Since the 1960s, skilled Indians have migrated to the U.S., driving growth in healthcare, tech, and Silicon Valley.
Trump’s restrictive H-1B policies left thousands of Indian professionals and families in turmoil.
India’s 32M diaspora is denied dual citizenship under Article 9, sparking calls to restore rights and deepen ties with the homeland.
In 1965, doors were opened for Asians to migrate to the USA. Later, in the 1990s, the US Congress enacted the H-1B visa law to facilitate the hiring of highly educated foreign professionals to work in specialty occupations. With these developments, many Indians—especially doctors, engineers, and other technically qualified professionals—began moving to the US. Over the decades, they contributed immensely to America’s growth through their talent and hard work.
Silicon Valley—a nickname for the high-tech hub—is a perfect example of this talent being utilized to achieve the American dream. But the way President Trump has assaulted the H-1B visa with the introduction of a $100,000 fee for the H-1B visa system smacks of his ill intention to hurt Indian sentiments (not forgetting his harsh tariff stance against India and his propping up of Pakistan to humiliate India in every conceivable manner).
Now comes the question of the Indian diaspora. Once Indians arrive in foreign lands, they settle down, and many of them take citizenship over the due course of time. However, when Indians acquire foreign citizenship, another cruelty happens to them. They are compelled to surrender their Indian passport. This is a strange law in the Indian Constitution, which stipulates that if you acquire the citizenship of another country, you will have to forfeit your Indian citizenship. In other words, India does not allow dual citizenship.
So, there is a very big need for your attention toward the urgent and long-pending desire of members of the Indian diaspora (including NRIs) to allow dual citizenship for Indians. Millions of people from the diaspora want nothing more than to contribute fully to our motherland—through investments, innovation, and civic engagement—without being treated as outsiders.
Today, there is a 32 million-strong Indian diaspora spread across the globe, which is even larger than the Chinese diaspora. Yet, under Article 9 of the Indian Constitution, acquiring citizenship in another country strips them of their Indian passport, voting rights, and full stake in their homeland, India. The Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) scheme is a half-measure: it grants a lifelong visa but denies us the equality of true citizenship. This isn't just unfair—it’s shortsighted.
The consequences of this limitation become visible during moments of global uncertainty. For instance, the entire H-1B visa system in the United States has come under deliberate assault, with President Trump sending strong signals that Indians are not welcome in the USA. Overnight, thousands of professionals and families found their careers, futures, and sense of belonging thrown into turmoil.
In such moments, India appears to be the one country they can truly count on. Yet this raises a crucial question: is India welcoming to those who have migrated to foreign lands and taken citizenship in other countries?
The cruel answer is no. The Government of India (GOI) does not allow dual citizenship.
Though not directly relevant to H-1B visa holders (because they are still Indian citizens), the question arises: why does the Government of India not retract its policy of disallowing dual citizenship?
By allowing dual citizenship, India would send a strong message to the Indian diaspora that you are as valuable to us, and you are still Indians to us, legally.
It is a mere coincidence that while many of us living abroad had been considering starting a campaign to demand dual citizenship for Indians, this H-1B tragedy occurred. In fact, it reinforces our belief that dual citizenship is now very relevant to the Indian diaspora and that the time has come for the Government of India to allow dual citizenship. [Rh/VP]
The author is a US-based medical doctor and convener of Dual Citizenship for India (DCI) campaign.
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