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going back to india, going back to india facts, going back to india tips, move back to india, moving back to india, Returning to India, returning to India facts, returning to India tips, who is returning to India, why returning to india
Completed one year in India, believe it or not we are still recovering from the hangover of this move. Took so much time to get back to routine, check out this long due update…
Some tips: I will start with some tips:
1. You need to fill a request to direct your mail to someone who can further either courier mail to you, or scan and send. This can be done through USPS.com, you should sign up for online fax and online mail service as well. There are lot of websites where you can upload document and send fax, you can also try http://www.mailaletter.com for sending letters.
2. IRS needs to be notified about the address change. I suggest you give POA to your CPA this will help you many ways.
3. Make sure all your credit cards are paid off; if not then link those accounts with your main bank account.
4. Biggest problem that I had faced was related to property taxes, in many cases because of the recession tax collection agencies staff had been cut short and most of them do not accept electronic payments. Make sure you have pay bills online capability, most of the banks offer this capability.
5. Most of the banking and financial institutes will pick up the address change notification through USPS but there are still few institutes that you may need to go back online and verify the change, so make sure you are carrying all user ids and passwords.
6. Generally people suggest buying furniture abroad thinking it’s probably cheap and have better quality but that is not the case, I think it’s just mental setup of dollar conversion. We had bought a leather sofa for USD5K but I found better stuff here in India for that much money. You can avoid shipping that hefty stuff.
7. One of the common question asked is if TVs purchased in USA are going to work in India(PAL and NTSC is a confusion). This is not a concern anymore, I had 4 flat TVs and which I was literally donating but my shipper suggested to carry them and try out, was surprised even the one which I bought in 2002 worked here without any problem. So get all TVs that you have purchased as flat TVs are still costly here.
8. If you are keeping your properties and have not already rented them out, you need to fill up a landlord agreement with the utility companies, it ensures that when tenant moves out of the home, office or any property then utilities get transferred under your name till the time next tenant moves in. If you do not do this then chances are that you need to re-initiate request all utilities from scratch.
9. If you are shipping any of the electric/electronics equipment, check if it can work on 220V if not then get converters from USA(Amazon.com is the place to get them all), they are all made in China but have better quality than but is available in India. Also see the wattage and multiply the same with 1.5, e.g if your TV consumes 1000W then get converter which has capacity of 1500W.
Set your expectations right: One thing is very clear you need to format your hard disk of expectations on many fronts. If you are coming back from countries like USA then understand that India is a country which is four times smaller in area and has four times more population than USA which creates an overall impact of sixteen times, this impact is huge and means smaller homes, smaller cars, narrow roads and lot of people around you. But if you are in business then this also means that you have 16 times more opportunities available. Move to India could also prove to be very expensive if you think you will carry the same lifestyle that you had been carrying abroad.
Infrastructure: I could not find one thing that is not available here now, rather in many fronts India may have already beaten many countries e.g. communications, education, medical tourism etc. Some of my friends do ask about, roads, cleanliness, civic sense of people. Message for them, things are changing here fast but if you are going to compare India with USA, UK, Australia then you will be disappointed, compare with what you have seen 10/15 years back. If you keep that mindset then you will appreciate the progress here.
Place where you are moving to: Try to move back where your base used to be or where you have your most friends or family members. Sometimes your jobs could impact this decision but think twice and explore if you have any opportunity available in the area where you have proper support system of friends and families. When you move abroad chances are that you have established your life independently without any help but that is only possible because systems abroad do not impact consumers and normal public, India is a different ball game you have to have your circle to get many things done.
Kids: Kids have completely surprised me with their adaptation and how well they have settled down here. Not even a single time they have complained rather seeing poverty here they have started appreciating and thank God for all what they had been experiencing. Try to get kids in a decent school and see if you can get good apartment or Villa with club and parks. Today many such communities are popping up in main cities of India. If you push your kids in your legacy home and traditional cities, chances are it’s not going to work. Food is not a problem at all; right from Papa Johns Pizza and Baristas to great Italian and American restaurants are available in major cities. Also most of the international festivals are celebrated here, today is October 31 and there are so many kids celebrating Halloween in our community. Kids do not miss anything here in India now.
Schools and Education: I was little bit worried about school and board system in India but depending upon the grade of the kid you may have various choices. There are many international schools available. When I was researching about schools, many friends and relatives told me that we may have to donate lot of money to get them into the school. I was taking a big chance, always hated donation system but was mentally prepared, come what may, I will not admit them to a school where donations are demanded. And for that reason I had prepared list of 5-6 schools and thought of trying one by one. We were very lucky that we went to the first school and my elder daughter was offered an admission without any such demands; rather both younger kids were also offered admission at sibling discounts. Our daughter is excellent in studies and was advanced student in USA but I don’t know till date, if it was our luck or the school was impressed with her credentials or they actually do not entertain these bad practices. I found most of the international schools have best of the infrastructure. If possible admit your kids in good international school, this will really help you.
