Over 163,000 Indians gave up their citizenship in 2021 : GS TIMES IAS-PCS

Over 163,000 Indians gave up their citizenship in 2021, the highest since 2015, with almost half of them choosing to become US citizens, according to data shared by the Union government in Parliament on July 19.

In 2021, 163,370 Indians gave up their Indian passports. This number was 144,017 and 85,256 in 2019 and 2020, respectively. The data is available only from 2015 onwards.

Previously, the highest number of people, 144,942, had given up Indian citizenship in 2016, according to home ministry data.

The reasons for these Indians renouncing their home country citizenship, which also means they have to surrender their Indian passports, was “personal”, the home ministry said.

The Indian Constitution and citizenship laws don’t allow dual citizenship. The data, shared by the minister Nityanand Rai revealed that after the US (78,284), Indians preferred to acquire citizenship of Australia (23,533), Canada (21,597), the UK .

How can one loose Indian citizenship?

The Citizenship Act, 1955 also lays down the three modes by which an Indian citizen, whether a citizen at the commencement of the Constitution or subsequent to it, may lose his/her citizenship. It may happen in any of the three ways :

Renunciation Of Citizenship [Section 8]:

An Indian Citizen of full age and capacity can renounce his Indian citizenship by making a declaration to that effect and having it registered. But if such a declaration is made during any war in which India is engaged, the registration shall be withheld until the Central Government otherwise directs.

Termination Of Citizenship [Section 9]:

If a citizen of India voluntarily acquires the citizenship of another country, he shall cease to be a citizen of India. During the war period, this provision does not apply to a citizen of India, who acquires the citizenship of another country in which India may be engaged voluntarily.

Deprivation Of Citizenship [Section 10]:

Deprivation is a compulsory termination of citizenship of India. A citizen of India by naturalization, registration, domicile and residence, may be deprived of his citizenship by an order of the Central Government if it is satisfied that: