**Executive Summary**
This document is a response from the Ministry of External Affairs to Unstarred Question No. 1217 in Lok Sabha, answered on February 6, 2026, regarding the regulation of fake immigration agents. It addresses the government's awareness of fraudulent overseas job/visa consultants, steps taken to identify and prosecute unauthorized agents, and measures to strengthen public awareness and grievance redressal mechanisms. The document includes data on complaints received and actions taken from 2023 to 2025.
**Key Points / Main Content**
* **Awareness of Fraudulent Activities:**
* The Government is aware of fake recruitment job offers luring Indian nationals through social media.
* The Ministry becomes aware of fraudulent activities upon receiving complaints from aggrieved emigrants or their families.
* **Legal Framework and Enforcement:**
* As per Section 10 of the Emigration Act, 1983, Recruiting Agents (RA) must have a valid Registration Certificate (RC) from the Protector General of Emigrants (PGE).
* Complaints of illegal migration/human trafficking are referred to State Police for investigation and prosecution under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and other legislations.
* Action is taken against illegal recruiting agents in the cyber domain in association with MHA and State Police authorities, including requesting the takedown of social media posts.
* **Public Awareness and Prevention:**
* The Ministry issues advisories through the eMigrate portal, social media, and other publicity modes to warn about fake job rackets.
* A list of 3,505 unregistered agents (as of December 2025) has been published on the eMigrate portal.
* Awareness campaigns on safe and legal migration are conducted through workshops, trainings, information sessions, and digital campaigns.
* **Coordination and Outreach:**
* The Ministry coordinates with State Governments on issues related to illegal recruiting agencies and enforcement of emigration rules.
* The Videsh Sampark Programme is organized with State Governments.
* Regular meetings are held with State level Nodal Officers, and workshops & training sessions are conducted for law enforcement agencies.
* **Data and Statistics:**
* Annexure-A provides data on complaints about illegal migration received from States/UTs and action taken during 2023-2025, including the number of complaints, ATRs submitted, cases with requests for prosecution sanction, and prosecution sanctions issued.
**Impact Analysis**
**Stakeholder: Emigrants and Prospective Emigrants**
* **Impact:** The document aims to protect emigrants from fraudulent recruitment practices and illegal migration.
* **Action Required:** Stay informed through advisories, use the eMigrate portal to verify agents, and report illegal activities to authorities.
**Stakeholder: State Governments and Police Authorities**
* **Impact:** Requires collaboration with the Ministry to address illegal recruiting agencies and enforce emigration rules.
* **Action Required:** Investigate and prosecute unauthorized agents, participate in coordinated programs, and attend workshops/training sessions.
**Stakeholder: Ministry of External Affairs**
* **Impact:** Outlines responsibilities in regulating emigration, raising awareness, and coordinating with stakeholders.
* **Action Required:** Continue issuing advisories, managing the eMigrate portal, conducting awareness campaigns, and coordinating with State Governments and other agencies.
Key Entities Referenced
Emigration Act: The legal act under which action is taken against unauthorised agents.
Ministry of External Affairs: The primary ministry responsible for handling matters related to emigration and immigration.
eMigrate portal: An online portal used by the Ministry to issue advisories and cautionary information to prospective emigrants.
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS
LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.1217
ANSWERED ON- 06/02/2026
REGULATION OF FAKE IMMIGRATION AGENTS
1217. SHRI PUTTA MAHESH KUMAR
Will the Minister of EXTERNAL AFFAIRS be pleased to state:-
(a) whether the Government is aware of the growing incidents of
fake immigration agents and fraudulent overseas job/visa
consultants cheating Indian citizens across the country, including
Andhra Pradesh, if so, the details thereof;
(b) the total number of complaints received and cases registered
against such agents during the last three years, State/UT-wise;
(c) the steps taken to identify, blacklist and prosecute unauthorised
agents, including action taken under the Emigration Act in
coordination with State Police and other agencies; and
(d) whether the government has undertaken any steps to strengthen
public awareness, grievance redressal and prevention mechanisms
for protecting emigrant workers, if so, the details thereof?
1ANSWER
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS
(SHRI KIRTI VARDHAN SINGH)
(a to d) Government has been made aware of instances where
dubious entities involved in fake recruitment job offers have lured
Indian nationals including youth, mostly through social media
channels for overseas employment to various countries. Ministry
comes to know about such fraudulent activities of
illegal/unscrupulous recruitment agents in the country as and when
a complaint is filed by the aggrieved emigrants or their
relatives/friends/family members, who have been cheated by their
employers as these Indian nationals proceed abroad on their own
volition through fraudulent/unscrupulous recruitment agents and
through illegal channels.
As per Section 10 of the Emigration Act, 1983, no person/agency can
function as Recruiting Agent (RA) without a valid Registration
Certificate (RC) issued by the Registering Authority, i.e., Protector
General of Emigrants (PGE). As and when complaints of illegal
migration/human trafficking are received, including from Andhra
Pradesh, such matters are referred to the State police for
2investigation and prosecution under the relevant legal provisions of
the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and other legislations in place. In
the cyber domain, action is also taken against illegal recruiting
agents in association with MHA and State Police authorities.
Requests to take down social media posts of illegal recruiting
agencies from all over India including Andhra Pradesh have been
regularly shared with MHA.
Data regarding the number of complaints about illegal migration
received from the States/UTs and action taken during the last three
years is given in Annexure-A.
Ministry issues advisories through eMigrate portal, social media
handles, and other modes of publicity about the perils of fake job
rackets and ways to prevent the same. Till December 2025, a list of
3,505 unregistered agents, against whom grievances have been
received, has been published on the eMigrate portal to caution the
prospective emigrants. The awareness campaign on safe and legal
migration through eMigrate portal has been carried out by the
Ministry across the country by conducting workshops, trainings,
information sessions, digital campaigns for media groups, police
3officials and law enforcement agencies, local administration,
aspiring recruiting agents, entrepreneurs and general public. During
these sessions awareness on emigration regulations, schemes
beneficial for emigrants like Pravasi Bharatiya Bima Yojana (PBBY),
Pre-Departure Orientation Training (PDOT), eMigrate portal and
various advisories issued by Indian Embassies are brought to the
notice of all stakeholders.
Ministry regularly coordinates with the State Governments regarding
issues of illegal recruiting agencies and the ways to address
challenges related to enforcement of emigration rules and
regulations. Videsh Sampark Programme is organized in
collaboration with State Governments from time to time. The
Ministry regularly organises such outreach programs to sensitise
various stakeholders about the benefits of safe and legal migration
and suggests ways to prevent illegal migration through
fake/unregistered recruitment agencies. In addition to the regular
information sharing on unregistered recruiting agencies, regular
meetings with the State level Nodal Officer are held. Further,
workshops & training sessions are held by the Ministry for the law
enforcement agencies of the State Governments in which
4information on the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) of the
Ministry, detection of unlawful content on social media, and case
studies of Cyber Scamming is shared with the participants.
5Annexure-A
Data regarding complaints about illegal migration and follow-up action [2023 – 2025]
Sl. State/UT Number of ATR Submitted/FIR Number of Cases in Number of
No. Complaints Registered by State/UT which request for issue Prosecution
Police of prosecution sanction Sanctions issued
after investigation
received
2023 2024 2025 2023 2024 2025 2023 2024 2025 2023 2024 2025
Andaman and 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1.
Nicobar Islands
Andhra 445 602 448 5 11 19 1 0 0 1 0 0
2.
Pradesh
Arunachal 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
3.
Pradesh
2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
4. Assam
6 5 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
5. Bihar
3 9 80 0 0 37 0 0 0 0 0 0
6. Chandigarh
60 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
7. Chhattisgarh
Dadra & Nagar 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
8. Haveli and
Daman & Diu
4 92 153 0 0 34 0 11 09 0 11 09
9. Delhi
5 1 13 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
10. Goa
2 9 12 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 3
11. Gujarat
4 2 33 0 0 15 0 1 0 0 1 0
12. Haryana
Himachal 4 0 2 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
13.
Pradesh
Jammu & 1 0 4 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0
14.
Kashmir
0 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
15. Jharkhand
32 33 61 6 8 0 3 0 0 3 0 0
16. Karnataka
110 277 238 87 197 158 7 1 0 7 1 15
17. Kerala
70 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
18. Ladakh
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
19. Lakshadweep
Madhya 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
20.
Pradesh
6 14 22 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 0
21. Maharashtra
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
22. Manipur
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
23. Meghalaya
2 0 4 1 0 3 0 0 1 0 0 1
24. Mizoram
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
25. Nagaland
0 5 7 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
26. Odisha
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
27. Puducherry
56 18 80 0 38 69 0 0 0 0 0 0
28. Punjab
29. Rajasthan 35 87 97 0 0 4 2 0 0 2 0 0
80 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
30. Sikkim
152 106 99 7 64 52 1 0 0 1 0 0
31. Tamil Nadu
132 96 111 35 17 47 0 0 0 0 0 0
32. Telangana
0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
33. Tripura
0 5 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
34. Uttarakhand
0 6 31 0 0 11 0 0 0 0 0 0
35. Uttar Pradesh
5 10 35 2 2 12 0 0 2 0 1 1
36. West Bengal
1,006 1378 1541 147 343 465 15 14 12 15 14 29
Total
*****
9