The story so far: A growing number of Indians are opting to surrender their passports, eventually renouncing their citizenship. Last month, the Central government told Parliament that more than 15 lakh Indians had relinquished their citizenship in the past decade, including around 87,000 this year, with most headed to the United States of America.
While the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) claimed that many are taking up foreign citizenship to explore the global workplace and for reasons of “personal convenience”, the ‘great Indian migration’ is primarily believed to be an outcome of the search for better economic opportunities and improved social security. Data show that even millionaires are leaving the country. According to a recent report by the London-based Henley & Partners (H&P), around 6,500 high-net-worth individuals (HNIs) are expected to move out of India this year — the second-highest estimated net outflow globally after China.
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What do the numbers say?
Migration is not a recent phenomenon in India. Industrialisation and the consequent colonisation by the British triggered a massive mobilisation of Indian agrarian communities across diverse geographical localities. Between 1834 and 1937, an estimated 30 million migrants from India went to the overseas colonies of the British Empire, notes historian Rana P. Behal in a paper on Indian migrant labour.
Currently, India has the largest emigrant population in the world. It is the top origin country with nearly 1.8 crore people living outside their homeland. Mexico ranks behind India as the second-most significant origin country, at around 1.1 crore, followed by Russia and China, according to the World Migration Report 2022 report prepared by the UN’s International Organisation for Migration (IOM). This roughly reflects the official estimates. The MEA estimated the number of Indian nationals living abroad to be around 1.2 crore in 2021.
All Indian immigrants, however, won’t necessarily renounce their citizenship. This is due to a variety of factors, including the long and complex nature of the process, which is also not affordable to all.
The latest data provided by the government shows that more than 17.5 lakh Indians acquired the citizenship of another country since 2011. The number stood at 1.22 lakh in 2011 and witnessed a moderate proportional increase over the next few years. A considerable uptick in the number was seen in 2016, but there was a reverse in migration in 2020 due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The upward trend was back in 2021 when 1.63 lakh people gave up their Indian citizenship as compared to 85,256 in 2020. As restrictions eased and travel resumed in 2022, a record 2.25 lakh became citizens of foreign countries — double the number a decade ago and approximately 1.8 times higher than the figure of 2011, when an average of 336 people gave up their Indian citizenship in a day.
Since only 87,026 Indians have renounced their citizenship till June this year, there is a possibility of a slight dip in numbers this year. The data was tabled by the MEA in a written reply to a question asked by Congress MP Karti P. Chidambaram in the Lok Sabha on July 21. The Centre clarified in response to another question in the Rajya Sabha that the MEA doesn’t have information about the professional background of individuals taking foreign citizenship.
Where are these Indians headed?
The United States remains the most preferred destination among the 114 countries chosen by Indian settling abroad. Since 2018, over 3.2 lakh Indians have given up their Indian citizenship to settle in the U.S., including 28,230 this year. The U.S. is closely followed by Canada (1.6 lakh), Australia (1.3 lakh) and the United Kingdom (83,648).
Till June this year, 17,993 in Canada, 16,125 in Australia and 9,815 in the United Kingdom have renounced their Indian citizenship. Several have chosen Italy (2,620), New Zealand (1,882), Sweden (1,880) and Germany (1,372).
According to the Migration Policy Institute, as of 2022, Indians represent the second-largest immigrant group in the U.S., after Mexicans and ahead of the Chinese. America is also the most preferred destination for Indian students pursuing higher education abroad. “India is the source of the second largest number of international students enrolled in U.S. higher education and its nationals receive the majority of employer-sponsored H-1B temporary visas for high-skilled workers,” the institute says in a December 2022 report.
Of the 7.5 lakh students who left the country for higher studies in 2022, over 1.9 lakh went to the U.S. while 1.8 lakh landed in Canada, government data reveal. These students may then opt tostay back in the destination country to apply for permanent residency, in search of better economic opportunities or lifestyle.
