More Indians have been deported from Saudi Arabia than the US in the last five years (file photo)
Digital Desk, New Delhi. Despite the strictness of immigration policies in America and the actions of the Donald Trump administration, the latest data from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has revealed shocking things. In the last five years (from 2021 to 2025), the country that has deported the most Indian citizens has been Saudi Arabia, not America.
According to a written reply by Minister of State for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh in the Rajya Sabha, the major reasons for detention and deportation of Indians abroad include overstaying the validity of visa or residence permit, working without a work permit, violation of labor rules, absconding from employer and being embroiled in civil or criminal cases. In the Gulf countries, these cases are mainly related to workers, whereas in the US, illegal entry or visa violations are more common.
According to data from the Indian Embassy in Riyadh, the figures of deportations from Saudi Arabia are as follows:
Overall, about 46,875 Indians were deported from Saudi Arabia from 2021 to 2025. Whereas, the number of deportations from America was much less. From data from various Indian missions, including Washington DC:
Even from other US missions (San Francisco, New York, Atlanta, Houston, Chicago) the numbers remained limited to two digits or a few hundred in most cases. Overall, deportations from the US are much lower than from the Gulf countries.
According to the MEA, these deportation figures are based on the issuance of emergency certificates, which are a reliable indicator of detention data that is not shared by foreign governments. Experts believe that the presence of a large number of Indian workers in Saudi Arabia and the 'Saudization' policies there are the main reasons for these high figures.
This data breaks the myth that the US is the toughest for Indians, when in fact the challenges related to labor migration in the Gulf region are more serious. The government has advised NRIs to strictly follow visa rules.
The highest number of deportations of Indians in the US occurred from Washington DC (3,414) and Houston (234). Other countries that deported Indians in large numbers include Myanmar (1,591), UAE (1,469), Bahrain (764), Malaysia (1,485), Thailand (481) and Cambodia (305).
The statement said the government accords top priority to the safety, security and welfare of Indian nationals abroad and Indian embassies actively take up the issue of rescue and repatriation of Indian nationals with the host country.