Five reasons why Indians give up citizenship, surrender passport

Goans, Punjabis, Gujaratis and people from Tamil Nadu and Kerala are acquiring citizenship of other countries

Chennai: Close to 1.7 million Indians have acquired citizenship of other countries and about 70,000 Indians have surrendered their passports.

Surrendering passports and acquiring the citizenship of another country are two entirely different actions, said an immigration consultant for New Zealand and Australia.

---

“Goans, Punjabis, Gujaratis and people from Tamil Nadu and Kerala are acquiring citizenship of other countries. For the Goans, England was the final destination. But Brexit applied brakes on their movement,” said Ravi Veravalli, principal consultant, Star Global Education Alliance, in a conversation with IANS.

Q. In your view, what are the reasons for Indians giving up their citizenship?
A. There are essentially five reasons for Indians to give up their citizenship: a) Most of the people go to these Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries on study/work visas and after acquiring higher qualifications they apply for their post study work visas.

They work in numerous sectors where there is a skill shortage and then apply for their Permanent Residencies and eventually go for their citizenship by grant. It is just adopting the country which has become their home now. b) Ease of travelling: These newly acquired passports may give them ease of travel or visa free travel. For example US tourist visa aspirants were not getting any appointments for almost 20 months whereas an Australian citizen like myself did not need an appointment and could just travel. c) Work: Some countries have reciprocal work rights and many try to avail that, for example an Australian on an exclusive E-3 visa to the USA. d) Social Security Benefits: Some countries allow individuals to claim social security benefits in other countries. An Australian can claim numerous benefits in New Zealand under the Trans Tasman Mutual Recognition Act (TTMRA), free education, healthcare and others. e) Getting employment in the government and sensitive sectors.

Q. Where do high net worth Indians migrate?

A. Dubai, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, US, UK, France, Malta and the Caribbean Islands are some of the favoured destinations.

Q. Which are the countries that invite migrants in general and Indians in particular?

A. Australia, Canada, New Zealand, UK and USA are the major countries which welcome skilled people from India both on a temporary residency and permanent residencies. In 2022 close to 120,000 people were granted permanent residency to Canada and over 24,000 places were granted under various categories including skilled migration.

Q. Do countries stipulate that a minimum investment be made before giving citizenship?

A. Most of the countries require an investment to be made ranging from $500,000 to running into several million dollars. But there is a misconception that just making an investment will give the applicant a business migration visa. The point system has to be thoroughly evaluated accompanied by a strong business plan and the purpose of migration also plays an important role.

Q. Where are the Indian professionals in greater demand?

A. Doctors, Nurses, IT professionals including Cyber Security and Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Engineers (Electrical, Mechanical, Civil, Aeronautical). And tradespeople — welders, plumbers, electricians, carpenters and the like. Recently, many countries especially from the European Union (EU) expressed a great demand for Seasonal Agricultural workers. This means that the demand is for semi/unskilled as well.

Q. Which are emerging migration magnets?

A. The emerging magnets are Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Germany, Finland, Norway. The US and UK have always maintained their supremacy as a desired destination.

Q. Why do studies overseas continue to be the first step to migration?

A. Study visas are among the big contributors to the host country’s economy and eventually the country concerned offers students permanent residency options for a number of reasons. Not only do the host country get huge revenues from international students, but eventually also skilled migrants who rekindle the aggregate demand in the economy by pushing up consumption and make the age demographics work to the advantage of the host country by reducing the average age of the working population.

Additionally, the skilled migrant contributes in the form of advanced skills, lower age, higher income and therefore higher tax payments. This migrant also saves money for the exchequer by not burdening it with unemployment benefits and other subsidies.