Published : 17 Aug 2026, 08:26 PM
Updated : 08 Sep 2026, 09:33 AM
President Donald Trump’s tougher immigration policies are prompting a growing number of skilled professionals from India and China to leave the United States and return home, The Straits Times reports.
American Big Tech firms, long the largest sponsors of H 1B work visas, now face higher costs and stricter rules for hiring foreign talent.
Proposed fees of up to $100,000 for new applications and a $4,000 surcharge for renewals have added to the uncertainty.
In 2025, about 15,100 Indian professionals returned home compared with 9,800 the previous year, while China saw more than half a million graduates return after study abroad.
H-1B approvals for the top 100 employers, including Amazon, TCS, Infosys, Apple and Microsoft, are also on track to fall by more than 10 percent in fiscal 2026 from 2025, according to The Straits Times' analysis of US Citizenship and Immigration Services data.
The trend is also being fuelled by layoffs, hiring freezes and AI-led restructuring across the US technology sector. Indian and Chinese nationals account for about 70 percent and 12 percent of H-1B visa holders respectively, with most working in tech.
Some returnees are finding opportunities in India's growing Global Capability Centres, although salaries are generally lower and returning professionals are not necessarily valued more unless they have specialised data or AI skills.
For Chinese professionals, China's expanding technology sector is providing another reason to return. Some say the uncertainty surrounding H-1B visas has made remaining in the US less attractive, particularly when the visa can tie workers closely to a single employer.
For Deepak, now working in Bengaluru, returning home meant accepting India's pollution, poor civic services and lower pay. But he considers the move “the best decision”, with his children, aged 13 and eight, remaining his only close link to the US.
