Despite Punjab recording a steady rise in immigration fraud complaints, not a single prosecution sanction has been issued against the accused in the past three years, according to data tabled in the Lok Sabha.
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The ministry of external affairs (MEA) informed the Parliament on Friday that Punjab received 80 complaints against illegal immigration agents in 2025, a nearly four-fold jump from 18 in 2024 after 56 in 2023.
Only Andhra Pradesh (448), Kerala (238), Delhi (153), Telangana (111), Tamil Nadu (99) and Rajasthan (97) reported more complaints last year.
Yet, Punjab did not record a single case in which prosecution sanction was sought or granted to put the accused on trial between 2023 and 2025.
In contrast, Delhi received requests for prosecution sanction in 11 cases in 2024 and 13 in 2025, with sanctions issued in all cases.
Kerala also processed prosecution requests, receiving seven requests in 2023 and 15 in 2024, issuing seven and one sanctions, respectively. Karnataka, Gujarat, Jammu & Kashmir, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu also reported prosecution-related action during the period.
The data comes against the backdrop of Punjab’s long-standing trend of overseas migration, which has supported the growth of a large immigration consultancy industry in the state. Police records show that complaints related to immigration fraud are primarily concentrated in the Doaba districts of Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur and Kapurthala, while Mohali, Amritsar and Ludhiana have also emerged as key centres reporting such cases.
Officers say unauthorised immigration and travel agents are increasingly targeting young job seekers through aggressive social media campaigns, promising guaranteed visas, overseas jobs and permanent residency before duping them of large sums of money.
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Punjab Police, however, stepped up investigations. The state submitted action-taken reports in 69 cases in 2025, compared to 38 FIRs in 2024, indicating increased investigative activity after complaints were received.
However, the absence of prosecution sanctions suggests that investigations have yet to translate into legal action under the Emigration Act.
The MEA said overseas recruitment agencies were regulated under the Emigration Act, 1983, and complaints against unauthorised agents were referred to state police for investigation under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and other applicable laws.
The ministry has also notified 3,505 unregistered agents on the eMigrate portal to caution prospective emigrants and said awareness campaigns were being conducted through Protector of Emigrants offices, digital platforms and state nodal agencies.
