Nationals of 115 countries live in Hyderabad

By U Sudhakar Reddy
Hyderabad March 30 : Hyderabad has now become an international destination, thanks to immigrants from 115 countries settling down in the city.
Most of these are students, while others work for IT companies and in the hotel industry. In 2004, foreigners from about 70 countries resided in the city.
According to the data available with the foreigners branch in the special branch of Hyderabad city police, there are 18,818 foreigners registered.
The number excludes the number of tourists visiting the cityand the ones registered with the Cyberabad police commissionerate.
Students from Armenia, Bosnia Herzegovina, Djibouti, Esplanade, Hellenic, Sierra Leone and Botswana have enrolled themselves in various courses in the Osmania University, Central Institute of English and Foreign Languages (Ciefl), Nizam College and several other colleges in the city.
Foreigners branch inspector of police, Shiva Kumar, said, "Those who stay over six months are registered with us. Students from other countries have to register within 14 days of their arrival."
Yemen, United States of America, Sudan, Somalia, Canada, Australia, Ethiopia, United Kingdom, Pakistan, Nigeria and Australia are some of the top countries in the list of foreign nationals residing in the city, Mr Kumar said.
At least 4,327 US citizens mostly of Indian origin, 5,378 Pakistanis, 1,436 Sudanese have registered in the city in the past four years. Police is also monitoring the movement of tourists in the city.
"To keep tab on the tourists, we have asked all the hotels to send the details of the foreigners checking in with them within 24 hours," said Mr Kumar.
More and more foreigners are queuing up daily to register their arrivals at the Foreigners Branch of Hyderabad Police Commisionerate and Cyberabad Police Commissionerate, Mr Kumar said.