Indians Top In Acquiring Citizenship Of Rich Countries, Most In US (Image:Unsplash.com)

As per the recent Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) report, Indians are the majority in acquiring citizenship of rich nations, among which the United States is the most popular. Even though New Delhi and Ottawa are immersed in a diplomatic war in-between, Canada is experiencing the largest increase in granting citizenship to the foreign nationals, with a 174% jump between 2021 and 2022.

The crucial findings were produced by the OECD report released in Paris-International Migration Outlook 2023. The study states that, Indian origins creates the major part of national group acquiring citizenship of rich countries. The OECD is an intergovernmental organisation with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate economic progress and world trade. The year 2022 also marked a substantial increase in the number of foreign nationals acquiring OECD member countries citizenship – 28 lakh – a 25% jump over the previous year 2021.

According to the report, India top the main country of origin from the OECD data’s since 2019. In 2021, around 1.3 lakh Indian citizens acquired citizenship of an OECD member country, and in 2019, it was 1.5 lakh. Around 1.7 million Indians have acquired citizenship of other countries and about 70,000 Indians have surrendered their passports. The top three countries which extended passports to Indian immigrants in 2021 are the US (56,000), Australia (24,000), and Canada (21,000).

The average number of Indians giving up citizenship during the pre-covid period (2011 to 2019) was recorded 132,133. This jumped up to 158,802 during and post-Covid (2020-2022), representing a 20% increase. Indians also accounted for 9.4% of global applicants for golden passports in 2022. These passports offer citizenship through investment or property purchases, and for the business people this higher-ranking passport can facilitate ease of business and cross-border mobility.