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New immigration reforms in the US, featuring a significant increase in H-1B visa fees, have prompted Indian policymakers to actively encourage skilled Indians abroad to return and participate in economic growth.

A senior advisor close to the prime minister pointed out that the leadership is dedicated to bringing back overseas Indians. Additionally, a different expert suggested that US work permits have historically served the host country, and the recent change could actually support India in wooing global talent.

The central idea is that conditions are favorable for India to facilitate a reverse brain drain and lure highly skilled individuals in IT, healthcare, and other innovative fields who emigrated from the country over the previous several years.

Anecdotal evidence indicate that a increasingly hostile visa environment in the America is leading a few Indians to evaluate moving back. However, analysts warn that persuading large numbers to exit cities like Bellevue for Indian centers will be difficult.

One returnee is among the handful of Indians who, after a long stint in the America, decided to return and shifted to Bengaluru last year.

The move wasn't easy. He quit a high-paying role at the tech company to plunge into the volatile arena of new ventures.

"I long wanted to launch something of my own, but my legal standing in the America limited that possibility," he stated.

Upon moving home, he's founded multiple ventures, including a service called Back to India that assists fellow Indians living in the America "manage the emotional, monetary, and work-related difficulties of returning home."

He revealed that current shifts in American entry regulations have caused a significant increase in requests from people interested in move, and the H-1B issue could accelerate this trend.

"A lot of workers now understand that a permanent residency may not materialize, and queries to the platform have increased – nearly increasing threefold after policy updates commenced. In only the recent period, more than a couple of hundred non-resident Indians have contacted us to explore relocation possibilities," he stated.

Other recruiters who work with students from institutions abroad corroborate this shift in attitude.

"The number of learners from prestigious schools looking to relocate to India post their education has increased by a significant percentage recently," a headhunter mentioned.

She noted that the volatility is also causing top leaders "reconsider their professional paths in the United States."

"While a lot are still based there, we observe a noticeable increase in senior and experienced experts considering India as a serious choice," she remarked.

The growing interest could also be aided by a huge boom in Global Capability Centres – which are international centers of international corporations in India – that have created attractive job prospects for expatriates.

The GCCs could become options for those from the IT sector when the US tightens policies, making GCCs "highly desirable to skilled workers, particularly as onsite opportunities decrease," as per an investment company.

But facilitating reverse migration at scale will need a focused and substantial initiative by the administration, and that's currently missing, says a ex- consultant to a past prime minister and writer on India's brain drain.

"Officials will have to go out and actually identify individuals – featuring leading academics, specialists, and business owners – it wants back. That requires effort, and it should receive high-level support," he commented.

He said that this method was used by India's first prime minister in the previous era to bring back leading experts in fields like science and nuclear technology and create institutions like the renowned IISc.

"The returnees were motivated by a deep mission. What is the reason to relocate now?" he wondered.

Instead, there are various positive and negative elements that have caused educated workers consistently leaving the country, he noted, and India has celebrated this pattern, as opposed to reversing it.

Attractions abroad include a growing variety of countries offering golden visas and long-term stays through immigration programmes.

In fact, even as the United States strengthened its immigration system, countries {such as