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Latest visa fee hikes in the America, such as a substantial increase in H-1B visa fees, have prompted the Indian government officials to actively encourage talented professionals to return and participate in domestic development.

An influential official associated with the PM mentioned that the leadership is prioritizing attracting overseas Indians. Meanwhile, another expert suggested that US work permits have historically benefited the United States, and the new fee increase could possibly support India in wooing global talent.

The main argument is that now is the time for India to engineer a reverse brain drain and attract world-class workers in technology, healthcare, and other advanced industries who left the nation over the previous several years.

Preliminary evidence suggest that a tighter visa environment in the United States is leading several Indians to consider coming back. Yet, experts note that convincing many individuals to depart US locations for Indian centers will be easier said than done.

Nithin Hassan is among the few of expatriates who, after two decades in the US, took a leap of faith and shifted to a tech hub last year.

The decision proved challenging. He left a million-dollar job at the tech company to explore the risky arena of start-ups.

"I frequently desired to start something of my own, but my visa situation in the America limited that possibility," he mentioned.

Upon coming back, he's founded a couple of ventures, among them a platform named B2I that assists other expatriates living in the US "handle the personal, monetary, and work-related hurdles of coming back."

He noted that recent changes in United States immigration policy have caused a noticeable spike in requests from professionals interested in return, and the H-1B fracas could accelerate this shift.

"Many experts now realize that a US citizenship may never come, and inquiries to the platform have increased – nearly increasing threefold after policy updates started. In just the last six months, more than a couple of hundred expatriates have contacted us to consider return options," he commented.

Additional talent scouts who work with professionals from US universities support this growing trend.

"The count of learners from top-tier schools aiming to come back to India after their degrees has risen by a significant percentage this season," an executive mentioned.

She noted that the instability is also leading top leaders "evaluate their future prospects in the US."

"Even though many are still anchored there, we notice a clear uptick in CXO and senior tech leaders considering India as a credible option," she added.

The shift in mindset could strengthened by a huge growth in offshore offices – also known as international centers of multinational companies in India – that have created attractive career options for professionals coming back.

The GCCs could act as alternatives for those from the IT sector if the America tightens policies, making GCCs "more appealing to skilled workers, particularly as overseas postings decline," based on a financial firm.

Yet achieving talent return significantly will require a focused and serious initiative by the leadership, and this is lacking, notes a former media adviser to a past prime minister and author on talent exodus.

"Officials will have to go out and actually select individuals – such as leading scientists, workers, and entrepreneurs – it seeks to repatriate. That needs effort, and it should be prioritized by leadership," he stated.

He noted that this approach was adopted by a former leader in the previous era to recruit top minds in sectors like aerospace and nuclear technology and build institutions like the premier Indian Institute of Science.

"The returnees were motivated by a strong nationalism. What is the reason to come back now?" he asked.

On the contrary, there are multiple positive and negative factors that have led to educated individuals repeatedly exiting the nation, he noted, and India has celebrated this pattern, as opposed to reversing it.

The pull factors include a growing variety of nations granting citizenship schemes and citizenship or residency through immigration programmes.

Actually, even as the America strengthened its H-1B visa regime, nations {such as