Among the Middle Eastern countries, the United Arab Emirates UAE is the top choice of Indian nationals residing abroad.
According to the Indian Ministry of Home Affairs data, the United Arab Emirates stands top choice of Indians with 3.4 million living there followed by Saudi Arabia (2.59mn), Kuwait (1.02mn), Oman (0.77mn), Qatar (0.69mn), and Bahrain (0.32mn).
| Country | Number of NRIs |
| UAE | 3.4mn |
| SAUDI ARABIA | 2.59mn |
| KUWAIT | 1.02mn |
| OMAN | 0.79mn |
| QATAR | 0.69mn |
| BAHRAIN | 0.32mn |
*MHA, Government of India
The number of Indians residing in foreign countries is 12.4 million.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Home Affairs made a statement in the parliament in response to a question raised by the opposition Congress party regarding the number of nationals giving up Indian citizenship.
“In the last 5 years almost 7 lakh Indians have given up Indian citizenship,” said a written reply of the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Nearly 250,000, which is 44% of the total renunciation requests have come from the Indian diaspora living in the US, followed by Australia and Canada with 100,000 and 94,874 respectively. The renunciation requests from Australia and Canada account for 33% jointly, leaving just 27% of such migrated Indians spread across the globe.
The ministry has further revealed that in 2020, a total number of 191,609 registered as Overseas Citizens of India (OCI) cardholders.
The OCI was initiated in 2005 in response to the demands of the diaspora for dual citizenship. However, the Government is not contemplating any recommendation for dual citizenship.
The renunciation of citizenship constrains the citizens to vote, purchase farmland, certain properties, and take up any government job in India.