Startupoffices at 17:13, 4 May 2026

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There are 4.9 million foreign-born residents in the [[Republic of India]], accounting for 0.4% of its population.<ref>[https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/india-migration-country-profile Origins of World's Largest Migrant Population, India Seeks to Leverage Immigration] [[Migration Policy Institute]]</ref> 98% of '''immigrants to India''' came from a previous residence elsewhere in Asia.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Khadria |first1=Binod |last2=Kumar |first2=Perveen |date=2015 |title=Immigrants and Immigration in India: A Fresh Approach |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/24481427 |journal=Economic and Political Weekly |volume=50 |issue=8 |pages=65–71 |jstor=24481427 |issn=0012-9976}}</ref>

== History ==

=== Ancient era ===
{{See also|Peopling of India|Journey to the West}}

The [[Indian subcontinent]] has a long history of [[Refugees in India#History|accepting refugees]]. Its [[History of the Jews in India|Jewish community]] dates back to the [[Siege of Jerusalem (70 CE)|fall of Jerusalem]] in the first century AD, and its [[Zoroastrianism]]-adhering [[Parsis]] immigrated to escape the 7th-century [[Muslim conquest of Persia]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Sen |first=Amartya |date=2021-06-29 |title=Illusions of empire: Amartya Sen on what British rule really did for India |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jun/29/british-empire-india-amartya-sen |access-date=2024-10-04 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>

=== Medieval era ===
{{See also|Afro-Asians in South Asia}}
[[Persians]], [[Turkish people|Turks]], and [[Central Asians]] migrated to the subcontinent during the [[Indo-Muslim period]]. They participated in the imperial bureaucracy, brought Muslim influences such as [[Sufism]], and helped to form the [[Indo-Persian culture]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Haneda |first=Masashi |date=1997-10-01 |title=Emigration of Iranian Elites to India during the 16-18th centuries |url=https://journals.openedition.org/asiecentrale/480 |journal=Cahiers d'Asie centrale |language=en |issue=3/4 |pages=129–143 |issn=1270-9247}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=India in the World; the World in India 1450-1770 |url=https://www.asianstudies.org/publications/eaa/archives/india-in-the-world-the-world-in-india-1450-1770/ |access-date=2024-10-03 |website=Association for Asian Studies |language=en-US}}</ref>

=== Colonial era ===
{{See also|Britons in India}}
[[File:Calcuttarugby.jpg|thumb|214x214px|An 1875 painting of [[Rugby football|rugby]] being played by Europeans in [[Calcutta]] (today Kolkata).

[[Western sports]] were first adopted in the Indian subcontinent during British rule.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Love |first1=Adam |last2=Dzikus |first2=Lars |date=2020-02-26 |title=How India came to love cricket, favored sport of its colonial British rulers |url=https://theconversation.com/how-india-came-to-love-cricket-favored-sport-of-its-colonial-british-rulers-132302 |access-date=2024-10-04 |website=The Conversation |language=en-US}}</ref>]]
The [[British India|British colonial presence in India]] varied in characteristics over time; British people generally stayed in the colony on a temporary basis, and were sometimes aiming to avoid local cultural habits and contact.<ref>{{Cite journal |title=7 7 Avatars of Identity: The British Community in India |url=https://academic.oup.com/book/7206/chapter/151847257 |journal=}}</ref> Children would often grow up in India, be sent to Britain to receive a "proper" education,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Keenan |first=Brigid |date=2021-03-25 |title=The lifelong effects of being a child in the British Raj |url=https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-lifelong-effects-of-being-a-child-in-the-british-raj/ |access-date=2024-10-04 |website=The Spectator |language=en-GB}}</ref> and then return to India as adults.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Buettner |first=Elizabeth |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zbNpmZjykv8C |title=Empire Families: Britons and Late Imperial India |date=2005 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-928765-9 |language=en}}</ref> With the mortality rate for foreigners being high at the time due to disease, playing [[British sports]] was one way that the British could maintain their health and spirits; in the words of a contemporary writer, it was best for Englishmen to "defend themselves from the magic of the land by sports, games, clubs."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sen |first=Ronojoy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O5mACgAAQBAJ&pg=PA33 |title=Nation at Play: A History of Sport in India |date=2015-10-27 |publisher=Columbia University Press |isbn=978-0-231-53993-7 |language=en}}</ref>

=== Contemporary era ===
{{See also|Partition of India#Independence, migration, and displacement|East Bengali refugees}}

The modern dynamics of migration to the new Republic of India are often specific to its neighbourhood;<ref name=":0">[http://lib.jnu.ac.in/sites/default/files/pdf/imds_p/IMDS_Dec_2008_WP_1.pdf International Migration Policy: Issues and Perspectives for India] Binod Khadria, Perveen Kumar, Shantanu Sarkar and Rashmi Sharma</ref> for example, 97% of [[Bangladeshis in India|immigrants from Bangladesh]] live in the Bangladesh-bordering regions of the Indian Republic ([[East India]] and [[Northeast India]]).<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Nanda |first=Aswini Kumar |date=2005 |title=Immigration from Bangladesh to India Based on Census Data |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/011719680501400405 |journal=Asian and Pacific Migration Journal |language=en |volume=14 |issue=4 |pages=487–499 |doi=10.1177/011719680501400405 |issn=0117-1968|url-access=subscription }}</ref> [[Medical tourism in India|Medical tourism]] has also been a factor in some migration decisions.<ref name=":0" />

[[Return migration]] of the [[Indian diaspora]] is another factor; for example, because of the [[COVID-19 pandemic]]'s economic disruption, some Indian labour migrants in the [[Arab gulf countries|Arab Gulf countries]] were forced to come to India, generally via the [[Vande Bharat Mission]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Khan |first1=Asma |last2=Arokkiaraj |first2=H. |date=2021 |title=Challenges of reverse migration in India: a comparative study of internal and international migrant workers in the post-COVID economy |journal=Comparative Migration Studies |volume=9 |issue=1 |pages=49 |doi=10.1186/s40878-021-00260-2 |doi-access=free |issn=2214-594X |pmc=8563095 |pmid=34745905}}</ref> (See also: [[Deportation of Indian nationals under Donald Trump]])

== Illegal immigration ==
{{Excerpt|Illegal immigration to India}}

== See also ==

* [[Bureau of Immigration (India)]]
* [[Illegal immigration to India]]
* [[Refugees in India]]
* [[Protected and restricted areas of India]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}{{Immigration to India}}{{India topics}}
[[Category:Immigration to India|*]]

Immigration to India - Revision history

Startupoffices at 17:13, 4 May 2026