For decades, leaving India was almost a rite of passage. A better passport, a stronger currency, global exposure, and the promise of a secure future pulled millions of Indians across borders. Packing bags and leaving a life behind was not a new story for Indians.
Close to one million Indians have renounced their citizenship over the last five years, with annual numbers crossing the two-lakh mark consistently since 2022, according to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).
But as 2025 draws to a close, a powerful shift is underway. The very people who once left in search of opportunity are now looking back home. This is not a story of failure, nor is it always about dreams fully achieved. It was more about fatigue, fear, belonging, and a change, that India suddenly feels more like home than ever before.
Call it the reverse exodus. Call it coming full circle. or simply, The Great Indian Wapsi.
A growing pull back to home
While covering NRI affairs over the past year, one trend kept repeating itself, across social media, private conversations, and lived experiences. More NRIs are actively planning a return to India.
Even as there was no certain number attached to the trend, a recent survey by SBNRI, a fintech platform, explains this shift clearly. Nearly 60% of NRIs in the US, UK, Canada, Australia, and Singapore are considering returning to India after retirement. The intent is strongest among NRIs in Australia and Singapore, where nearly 80% want to return, followed by 75% in the US, 70% in the UK, and 63% in Canada.
This is not a distant plan anymore. Many have already started investing in India, buying property, shifting savings, and building a financial base for life back home.
What makes this generation different is that they are returning to an India that no longer resembles the one they left. A digitally transformed economy, improving infrastructure, a growing middle class, better lifestyle options, affordable healthcare, and cultural familiarity have made India an emotionally and practically viable choice again.
Visa uncertainty and the H-1B nightmare
Among NRIs, visa anxiety has emerged as one of the strongest push factors. H-1B visa, once a symbol of opportunity, has increasingly become a source of stress.
One major development in 2025 was the hike in H-1B application fees. This led several tech companies to cut back on H-1B hiring, shrinking access for Indian professionals. Indians account for nearly 72% of H-1B visas, making them the most vulnerable to any policy shift. Add to that stricter social media vetting, tighter rules for H-4 visas, and widespread rescheduling of visa interviews, and the uncertainty becomes exhausting.
Many Indians in the US admit they hesitate to even take a vacation. The fear is simple and constant, what if a new regulation comes in while they are away, blocking re-entry? That fear has only increased over the past year.
H-1B visa was introduced under the Immigration Act of 1990 to help US employers fill skill gaps when American talent was unavailable. Today, that original purpose feels diluted. President Donald Trump signed an executive order requiring employers to pay a $100,000 annual fee for H-1B visas to curb what he called the “overuse of the program”.
For many NRIs, this turned out to be a breaking point. The emotional cost of living in limbo no longer feels worth it.
Deportation fears and the loss of security
Beyond visas, a deeper fear now looms, deportation.
Imagine living in the US for 30 years, building a life, raising a family, paying taxes, only to face deportation at the final stage of your green card process. This is exactly what happened to Babblejit “Bubble” Singh, whose case shocked immigrant communities.
These fears are no longer isolated. As Trump took charge for a second term, immigration enforcement tightened further, creating anxiety even among long-term residents.
The United States has deported 3,155 Indian nationals in 2025 so far, as of November 21. But it was the visuals from February this year that deeply shook India.
In February 2025, 104 Indian nationals, including women and children, were deported on a US military C-17 aircraft after nearly 40 hours of being handcuffed and leg-shackled. Videos released by the US Border Patrol showed deportees boarding the aircraft in restraints, leading to outrage in India, with many calling the treatment “inhumane” and “degrading.”
Families of the deportees alleged they were denied basic human necessities, including bathroom access, proper meals, and medical care during the journey. Several said their relatives were treated like “prisoners,” despite not being violent offenders.
For many Indians watching from home, the images of shackled citizens served as a grim reminder that for NRIs and migrants abroad, even decades of residence offer no guarantee of dignity or security, a reality that is increasingly pushing many to rethink life outside India.
Racism, loneliness, and growing anti-Indian sentiment
Financial stability has not translated into emotional fulfilment for many NRIs. Loneliness and social alienation are recurring themes in online forums and personal stories. Several NRIs speak of a lack of community, weak social bonds, and the absence of everyday warmth they associate with life in India.
On top of that, racism has become harder to ignore.
According to the AAPI Equity Alliance’s Stop AAPI Hate report, over 75% of anti-Asian hate speech between December 2024 and January 2025 was aimed at South Asians. A group called Moonshot, which tracks online hate, found more than 44,000 racist slurs against South Asians in extremist online spaces between May and June 2025.
A study titled Anti-Indian Racism on X by the Center for the Study of Organized Hate found that between July 1 and September 7, 2025, nearly 700 hateful posts against Indians received over 281 million views on the platform.
Even prominent public figures of Indian origin have not been spared. Vice President Kamala Harris and Usha Vance faced online abuse, telling us the feeling among ordinary NRIs that acceptance remains conditional.
Political tensions have only worsened perceptions. It is being widely propagated by Trump supporters, aka MAGA community, that Indians on H-1Bs are stealing their jobs. With the unemployment rate at an all-time low Americans have found a villain in disguise and assume that H-1B visa suspension will help in more jobs for them. What’s less known is that Indian Americans only constitute 1.5% of the overall workforce in the country, according to Indiaspora & Boston Consulting Group report.This small demographic pays an estimated $250–$300 billion in income taxes and heads 16 Fortune 500 companies.
For many NRIs, the question became painfully simple, why stay where you constantly have to prove you belong?
Family, culture, and the need to belong
At the heart of the Great Indian Wapsi lies something deeply personal, family.
India’s family-centric culture is difficult to replicate abroad. NRIs often speak of missing festivals, weddings, everyday conversations, and shared meals. For parents, the distance from ageing parents back home weighs heavily. For NRIs with children, there is a growing concern that their kids are growing up disconnected from Indian traditions, language, and cultural values.
Returning to India offers something money cannot buy, a sense of belonging. Being present for family milestones, raising children closer to their roots, and ageing with emotional support nearby has become a powerful motivator.
Government initiatives and structured returns
Government has also created frameworks that make returning easier. MEA issues Emergency Certificates for Indian nationals returning without standard documentation. India has signed multiple migration and mobility agreements that include structured repatriation mechanisms.
MoUs with countries like Malaysia cover recruitment, employment, and repatriation of workers. Migration and Mobility Partnership Agreements, such as the one with Moldova, facilitate mobility ensuring orderly return. India-UK MMPA focuses on regulated movement and return procedures, especially to prevent irregular migration.
These steps, though procedural, send a clear message, coming home is supported.
Coming home to a new India
NRIs returning today are not coming back to the India they once left. They are returning to a country that has changed, and so have they.
The Great Indian Wapsi is not about abandoning global dreams. It is about choosing emotional safety over uncertainty, belonging over alienation, and roots over restlessness. For many NRIs, home is no longer just a memory. It is a future they are finally ready to reclaim.