Help Available: There is a lot of help available, now professional companies are popping up everywhere who can arrange service maids for you with proper background check up etc. We used to pay $1300 for the maid in USA, and for that much money you can hire 5 maids here, right from cook, cleaning maids, gardeners and driver. This is a big advantage.
Law and Order: Many friends from USA have asked me about law and order in India, law and order here may not be up to the level but consider these two examples, there was a bomb blast in Pune, no one got hurt but 11 people lost life in USA when they were watching movie. During same time there was another attack on Sikhs in USA and I guess 6 people got killed. I seriously think that there are bad and good people everywhere, if you are a target or have bad luck then you are not safe anywhere.
Pinch: This is for most of our friends; we may have discussed “No love for materialistic stuff”, but trust me once you move and start living here, you get very different feeling. We miss our cars, I had been to Merc showroom and GL 550(Most of us owned) that monster is costing here 1.5 CR INR, 2/3 times costlier than what we paid in USA, even if you think you will spend that much, that brings security concerns and you may have your BP shoot up if someone hits the car. We miss our home (which probably is not worth more than 750K USD), space, environment and neighbors. Here in Gurgaon if I need to own something like that home then you are talking at least 10-15 Cr INR minus infrastructure. So check your bank balance and adjust your lifestyle accordingly.
Struggle: No doubt there is so much of help available here, but I miss friends, my lifestyle, I miss driving, I miss cooking, I miss how I used to handle all handy work myself. You need to understand very well who you are, can you bribe, can you deal with black money, do you have patience to see that someone bumps into your car and does not even stop, and in the end do you have enough time to deal with the poor commitment level of people around you. Systems are improving but our generation may not be that lucky to see what we experience abroad. I see things that I cannot tolerate and are wrong and every day I struggle with the question, should I be part of these wrong practices? If I become part of it then I struggle internally and if I do not then I know things will not move at all. Every time seeing so many poor people everywhere makes me think why I am sitting inside this car and why this lady, man or kid is struggling outside. I hope God gives me strength to do something constructive to help these people. This is my personal situation but you may be able to handle these issues at different level.
Satisfaction: Close to friends and family, nothing can beat that. Kids are very happy, I feel like we have given them something which they had been missing. They don’t want to go back and we are very proud. Our 6 years old son when sees garbage on the roads tells us that he will make garbage bins and teach people how to use them rather than complaining about it. For us that is a big win and I hope nothing pops up in future and if it does then I do not mind being an international citizen.
Maggie said:
The tips were quite helpful! Thank you so much for sharing 😀
RG said:
Thank you.
samee said:
Great article! since from few months we are preparing mentally to move back from Uk to India and I came across with this article…very logical and honest..it kind of encouraged us to get firm with our decision. Thank you for sharing your experience.
RG said:
Thanks for your feedback. Good luck with your move. 🙂
Lalith said:
Of all the blogs I have seen about expats returning to India, this one made the most sense. I am not looking at moving to India but I did want to do some research and while most of them abuse the “Indian system”, this is well written and logical. I loved the part where your kid wants to build garbage bins. You sir, brought up your kids the right way. I will be a very proud dad if my son does say that (he is only 20 months). Thanks for sharing your experience.
RG said:
Thanks a lot for your feeback, truly appreciate it. Good luck and have great time with your little sunny..:)
shankara said:
Tips are practical and honest
RG said:
Thx Shankara 🙂
prem said:
I loved your tips. Practical and honest. I have similar thoughts about our country because I am moving back in a few weeks. I am sure my whole family will be happy when we all get together for any sort of function or festival. Also, the kids wont be ignorant about other religion like the kids here.
RG said:
Thanks a lot for your comments and good luck with your move..:)
ST said:
Very well written in matter-of-fact style. One question regarding school, any problems in terms of admission formalities e,g transfer certificate, etc? Thanks!
RG said:
Thank you. Private schools are quite flexible, but I suggest you do arrange transfer certificate and recommendation letter for your kid/s. School abroad sometimes are not aware of transfer certificate, you can search over the net for proper language and get it printed on school letter head.
Akanksha said:
We are panning moving back to India after spending 9 years in US. Could you please help share your experience with the moving company that you used to ship your stuff from US.
