A total of 1,63,370 Indians relinquished Indian citizenship last year and received citizenship from other countries, a trend noted to be the highest since 2019.
The number of Indians who relinquished Indian citizenship in 2019 and 2020 was 1,44,017 and 85,256, respectively. A maximum of 78,284 Indians relinquished Indian citizenship and received citizenship of the USA, followed by 23,533 who took citizenship in Australia; 21,597 in Canada; and 14,637 in the UK in 2021.
Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai on Tuesday shared the data with the Lok Sabha that mentions “the number of Indians who relinquished Indian citizenship in 2019, 2020, and 2021 is 1,44,017; 85,256; and 1,63,370 respectively”.
Rai replied to a query of Bahujan Samaj Party leader Haji Fazlur Rehman asked whether the Minister of Home Affairs would be pleased to state the details and the number of people who have renounced Indian citizenship till the current year since 2019.
The Minister cited details provided by the Ministry of External Affairs in respect of the number of Indians, who renounced Indian citizenship and the countries from which they have received citizenship.
Asked about the reasons given by these people for renouncing Indian citizenship, Rai said, “individuals renounced Indian citizenship for reasons personal to them”.
The data provided by the Minister shows that there are 103 countries where Indians have relinquished their Indian citizenship.
Those countries included Angola, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belgium, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, United Kingdom, Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland, France, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kuwait, Laos, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali Malta, Mauritius, Mexico, Mongolia, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, Poland and Portugal.
Qatar, Ireland, Reunion Island, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Seychelles, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Sweden, Switzerland, Tanzania, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, USA, Venezuela, Zambia, and Zimbabwe are among other countries.