India Wants to Entice its Brightest Professionals Back from the United States – However It Won't Be Easy
Latest immigration reforms in the US, featuring a sharp rise of H-1B visa fees, have prompted Indian policymakers to actively encourage qualified expatriates to relocate and support economic growth.
A high-ranking advisor associated with the prime minister recently stated that the leadership is focused on repatriating overseas Indians. At the same time, another council member noted that H-1B visas have consistently served the host country, and the latest fee increase could actually support India in drawing skilled workers.
The central point is that now is the time for India to facilitate a talent repatriation and bring back highly skilled workers in technology, medicine, and various innovative fields who left the country over the past several years.
Preliminary indicators show that a more restrictive policy landscape in the US is prompting some Indians to consider coming back. But, specialists note that convincing hundreds of thousands to depart cities like Bellevue for Bengaluru will be difficult.
One returnee is part of the few of professionals who, after two decades in the United States, decided to return and moved to a tech hub last year.
The decision proved challenging. He left a million-dollar job at the tech company to explore the uncertain arena of new ventures.
"I've always wanted to launch something of my own, but my visa situation in the United States restricted that freedom," he mentioned.
After his return, he has founded a couple of businesses, including a service named Back to India that helps fellow expatriates based in the United States "manage the personal, financial, and work-related challenges of coming back."
He noted that latest adjustments in American visa rules have led to a significant increase in enquiries from professionals considering relocate, and the H-1B fracas could speed up this movement.
"Numerous workers now accept that a US citizenship may not materialize, and inquiries to B2I have increased – almost increasing threefold since policy updates commenced. In just the past half-year, more than 200 non-resident Indians have contacted us to look into relocation possibilities," he said.
Other recruiters who specialize in Indian talent from institutions abroad support this change in sentiment.
"The figure of learners from top-tier colleges wanting to relocate to India post their degrees has grown by 30% lately," a headhunter explained.
She noted that the volatility is also causing top leaders "evaluate their future prospects in the US."
"Although numerous are still anchored there, we see a clear uptick in executive and senior tech leaders considering India as a viable alternative," she remarked.
The growing interest could strengthened by a huge boom in GCCs – which are remote operations of international corporations in India – that have provided attractive career options for returning Indians.
The GCCs could serve as alternatives for those from the IT sector when the America closes its doors, making GCCs "more appealing to skilled workers, particularly as onsite opportunities decline," based on an asset manager.
But facilitating reverse migration significantly will need a coordinated and substantial effort by the government, and this is lacking, says a ex- advisor to a previous leader and expert on India's brain drain.
"Leaders will have to go out and actually pinpoint professionals – featuring elite scientists, specialists, and entrepreneurs – it seeks to repatriate. That needs resources, and it must come straight from the top," he emphasized.
He explained that this strategy was adopted by a former leader in the past to recruit top minds in sectors like space and nuclear technology and create institutions like the esteemed IISc.
"Those individuals were motivated by a powerful nationalism. Is there the reason to come back now?" he wondered.
Instead, there are multiple attractive and repelling factors that have resulted in skilled individuals continuously exiting the nation, he noted, and India has celebrated this movement, as opposed to arresting it.
Attractions abroad include a growing variety of nations providing residency programs and citizenship or residency through immigration programmes.
In fact, as the US restricted its work permit rules, locations {such as
