Indians go West, take up ‘residence by investment’

Subject : Polity

Section: Constitution features

Concept :

According to data tabled in Parliament by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) recently, over 25 lakh Indians renounced their Indian citizenship in 2022, the highest number since 2011.
The data shows how Indians, particularly high-net-worth individuals (HNIs), are migrating westward with new passports in search of better opportunities, healthcare, quality of life, and education, among other factors.
High-net-worth individuals are flocking for residence-through-investment schemes in the United States, Portugal, Australia, Malta, and Greece.
There has been a surge in requests for residence-through-investment programmes especially for the US EB-5 visa, Portugal Golden Visa, Australian Global Talent Independent Visa, Malta Permanent Residency Programme, and Greece Residence by Investment Program.

Residence by investment programs

Residency by investment – Residence by investment schemes offer people the chance to get a residency permit for a country by purchasing a house there or making a large investment or donation.
It is otherwise known as golden visa programs.
It give HNIs the option of physically relocating and becoming residents of a state with full legal rights, including the right to live, work, study, and receive healthcare in that country.

Citizenship renouncement in India

Since India does not provide dual citizenship, therefore one has to renounce his/her Indian Citizenship for acquiring citizenship of another country.
Voluntary Renunciation:
If an Indian citizen wishes, who is of full age and capacity, he can relinquish citizenship of India by his will.
When a person relinquishes his citizenship, every minor child of that person also loses Indian citizenship. However, when such a child attains the age of 18, he may resume Indian citizenship.
By Termination:
The Constitution of India provides single citizenship. It means an Indian person can only be a citizen of one country at a time.
If a person takes the citizenship of another country, then his Indian citizenship ends automatically. However, this provision does not apply when India is busy in war.
Deprivation by Government:
The Government of India may terminate the citizenship of an Indian citizen if;
The citizen has disrespected the Constitution.
Has obtained citizenship by fraud.
The citizen has unlawfully traded or communicated with the enemy during a war.
Within 5 years of registration or naturalisation, a citizen has been sentenced to 2 years of imprisonment in any country.
The citizen has been living outside India for 7 years continuously.

High net worth individuals (HNIs)

HNIs are those who have wealth of over $1 million or 8.2 crore.
According to the Henley Global Citizens Report, there were 3.47 lakh such people in India in December 2021.
Of these, 1.49 lakh HNIs were found in just nine cities: Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune, Chennai, Gurgaon, and Ahmedabad.
According to the report, India ranked fourth in the world in terms of privately-held wealth, after the U.S., China, and Japan