Over 2.25 lakh people gave up Indian citizenship in 2022, reveals govt data

The number of Indian citizens renouncing citizenship has gone up significantly in the last couple of years, with 1.63 lakh doing so in 2021 and 2.25 lakh in 2022, the Parliament was informed.

According to government data, almost 16 lakh Indians have renounced their citizenship since 2011, with 2,25,620 last year being the greatest number during that time. The lowest number, 85,256, occurred in 2020. The year-wise number of Indians who renounced their citizenship was provided by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar in response to a question in Rajya Sabha.

According to Jaishankar, 1,31,489 Indians gave up their citizenship in 2015, 1,41,603 did the same in 2016, and 1,33,049 did so in 2017. Meanwhile, 1,34,561 people gave up their citizenship in 2018, 1,44,017 did so in 2019, 85,256 did so in 2020, and 1,63,370 did so in 2021. The number in 2022 was 2,25,620, according to the minister.

Jaishankar said that the figures for 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014 were 1,20,923, 1,31,405, 1,29,328, and 1,22,819, respectively.

16,63,440 Indians in total have surrendered their Indian citizenship since 2011. In response to a particular question, he stated that, based on information, five Indian individuals had become citizens of the United Arab Emirates in the past three years.

Jaishankar also offered a list of 135 nations from where Indians have obtained citizenship.

V Muraleedharan, a minister of state for external affairs, responded to a different question by saying that the government is aware of the problem of experts being let go by US businesses recently.

"A significant proportion of these will probably be people with H-1B and L1 visas who are citizens of India. The Indian government has frequently brought up concerns with the US administration over the migration of highly trained personnel, especially IT experts," he said. On these concerns, it has also collaborated with a number of stakeholders, such as business chambers and industry associations, according to Muraleedharan.

(With PTI inputs)