Stuck Without a Relieving Letter: How to Handle a Company Demanding Your Passport?

Hi, my company is not issuing me a relieving letter. They are asking me to submit my original passport for checking purposes, even though my permit expired on January 31st. I have served the full two months' notice period, and my manager has already relieved me in my exit form. Knowledge Transfer (KT) is done, and I have all these proofs. However, on my last working day, they are forcing me to submit the passport.

Kindly advise...

Thanks & Regards,

I believe their intention is to harass you, just in case you have another job abroad. They probably are checking whether you have a visa stamped. If so, they might keep the passport and harass you so that you cannot join abroad. Just give them a photocopy of your passport as an attachment through email. In that email, you may kindly mention that, as per the Indian Passport Act, you are not supposed to give the passport to anyone without approval from the Government of India.

If you recall, Sonia Gandhi refused to hand over the passport to the American court recently, stating she does not have the approval from the Government of India. If they insist, ask them to get approval from the Government of India since you are a law-abiding citizen. Do not interact verbally on this matter. Put everything in writing.

The reason I am stating this is because I was deputed to Switzerland in the year 2000 from my erstwhile company as part of a team to acquire a company there. I came back, and within a couple of months, I received a job offer in the Far East. When I resigned, I was asked to hand over my passport to issue the relieving order. When asked why they required the passport, they said they wanted to check the validity of my Swiss Visa, and if it was still valid, they would get it cancelled. But I knew that they were trying to check whether I was joining a competitor who was also interested in the Swiss company. My brother-in-law, who is a lawyer, asked me to send the passport copy by email and tell them that you cannot hand over the passport since it's against the law. I did so and got my relieving order within 2 days after sending the email.

It's unfortunate that a few so-called professionals want to harass exiting employees, not realizing that ex-employees can be good ambassadors and enhance the brand equity of ex-employers if treated well when leaving the company.

Thank you for the suggestion; I will keep it in mind. I have already sent them a copy of all my visa or permit. It's just that when I was on my company permit, I applied for my own permit and got it in October 2013, even though my company's permit was expiring in January of the following year, 2014.

Is it Legal to Apply for Your Own Permit?

Is it legal to apply for your own permit when you are working on your company's permit? That's the only reason I don't want to show them my passport.

Regards,

You have applied for your own permit because the law allows it, am I right? Or did you apply for the permit on the company letterhead, or did someone else sponsor the work permit that you applied for? Some countries like Thailand, Singapore, etc., issue the work permit to an individual and not to the company. However, countries like Indonesia, Cambodia, etc., issue it to you because you are an employee of a company. In case you have not violated the law of the land, then you are in no trouble.

Regards,

Yes, the law allows you to apply for your own permit and then join any company there. You have not broken the law, so you do not have to get perturbed. However, do not hand over the passport since there are petty-minded individuals who may keep the passport and harass exiting employees. This could lead you to file a police complaint, incurring costs and consuming time. To avoid all this, do not give them the passport. Instead, inform them that you are not allowed to part with the passport as per the law and therefore will not violate any regulations.

I had a permit there, but I still came back to resign and serve notice because I wanted to leave the company on a good note. Kindly advise on what I should do next?

I had a permit there, but I came back to resign and serve notice because I wanted to leave the company on a good note. Kindly advise on what I should do next.

Advice on Handling Passport Requests

Being good has to be a two-way street. Do not give them the passport. Just give them a copy of the page that has their work permit, and politely refuse to hand over the passport.

I gave them a scanned copy of all my visa and permit, but they are still not ready to give me a relieving letter.

It's in their interest to issue the relieving order. Send them an email on your last working day. Also, casually mention to them that there is a recent court order stating that salary needs to be paid until the date the relieving order is issued. I do not have the case law at hand, but there is a case in MP where a court has stated that if the relieving order is not issued on or before the last working day, then the company is liable to pay until the date it is issued. Just verbally mention this to them.