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New immigration reforms in the United States, featuring a substantial increase in H-1B visa fees, have spurred Indian policymakers to invite qualified professionals to come back and contribute to nation-building.

An influential official close to the prime minister mentioned that the regime is prioritizing repatriating expatriates. Meanwhile, a different economic advisor noted that H-1B visas have consistently benefited the United States, and the latest fee increase could potentially help India in wooing skilled workers.

The main point is that the moment is right for India to facilitate a talent repatriation and lure exceptional experts in technology, research, and diverse cutting-edge fields who departed the homeland over the past three decades.

Anecdotal indicators indicate that a increasingly hostile policy landscape in the US is encouraging several professionals to consider moving back. However, analysts warn that persuading many individuals to depart cities like Bellevue for Bengaluru will be difficult.

A former expatriate is among the few of expatriates who, after two decades in the America, decided to return and moved to a tech hub last year.

The move proved challenging. He quit a lucrative position at a leading firm to enter the uncertain sector of start-ups.

"I've always desired to start something of my own, but my legal standing in the United States hindered that possibility," he mentioned.

Upon coming back, he's launched multiple start-ups, among them a service called Back to India that helps additional NRIs based in the US "manage the emotional, financial, and work-related challenges of coming back."

He noted that latest shifts in US immigration policy have caused a sharp increase in requests from professionals considering return, and the work permit issue could hasten this shift.

"Many workers now accept that a US citizenship may not materialize, and inquiries to B2I have risen – roughly increasing threefold following policy updates began. In just the past half-year, above a couple of hundred non-resident Indians have reached out to explore relocation possibilities," he commented.

Additional recruiters who focus on students from US universities support this change in sentiment.

"The number of Indian students from top-tier colleges looking to come back to India post their degrees has risen by a significant percentage this season," a headhunter mentioned.

She noted that the volatility is also causing top leaders "evaluate their future prospects in the United States."

"While numerous are still based there, we observe a significant uptick in executive and senior tech leaders evaluating India as a viable option," she added.

Such change in attitudes could strengthened by a massive expansion in GCCs – also known as offshore centers of global firms in India – that have opened up viable work opportunities for returning Indians.

The remote centers could act as alternatives for those from the software field in case the US tightens policies, making GCCs "highly desirable to talent, notably as onsite opportunities diminish," as per an investment company.

But achieving reverse migration at scale will require a focused and serious effort by the leadership, and such efforts are absent, says a ex- media adviser to a past prime minister and expert on talent exodus.

"Leaders will have to reach out and effectively pinpoint professionals – featuring elite researchers, workers, and innovators – it aims to attract. That needs work, and it needs to come straight from the top," he stated.

He explained that this approach was used by India's first prime minister in the previous era to bring back leading experts in fields like space and nuclear technology and establish organizations like the esteemed a top research institute.

"The returnees were inspired by a strong sense of purpose. Where is the reason to come back now?" he asked.

Instead, there are multiple pull and push elements that have resulted in skilled workers continuously exiting the country, he said, and India has applauded this movement, as opposed to stopping it.

Overseas incentives comprise a growing range of countries offering citizenship schemes and permanent status through visa options.

Indeed, while the US restricted its work permit rules, locations {such as