The year 2021 saw a significant rise in the number of Indians who gave up their citizenship. India’s Ministry of Home Affairs released the data which shows 1,63,370 renouncing their citizenship in 2021 as opposed to 85,256 in 2020.
However, the numbers for the year 2019 were at 1,44,017 Indians renouncing their citizenship.
The Indian government data shows that the United States of America (USA) is on the top of the chart as the most preferred place for Indian citizens to settle down. Indians who received American citizenship increased from 30,828 in 2020 to 78,284 in 2021.
Australia with all its charms has emerged as the second most preferred place in the last year for Indian citizens. As per Indian Ministry of Home Affairs data, 23,533 Indians renounced their citizenship and became Australian citizens. In 2020, this number was significantly low because of lockdowns, that year 13,518 Indians gave up their citizenship for one in Australia.
Generally, Canada witnesses a very heavy influx of Indian international students and skilled workers. However, it slipped to number three in the year 2021 with a total of 21,597 choosing the Canadian citizenship over Indian.
Top 10 countries where Indians renounced their citizenship in 2021:
1. United States (78,284 in 2021 from 30,828 in 2020)
2. Australia (23,533 in 2021 from 13,518 in 2020)
3. Canada (21,597 in 2021 from 17,093 in 2020)
4. United Kingdom (14,637 in 2021 from 6,489 in 2020)
5. Italy (5,986 in 2021 from 2,312 in 2020)
6. New Zealand (2,643 in 2021 from 2,116 in 2020)
7. Singapore (2,516 in 2021 from 2,289 in 2020)
8. Germany (2,381 in 2021 from 2,152 in 2020)
9. The Netherlands (2,187 in 2021 from 1,213 in 2020)
10. Sweden (1,841 in 2021 from 1,046 in 2020)
In the last seven-year period between 2015- 2021 over nine lakhs, twenty-four thousand persons renounced their Indian citizenship as per Indian ministries data.
However, among people who gave up Indian citizenship in the last three years (2019-2021) over 43% of the 3.92 lakhs became citizens of the USA rest were divided between dozen other countries.