RG said:
Few things you need to worry about, my friends had these experiences 1. Some of the expensive items got lost. 2. Things were broken. 3. Took too much time for the goods to arrive in India. So my suggestion is, do not look for too much savings as you may think that you are getting the best deal but may affect something else. I was very impressed with the company I used, 0 damage, 2 days delay and great staff. Drop an email to admin@cpworldwideshipping.com and ask for Sam Chopra and ask for the quote. Not sure if these guys offer services in your area though. Good luck with your move!!
Neha said:
Too good…… I completely agree with your views and especially I love that Line where u said ” V should not compare India with US, UK etc but v should see how it was 10 years back”. V have been living in US since 4 years and now I really feel like going back but every single day our confusion is increasing as we really are not able to decide between our hearts and brains. Heart always choose India and brain forces us to stay here. Sometimes I think we may adjust very well there but my Husband does not want to give up with the JOB CULTURE he is enjoying here. He is in IT and in India IT managers are literally slogged. Here we are getting more family time as the work hours are fixed. Getting more time spend with your family is a BOON and as you said there are another 1000 reasons to stay here and enjoy calm and peaceful life but still there is only one reason for me to go back to India and that is I just WANT to go back. Thanks for the wonderful views you have shared. This will definately help us to decide whether we should stay in India or USA.
RG said:
Thanks a lot for your feedback. Hope your hubby doesn’t track me down if you get him to agree for this move 🙂 Good luck though..
smart said:
Nice statement about what heart says and what brain says …. you guys are not alone !
Puneet said:
RG Great stuff !!
I myself have lived in Australia for more than a decade, could not agree more with your comments, have returned to India to give it a shot. So far things are working out okay, found a decent job, kids have settled well, wife is planning to go back to work. everything is working like a charm. Not sure why I still get the feeling that we may still end up going back (a gut feel so to say). I gather you have relocated to somewhere in Gurgaon, Property is hard to touch with the prices in gurgaon so you end up comparing your lovely house back in oz with what you are getting here for the same price, which could be deal breaker for most.
Only one thing that keeps bothering me is the future of our kids, Australia was safe, kids probably would have had more opportunity, overall feeling is; while India is shining, quality of life is better over in OZ.
If I think with my heart, would want to stay in India because of love and affection, you are among’st your own people, you feel at home, kids love it but if you think with your brains, all fingers point to back to Australia, still double minded after spending almost 1 yr in India.
It’s really a hard call, heart vs brains? No matter what decision you take, you will always end up thinking that the other could have been better.
There is no right or wrong answer, its what you want makes you feel happy, sometimes the “feel good factor” could be much more that clean air, water, zero pollution etc etc…
Having said all of this, questions still remains 🙂
Cheers
RG said:
Thanks Puneet..we(NRIs) are sailing on the same boat. As you said, feel good factor has taken a lead but I guess time will only tell if this was the right decision. We have shown both worlds to our kids, it’s up to them..they have choice of staying here or go back or may be explore another world..:)
melbourne desi said:
puneet
similar position to yourself. in Oz – I don’t want to go back (cant stand India) but need to go due to family reasons (aged parents). parents wont move to oz
Wonder how I will cope.
DD said:
Nice piece RG. Can you tell me in which month did you move to India. I am asking this because schools in the US end in June whereas in India the session starts in March/April. So, if a child completes his session in the US he will join his class late in India. I am little concerned about this because, as such, it will be a new setting for the child, and chances are that he will be overwhelmed.
Or, may be I am wrong. My daughter will complete grade 6th in the US in 2014 so I was a bit concerned.
RG said:
Thanks DD. We moved in the month of October and yes session timings was a valid concern. We handled this situation by enrolling kids to international school, some benefits..better environment, flexibility, infrastructure,
and kids do get extra support from school(Should be discussed with the school at the time of enrollment).
Our kids did not know Hindi but school arranged special classes for younger kids. Our elder daughter was in 9th grade when we moved and she did just fine but she had opted for Spanish instead of Hindi.
For 6th grader I really do not see any problem other than if you are choosing CBSE board then in that case Hindi as subject is must and if she has not learnt Hindi earlier then there is wide gap of 5-6 years of learning.
G said:
Hi,
This is kind of personal question and it is totally upto you to answer it or not.
Looking at the inflation and all the prices in india right now, do you think it’s possible to get the decent lifestyle with only one person’s IT job for whole (4 members) family?
RG said:
No worries, I will try to answer, it’s a tough question because many variables are involved but to put it in simplistic way, refer to the chart below and adjust it according to your lifestyle. This list does not include everything but mostly cover major expenses.
