The United States has become a popular destination for Indian nationals seeking foreign citizenship, with a total of 56,085 applications for naturalization being recorded by this nationality group in 2021.
According to data from OECD International Migration Outlook 2023, the second-highest number of Indian nationals applying for foreign citizenship was recorded in Australia, with 24,205 applications, VisaGuide.World reports.
However, Mexicans are the main nationality that placed the most American citizenship applications in 2021 – representing almost 15 percent of all requests. As per emigration, Americans mostly move to Canada and Spain, with the share of emigrants to these countries going between 12 and seven percent, respectively.
Speaking of Canada, the country has received the third-largest number of Indians acquiring citizenship in 2021, with a total number of 20,752 applications being filed, making Indians the most prominent nationality group seeking Canadian citizenship for the year.
Indians are also the main nationality group that applied for British citizenship in 2021, with a total share of Indians compared to other nationalities being around 13 percent. In total, 11,598 Indians were naturalized in the United Kingdom during this period.
Moreover, Italy had some 4,489 Indian applicants for citizenship in 2021, taking the total share to almost four percent. However, Indians are the sixth-largest nationality to seek citizenship in Italy, falling behind Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, Moroccans, Albanians, and Romanians – which is the main nationality group to be naturalized, and the share peaked at around 12 percent.
New Zealand saw around 2,727 Indian applicants for citizenship in 2021, with the nationality being the first one for naturalization. Australians and Chinese follow second and third.
Indians are the eighth nationality group that applied for German citizenship in 2021, with the total number reaching 2,515 and a share of almost three percent.
Spain has received around 1,992 Indian applicants – a relatively low number compared to other countries. Indians are not among the top ten nationalities to apply for Spanish citizenship, as the majority of them are from the African continent (Morocco) and Spanish-speaking countries such as Colombia, Venezuela, Peru, and Argentina.
Around 1,736 Indians applied for Dutch citizenship, making this nationality the sixth largest applicant nationality in the country. The share of Indians seeking citizenship compared to other nationalities is around four percent of the total applicants, while Poles, Romanians, Syrians, Germans, and Bulgarians are the main applicant nationalities.
In addition, 1,635 Indians applied for Swedish citizenship, making it the largest applicant nationality group out of a total of ten, which include Syrians, Germans, Pakistanis, and Poles, among others. In total, Indians represented around eight percent of all applicants for Swedish citizenship in 2021.