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Friday March 29, 2024

8,936 Pakistanis opt for foreign nationality between 2011 and 2015

By Azaz Syed
March 27, 2016

215 Indians, Afghans, Bengalis and Americans  get Pakistani citizenship during the period

ISLAMABAD: Immigration trends show that 8,936 Pakistani nationals preferred Germany, Norway, United States and India to their Pakistani citizenship between 2011 and 2015 while 215 Indians, Afghans, Bengalis and Americans renounced their native citizenships and opted for the Pakistani citizenship during the period.

According to a five-year (2011 to 2015) comparative data study of people immigrating in and out of Pakistan, a total of 12,291 people renounced their citizenship out of which 246 got the Pakistani citizenship, documents partially obtained from the federal government under the Right to Information (RTI) law and some of them through the Interior Ministry sources, reveal.

Germany remained the most favorite country for Pakistanis because of its strong economy and a safe environment. A total of 4,780 Pakistanis opted for the German nationality.

In 2015, 1,388 Pakistanis immigrated to Germany compared to 1,011 in 2013.

Likewise, 723 Pakistani nationals left for Germany in 2014, 815 in 2012 and 843 in year 2011. Statistics show that Germany remained the favourite choice for Pakistanis during the period.

Norway remained the second most favorite destination for Pakistanis. A total of 2,060 Pakistanis surrendered their nationality for this part of the world. 

Around 478 Pakistanis moved to this Scandinavian country in 2011, 355 in 2012, 324 in 2013 and 587 in 2015.

Although Pakistan was in the list of Time magazine’s famous story of April 12, 2014 issue, titled “9 Countries That Hate America Most’, the same country that is also Pakistan’s strategic ally and a partner in the ongoing war on terror remained the third most immigrated country for which 1,125 Pakistanis renounced their citizenship.

During these five years, only seven American nationals surrendered their citizenship for the Pakistani nationality.

India remained the fourth most immigrated country for which 971 Pakistani citizens renounced their citizenship. A total of 287 Pakistanis left for India in 2011.

In 2012 and 2013 a total of 241 Pakistanis immigrated to India thus making India the 3rd most immigrated country between 2011 and 2013.

In 2014, 107 Pakistanis left for India but in year 2015 the ratio increased by more than 300 percent as 336 Pakistanis surrendered their nationality for India. Interestingly, 175 Indians surrendered their nationality for Pakistan and were issued citizenship certificates between 2011 and 2015.

A total of 26 Pakistani citizenship certificates were issued to Indian nationals in 2011. However, the figure rose to 57 the next year. In year 2013, not a single citizenship certificate was issued to any Indian national. However, 77 Indian nationals got the Pakistani citizenship in 2014. In 2015, only 15 could get the citizenship certificates.

China remained the fifth most favorite country for the local immigrants, as 646 Pakistanis became Chinese nationals, while not a single Chinese got the Pakistani citizenship during the period.

A total of 368 Pakistanis surrendered their nationality for the Pakistani passport in 2014. The Netherlands gave 308 Pakistanis citizenship during the five-year period. Around 159 Pakistanis surrendered their citizenship for Denmark, 128 for Japan, 104 for Austria, 25 for Indonesia, 23 for South Korea and 137 for Canada.  The rest of people got the citizenship of miscellaneous countries.

Immigrants to Pakistan: During the 2011-2015 period, a total of 246 foreigners got the Pakistani citizenship certificate out of which 175 were Indians.

Twenty-six Afghan nationals, seven Bangladeshis, seven Americans, four Britons, four Philippine nationals and three each from Sri Lanka, Uzbekistan and Indonesia got the Pakistani citizenship certificates.