The number of Indian white-collar professionals returning from overseas grew by about 24 per cent in 2024 and 5 per cent in 2025, according to hiring firm Xpheno.
Another 205,000 have returned so far in 2026, about 17 per cent more than in all of 2025. The firm told CNA its estimates are based on tracking professional movements on LinkedIn.
India still saw more white-collar professionals move overseas than return, according to Xpheno data, but the gap had narrowed. In 2023, three professionals left for every one who returned, compared with about two departures for every returnee so far in 2026.
The US is the largest source of returning Indian professionals this year, according to Xpheno data. Together with the United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Canada and Saudi Arabia, the five countries accounted for 72 per cent of returnees tracked by the firm in 2026.
While the data does not establish why individual workers returned, tech executives told CNA that immigration and employment uncertainty in the US are prompting more Indians to consider returning home.
The uncertainty comes as the US tightened its H-1B programme in 2025, including favouring higher-paid, higher-skilled applicants and imposing a US$100,000 fee on certain new visa applications.
Indians are particularly exposed, accounting for 71 per cent of approved H-1B visa applications in fiscal year 2024, according to the US government data. The US State Department’s move in May to increase the waiting period for employment-based green cards also reportedly added to the uncertainty.
The trend comes as India seeks experienced talent to build its artificial intelligence and semiconductor sectors, though attracting and retaining such workers remains a challenge, experts said.
“India cannot currently compete with the US on compute, research funding or dollar-denominated compensation. So we have to compete on something different – impact and opportunity,” said Amit Sheth, founding director of government-backed Indian AI Research Organization (IAIRO).
Part of IAIRO’s mission is to bring experienced researchers from overseas to work together with young Indian talent.
The rise in returnees poses two challenges for India: absorbing a large group whose overseas experience may offer little advantage, and retaining a smaller pool of sought-after AI and deep-tech talent despite gaps in pay, compute resources and cutting-edge work, experts said.
RETURNING HOME AND RESETTING EXPECTATIONS
Sudeepa Kolli, 25, who moved to the US for a master’s at Cornell University four years ago and later landed a job as a tech consultant for a US software firm, returned to India last week despite having secured an H-1B visa.
She said years of immigration uncertainty shaped her decision, ranging from her desire to return home and the ability to pursue side projects outside her job.
In the US, Kolli said she also created online content and experimented with building small products but turned down opportunities to earn money from them because she feared doing so could violate the terms of her US visa.
“It’s a strange feeling when your instinct is to create something and your second thought has to be, ‘Am I allowed to do this?’” Kolli told CNA about her time in the US.
