Not the US: This country deported the most Indians over the past five years

Official figures presented in the Rajya Sabha highlight a stark contrast in deportations of Indian nationals from Saudi Arabia and the US over the last five years. The data, tabled by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), points to widespread migration-related violations in the Gulf region, mainly linked to visa overstays and labour law breaches rather than illegal border crossings.

In a written reply dated December 18, 2025, Minister of State for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh said that while many foreign governments do not routinely share detention data, deportation figures issued through Emergency Certificates offer a reliable indicator of enforcement actions taken against Indian nationals overseas.

Saudi figures dwarf US numbers

Data from the Indian Mission in Riyadh shows the following deportations from Saudi Arabia:
• 2021: 8,887
• 2022: 10,277
• 2023: 11,486
• 2024: 9,206
• 2025 (till date): 7,019

Officials said these numbers reflect Saudi Arabia’s strict enforcement of residency (Iqama) rules, labour reforms and periodic crackdowns on visa overstays, particularly following Saudisation policies and tighter labour market controls.

“The Gulf region, especially Saudi Arabia, continues to see large-scale deportations due to overstaying visas, working without permits, or violating residency norms,” a senior official familiar with the data said.

By contrast, deportations from the US remained significantly lower, despite heightened immigration enforcement debates in Washington. MEA data from Indian Missions in the US shows the following figures for Washington DC:
• 2021: 805
• 2022: 862
• 2023: 617
• 2024: 1,368
• 2025: 3,414

Other US missions—including San Francisco, New York, Atlanta, Houston and Chicago — recorded deportation numbers largely in double digits or low hundreds, well below Gulf figures. Officials noted that most cases involved visa overstays or status violations rather than mass detentions, and that many Indian nationals possessed valid travel documents, reducing the need for Emergency Certificates.

The MEA listed several factors contributing to deportations, including overstaying visa validity, working without valid permits, absconding from employers, violations of local labour laws and periodic mass enforcement drives. The government said it accords “utmost priority to the safety, security and well-being of Indian nationals abroad”, with Indian Missions engaging host governments to ensure due process and timely repatriation.

To curb illegal migration and fraud, the government has issued advisories against fake job rackets, strengthened the e-Migrate portal, activated 247 Mission helplines, set up the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), and regularly shared intelligence with state governments on illegal agents. As of October 2025, over 3,505 recruiting agents were registered on the e-Migrate portal, with complaints leading to the deactivation of errant operators.

The data shows a clear trend: Saudi Arabia, not the US, remains the largest source of deportations of Indian nationals, reflecting labour-driven migration patterns rather than asylum claims or border crossings.