India leads in acquiring foreign citizenship, remains top country of origin for new migrants. Here's where they are headed

Indians, who are at the forefront of migrating to OECD countries, also lead in acquiring foreign citizenship, according to a recent OECD report. Among them, American citizenship remains dominant. However, Canada has witnessed the highest growth in granting citizenship to foreign nationals.

The report titled "International Migration Outlook: 2023," has shown Indians constitute the largest national group acquiring citizenship in affluent countries. Canada, in particular, recorded the most significant proportional increase, with a staggering 174% jump between 2021 and 2022. This surge in numbers makes Canada one of the most sought-after destinations for acquiring citizenship among immigrants.

In the past year, there has been a remarkable rise in the number of foreign nationals obtaining OECD country citizenship, reaching a total of 28 lakh, representing a 25% increase from 2021. While the report does not provide a detailed breakdown of the country-of-origin data for 2022, it highlights India as the primary source country for acquiring OECD country citizenship since 2019.

In 2021, approximately 1.3 lakh Indians acquired citizenship in an OECD member country, compared to around 1.5 lakh in 2019. China ranked fifth in this race, with approximately 57,000 Chinese individuals acquiring OECD country citizenship in 2021.

Among the 38-member OECD, the top three countries that granted passports to Indian immigrants in 2021 were the United States (56,000), Australia (24,000), and Canada (21,000). This indicates the significance of these countries as preferred destinations for Indian immigrants seeking citizenship opportunities.

Nearly 4 lakh Indians migrated to OECD countries in 2021

According to the report, China boasts the largest number of international students among OECD-member countries, while India leads the pack in terms of the 'flow' of new migrants.

In 2021, India, for the second consecutive year, ranked as the top country of origin for new migrants (excluding students) to OECD-member countries, with an outflow of 400,000 individuals. This represented 7.5% of the total migration flows, albeit it was only a modest 3% increase compared to 2019. The numbers in 2020 were lower, at 220,000, likely due to pandemic-related border closures. China claimed the second position with 230,000 new migrants, constituting 5.2% of the total flows, followed by Romania with approximately 200,000 new migrants, making up 4% of the total flows.

The report also highlighted mobility agreements established with India. . “To step up efforts to actively recruit immigrant workers, several OECD-member countries continue to sign bilateral agreements and advance migration and mobility partnerships with selected origin countries. Portugal, Germany and Austria have recently concluded agreements on migration and mobility with India. This is the first time Germany has signed such a bilateral agreement, and the agreement is intended to serve as a model for potential future similar agreements with other countries,” it said.

The report also noted that India has previously entered into bilateral migration and mobility agreements with Finland, France, and the UK.

OECD-member countries benefit from a consistent influx of international students, particularly from China and India. In 2021, a total of 4.3 million international students were enrolled in OECD-member countries. China dominated this figure with 890,000 students, while Indian students studying in OECD-member countries reached 420,000, a figure similar to 2020. Vietnam stood as the third-ranked source country with 130,000 students.

The United States hosted nearly one-fifth of all international students in the OECD, accommodating more than 800,000 students. The United Kingdom followed with 14% (approximately 600,000 international students), and Australia hosted 9%, with nearly 380,000 international students.