes that the agent details on the portal are updated every 24 hours, so check on the day you are about to pay, not weeks earlier. Match the exact registered name and registration certificate number against what is on the agent's letterhead and receipt; a familiar-sounding name is not enough.
Be clear about who is allowed to recruit. The same handbook states that travel agencies and educational consultants that are not registered as recruiting agents cannot carry out recruitment. Plenty of Kochi offices sell visas and tickets perfectly legally; that does not make them licensed to place you in a job.
How to know fake recruitment agency?
The warning signs follow directly from the rules:
- The agency does not appear on eMigrate, or the name on the portal does not match the one on your receipt.
- It asks for more than Rs 30,000 plus GST as its service charge.
- It wants cash, or will not give a receipt. The rules require digital payment or a bank draft.
- It asks you to pay for your visa, pre-employment medical, air ticket or lodging before you fly. These sit outside the Rs 30,000 cap, and under the Emigration Rules the foreign employer is meant to bear them, not you.
- It is a travel agency or education consultant offering you a job placement.
A Rs 2 lakh "processing fee" for a Gulf job, paid in cash to a friend of a friend, is not a shortcut. It breaks every rule above at once, and if the job never materialises you have no receipt to show anyone. Fake job offers also travel by WhatsApp and phone; our guide to spotting phone scams covers the pressure tactics they share.
Do you need emigration clearance?
Only if your passport carries an ECR (Emigration Check Required) notation and you are going for work to one of 18 notified countries. The ECR notation is given to applicants who have not passed Class 10; a passport with no notation counts as ECNR. The 18 countries include all six Gulf states, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain, along with Malaysia, Jordan, Lebanon and others, according to the Kerala Police safe-migration handbook. Clearance is applied for through the eMigrate system, and the Pravasi Bharatiya Bima Yojana insurance policy is mandatory for ECR workers.
| Your situation | What applies |
|---|---|
| ECR passport, job in an ECR country | Emigration clearance via eMigrate, plus PBBY insurance |
| ECNR passport (no notation) | No emigration clearance needed, but still use a registered agent |
| Any passport, any country | Agent must be registered; service charge cap applies |
Many jobs also ask for a police clearance certificate; see our PCC guide for how that works from Kochi.
Where is the Protector of Emigrants office in Kochi?
The Protector of Emigrants, Cochin, sits on the ground floor of the Regional Passport Office building in Panampilly Nagar, and its listed email is poecochin@mea.gov.in. It covers Ernakulam, Thrissur, Palakkad, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Wayanad, Kannur, Kasaragod and Lakshadweep. If you live in Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Pathanamthitta, Kottayam, Idukki or Alappuzha, your office is the Protector of Emigrants, Trivandrum, at the NORKA Centre in Thycaud.
Where do you complain if you have been cheated?
- eMigrate: complaints against recruiting agents can be lodged online at emigrate.gov.in.
- MADAD: madad.gov.in takes complaints from emigrants or their families and routes them to the Indian mission abroad, with status tracking.
- OWRC helpline: 1800 11 3090, toll-free, listed by the MEA.
- NORKA Roots: the Kerala government's agency for non-resident Keralites runs a toll-free number, 1800 425 3939, and its Operation Shubhayatra, whose task force includes the Protectors of Emigrants and Kerala Police's NRI Cell, handles complaints about illegal recruitment and visa fraud.
Complaints against unregistered agents are referred to the police, and offences under the Emigration Act are cognizable, meaning police can arrest without a warrant. Keep every receipt, chat and bank transfer record from day one. More step-by-step help for Kochi residents is in our Guides section.
Written By
Haila Kochi Editorial Team
Part of the Haila Kochi editorial team, covering the food, business, lifestyle, and people that make Kochi what it is.
