The 20% increase over the previous year, when citizenship acquisitions stood at 1.9 million, is partly due to the reduction in the backlog of citizenship applications during the COVID-19 pandemic. Very strong growth has been recorded in the US, UK, Canada, Norway And Austria, In 2019, before the pandemic struck, the number of citizenship acquisitions in Oecd-member countries stood at 2.2 million.
Source-country figures are not available for 2021. However, the Indians remained at the first position in 2020. More than 1.30 lakh Indians acquired citizenship of OECD-member countries—more than half of which were concentrated in three countries, the US (47). 000), Canada (15,000) and the UK (11,000). About 88,745 Mexicans acquired foreign citizenship – mainly from the U.S.
In 2019, 1.56 lakh Indians obtained citizenship of Oecd-member countries, naturalization of Indians in the US (63,500), Canada (31,300), Australia (28,500) and UK (14,700). A comparison between the 2019 and 2020 figures shows a decline in the number of Indians seeking foreign citizenship, as the pandemic has halted the processing of citizenship applications and oath ceremonies. Country-wise figures for 2021, when released, will show the exact rebound.
Oecd-member countries received 4.8 million new permanent types of immigrants in 2021, a 22% increase compared to 2020, but still more than half a million less than in 2019. United States of america Largest recipient of permanent immigrants in 2021 (8.34 lakh), 43%
higher than in 2020, and 19% lower than in 2019. In the EU, the increase in permanent-type migration (up to 15%) was less pronounced. Permanent migration flows do not include temporary worker migration or international students; However they include not only new arrivals of people who are classified as permanent residents, but also changes in status in the country, such as from temporary work visas (such as H-1B) to permanent residence (such as Green card).