The Indian passport holders who have the stamp of ECR, are required to get emigration clearance from Protector of Emigrants if going out to any country except the country listed below:

The above sentence means that Indian passport holder who have stamp of ECR (who do not have ECNR) can still visit the countries listed below without getting their passports being stamped from Protector of Emigrants:

Pakistan, Bangladesh, European countries (excluding CIS countries), all countries of North America, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, Singapore, South Korea and South Africa.

Note: North America includes Canada, United States of America (USA), Mexico and others.

If the country you are planning to visit isn’t listed above, you must apply for ECNR that will be stamped by Protector of Emigrants in Seven cities across India. The ECNR stamp they put will be valid only for your one time visit. If you are planning to visit again some other countries that require ECNR, you must apply again.