Indians, however, are less likely to become naturalised U.S. citizens than immigrants overall. As per the report, 48% of Indian immigrants were U.S. citizens in 2021, compared to 53% of all immigrants. “In FY 2021, India was the second largest country of origin for lawful permanent residents after Mexico. Of the 7,40,000 people receiving a green card that year, 93,400 (13% ) were from India,” the Institute highlights.
Why are Indians giving up their citizenship?
There were an estimated 28.1 crore international migrants in the world in 2020 — 3.6 % of the global population. People migrate from their country of birth for varied reasons, with a mix of economic, political, environmental and social factors shaping an individual’s decision. Some move to study, in search of work, better economic opportunities and friendly tax legislation, while others are looking to escape conflict, persecution, terrorism, or environmental challenges.
While some of these socio-economic factors apply to the Indian context, the Union government maintains that many Indians opt for foreign citizenship to “explore the global workplace and for reasons of personal convenience.”
Notably, an Indian is bound by law to relinquish their Indian citizenship before taking up citizenship of another country since there is no provision for dual citizenship, allowed by several other nations. People giving up Indian citizenship can, however, apply for Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) membership which facilitates visa-free travel to India, rights of residency and participation in business and educational activities. In 2020, a total of 1.9 lakh foreigners registered as OCI cardholders, as per the Ministry of Home Affairs. The figure was as low as 300 in 2005.
Ease of mobility is another pertinent factor. India ranks 80 on the latest Henley Passport Index, a ranking of the world’s passports according to the number of destinations holders can access without a prior visa. An Indian passport holder has visa-free entry and visa-on-arrival facility in around 60 countries. In contrast, Singapore, with the world’s most powerful passport, allows its citizens to visit 193 out of 227 travel destinations around the world sans visa. While a U.S. citizen has visa-free access to 185 countries, a Canadian citizen can travel to 186 countries. Australia and the U.K. allow visa-free access to 186 and 189 countries, respectively.
Around 7,000 wealthy Indians, high net worth individuals (HNIs) with wealth of over $1 million or ₹8.2 crore, gave up their citizenship in 2019, as per a 2020 report by the Global Wealth Migration Review. The report says common reasons HNIs move include safety of women and children, lifestyle and financial concerns, education of children, tax legislation, healthcare and standard of living. There has been a surge in requests for residence-through-investment programmes, especially for the U.S., Portugal, Australia, Malta and Greece. When a person becomes a naturalised citizen of another country by investing in that country, the scheme is called citizenship by investment. For example, fugitive Indian businessman Mehul Choksi became a citizen of Antigua and Barbuda in 2018 through the nation’s Citizenship by Investment Unit (CIU).
The Henley Private Wealth Migration Report 2023 forecasts that around 6,500 more ultra-rich Indians (HNIs) will leave the country this year. The report lists prohibitive tax legislation along with complex rules related to outbound remittances as major issues that triggered the trend of investment migration from India.
Dubai and Singapore are the preferred destinations for such Indian families, while Australia dominates on the global front, ahead of the U.S. “Australia tops the list possibly due to its point-based immigration system which favours wealthy people, business owners and people with professional qualifications (especially lawyers, doctors and engineers),” notes the Global Wealth Migration Review. A low crime rate, climate and the fact that it is an English-speaking country are identified as other, minor reasons. The report, however, notes that the HNI population in India could rise by 80% by 2031, concluding that the outflows are “not particularly concerning as India produces more new millionaires than it loses to migration.”
The Indian government is also optimistic. In its reply to the Lok Sabha, the MEA termed the diaspora an asset to the nation while adding a range of initiatives centring around ‘Make in India’ have been undertaken to harness their talents at home.
“A successful, prosperous, and influential diaspora is an advantage for India, and our approach is to tap diaspora networks and utilise its reputation for national gain. The Government’s efforts are particularly aimed at encouraging the exchanges of knowledge and expertise in a manner that would contribute to India’s national development,” the MEA said.
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