Over 183 thousand Indian individuals have given up their citizenship between January and October 2022, according to information provided to the Lok Sabha by Union Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan.
Over time, there has been an increase in the number of Indians who give up their nationality. According to data from the Union Ministry of External Affairs, the ten months of 2022 had the highest number of these instances.
The statistic was given by Muraleedharan in a written response to a query from Congress lawmaker Abdul Khaleque, who wanted to know how many people have given up their Indian citizenship since January 2015.
Recently, MoS MEA V Muraleedharan reported to the Lok Sabha that, based on information at his disposal, 131,489 people renounced their Indian citizenship in 2015, 141,603 in 2016, 133,049 in 2017, 134,561 in 2018, 144,017 in 2019, 85,256 in 2020, 163,370 in 2021, and 1,83,741 up until October 31 of this year.
The minister’s data shows that 129,328 Indians renounced their nationality in 2014, 131,405 in 2013, 120,923 in 2012, and 122,819 in 2011. The overall number of Indians who have renounced their citizenship since 2011 is estimated to be 1.6 million, according to data.
Nearly half of the 163 thousand people who gave up their Indian citizenship in 2021 – 78,284, got citizenship in the US. Next came 23,533 Australians, 21,597 Canadians, and 14,637 British citizens.
The US attracted the most visitors in 2020, followed by Australia (17,093) and Canada (17,093). (13,518). Between 2019 and 2021, Indians chose 103 nations for citizenship, and some chose to renounce their citizenship for individual reasons.
Khaleque asked Muraleedharan for an estimate of how much money citizenship renouncers take out of India; Muraleedharan said that the data is not kept by the external affairs ministry.
Aside from residents of Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, he said, there were 93 foreign people who obtained Indian citizenship in 2015, 153 in 2016, 175 in 2017, 129 in 2018, 113 in 2019, 27 in 2020, 42 in 2021, and 60 in 2022.
In a written response to a different enquiry from BJP MP Rahul Kaswan, Muraleedharan stated that 8,441 Indians—including those who are awaiting trial—are currently being held in foreign prisons. Inmates in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Oman are holding 4,389 of those people.
A Transfer of Sentenced Persons Agreement has been inked between India and the UAE, allowing for the transfer of Indian citizens incarcerated in UAE jails to India to finish out their sentences and vice versa. The contract was executed in 2011 and is currently in use.
A sentenced person’s transfer to his or her country of nationality under the agreement is subject to the fulfilment of a number of formalities, including the prisoner’s consent to the transfer, the consent of the transferring and receiving countries, the availability of complete documentation, and approval from the relevant authorities.
Without providing any information, Muraleedharan stated, “Requests for requisite documents for processing the transfer of sentenced persons have been sent to the UAE side”.
Migration has become a global phenomenon. Highly trained people, particularly those in the healthcare, IT, legal, accounting, and financial industries, find it simpler to get employment and settle in nations like the US, UK, Canada, Europe, Australia, and more.
When they study abroad in nations like Canada, Germany, Australia, and New Zealand, a lot of Indian students also apply for citizenship there. These people are forced to renounce their Indian citizenship because India does not permit dual citizenship. High-skilled people and students aren’t the only ones giving up their Indian citizenship; the nation also ranks at the top globally in terms of the wealthy buying nationalities elsewhere.
The “Golden Visa” programme, also known as “residence-by-investment” or “citizenship-by-investment,” is a well-liked investment programme for the world’s ultra-wealthy, under which you can obtain citizenship or long-term residency in a nation in exchange for a sizeable financial commitment. Indians with high net worths have become some of the biggest clients for this throughout the years.
23,000 Indian millionaires have fled India since 2014, according to a Morgan Stanley bank analysis from 2018. Global Wealth Migration Review estimates that 7,000 millionaires departed India alone in 2019.
India’s golden visa residence programme was the most well-liked option for Indians looking to immigrate to Europe in 2020. Other popular destinations for wealthy Indians looking to settle overseas include Canada, Austria, Malta, and Turkey.
