According to a survey, there are approximately 272 million international migrants around the world, which is about 3.5% of the world’s population. While many of these people are forced to migrate due to internal conflict, troubles within their Country or State, natural calamities, the rest travelled for better work prospects, a different education system and so on.
While migration is defined as a seasonal movement for birds and other animals, who usually move to avoid winter or find better sources of food, there are slight changes when it comes to humans, who migrate for lengthier periods. Migration usually entails applying for documentation relevant to the other country. In many cases, people choose to forgo their passports, causing them issues when they have to travel back home.
While the United Kingdom supports dual citizenship, and America even allows people to hold three passports, not all countries follow these rules. However, most of them make arrangements to assist their people who have migrated to other parts of the world. Here are the plans that some countries have in place to help migrants abroad.
India
The largest population of migrants around the world comes from India, with the highest majority of them heading to the United States of America as their primary. While many of them are going to work, a lot are travelling for their further studies. With such a broad diaspora, it was quite difficult for the country to deny them dual citizenship when they were putting pressure on the Government. However, dual citizenship passports being against the Constitution, the Government came out with a smart alternative called the OCI Card.
People residing in other countries but with their roots in India receive the Overseas Citizen of India card, as long as they have the documentation to prove it. The primary purpose of this card is to provide an opportunity for 17.5 million diasporas that India has, to travel in and out of the country without regularly going through the visa process. However, despite the number only
32,53,912 foreign nationals registered as OCI cardholders, with 4,14,906 OCI cards have been issued.
Bangladesh
Comparing the population of a country to the number of people that migrated for better job opportunities, Bangladesh has the highest number of migrants around the world. According to a survey conducted in 2013 based on UN data, more than 7.8 million people of Bangladeshi origin were living in 89 countries around the world.
To assist with their travel, Bangladesh missions around the world provide a No Visa Required (NVR) seal or vignette (sticker) for Bangladeshis holding foreign passports, as well as
non-Bangladeshis descendants or spouses of Bangladeshis. The Government is currently working on phasing the NVR seal out to be replaced by the vignette for passports in the future. The NVR vignette is placed on a blank passport page and does not have an expiration, lasting as long as the passport. It allows people to travel in and out of Bangladesh without a visa, for any amount of time.
Pakistan
Pakistan has 8.8 million people with roots to the country living abroad. While the largest majority of over 4.7 million of them are housed in the Middle East, the rest are scattered in other countries including 1.2 million in the UK. While many send significant portions of their income to families back home, the country needed to do something to assist these foreign nations with making their way home, without having to keep applying for a passport. In 2017, Overseas Pakistanis sent remittances amounting to US$13 billion, according to the State Bank of Pakistan.
Pakistan created a system called the National Identity Card for Overseas Pakistanis, which is a card provided to foreign nationals with roots in Pakistan to travel back and forth without having to keep applying for a visa. They have to submit their documentation to one of the Pakistan Missions in the country where they reside and can apply for a NICOP. The process takes about a month post which they receive the card.
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