Monthly Budget Average Comments
Rent 30,000.00 Can run up to 100,000 if you choose better communities and bigger place
Utilities 15,000.00 Depends how much AC and elctric/water/gas usage
Driver 12,000.00 If you are driving then this can be ignored
Maid 6,000.00 Multiply the number if you need more than one
Grocery/+ 20,000.00 Depends on your lifestyle
Car/Gas/+ 10,000.00 Depends on your lifestyle
Kids Fees/+ 40,000.00 For 2, can go up if kids are in PYP/IB and down if CBSE
Kids Activities 10,000.00
Weekend/Outing/Vacation 15,000.00 Depends on your lifestyle
Hope this will help.
Chulkibai said:
IT people are over paid both in US and India. Paid more than what they worth and what they should get. I am sure with 1 IT income you can live a king size life.
Anu Mehta Kapoor said:
GOD bless you , you just made my decision easier , all will be great coz I will be back with Family that’s what counts 🙂
RG said:
Thanks a lot, and good luck.
chirag Save said:
Nice article!
RG said:
🙂
PS Reddy said:
RG thanks taking time to write such a nice article about relocating to India. We have lived here in US for the 5 years. I really want to move back but having hard time to take the decision. Your writeup was the most sensible one on this topic. Thanks.
RG said:
Thanks Reddy
abhishek said:
I am not moving to india in immediate future but this is something on horizon. I am in the planning phase of finding reasonable opportunities and saving here in usa to make up for likely lower compensation in India when I move. Your article has come out to be the best so far in my research and wanted to thank you for sharing.
RG said:
Thanks Abhishek, appreciate your feedback.
Moeen said:
Extraordinary Article RG.
Privileged to read your realistic feedback and approach.
You have turned a massive issue of relocation into a very simple guided solution for ( Indian-western families) .
Will be relocating soon from UK .
Few questions for you :
1. Any recommendations on Medical insurance ?
2. Would you advice to register for VPN service to access UK servers from india.
3. Virtual UK number linked with india service provider to receive call for less ?
Will highly appreciate your input.
Regards
Moeen.
RG said:
Moeen, thanks for your feedback. Please see below:
1. Medical insurance in India is a different ball game, it is not mandatory, routine medical services and medicines are available at low price. But to cover any major emergency you still may need insurance coverage. Check these two companies, http://www.icicilombard.com and, http://www.bharti-axagi.co.in
2. OK, in my case since all operations are still in USA, I do have a dedicated server, but VPN may be required only if you are going to shop online from UK based web sites(Sometimes these websites would restrict sales of some products in India), second reason would be to use any internet based service which is not available or have restrictions in India, e.g. Netflix.
3. This is an excellent idea, even if you move to India, you will get calls from UK based friends and families. In fact I had carried my same number that I had for years and signed up with Vonage, through them you can further redirect calls to your India no. if you can do this then you do not have to share your new number and will be a seamless process. I am paying around $30 per month for this service.
Hope this will help. Good luck with your move.
RG
Sandeep said:
Well written article, Rajesh. Quite fair and balanced in terms of providing perspective. We are in the same boat as most people reading this blog- been in the US for a decade or longer, have a one year old, worried he will grow up without knowing his grandparents very well. My father met him for the first time last month in India and my son was scared of him-broke my heart. I know stranger anxiety at that age is to be expected but it just shows how things will be like if we continue to stay so far apart. We cant move back for a couple of years due to some personal reasons but this blog really helped me counter the relentless negativism about India I hear, especially from Indians both in the US and back home.
RG said:
Thanks Sandeep, this observation about your son towards your father is heart touching and sometimes these moments empower you to make critical decisions in your life. Wishing you good luck and hope soon grandson and grandfather would be giggling together 🙂
Aniket said:
It is little off topic in reference to questions asked here but RG could you tell if you have job in hand before moving? Also how to look for job in India while statying in US. In my case I am looking for more senior role with more than ten years experience in IT field.
RG said:
I have my own business so did not have to go through job hunt but what I have seen working is find out a job in India first, you will be well positioned in negotiating terms. Finding a job would be through normal channels go through job board web sites or use head hunters.
SJ said:
Thanks for this great article RG. I found this very helpful as we are moving to Chennai on 20th Dec from the US. Because of the negative comments and feedback that I have received from people(Indians) here, I was wondering whether I have made a bad decision. I’m tired of hearing bad things about India , especially from Indians. I am happy to know that there are people like you,who are feeling good about India.
It really puts my mind at ease, as I’m going through this process now. Thanks again RG.
RG said:
Thank you and appreciate your comments. Good luck with your move.
Zainab Daud said:
Thanks for such a great article, I am moving to India Navi Mumbai with my 3 kids for culture, lifestyle change, trying to show them a different life, I was raised in UK, married and moved to USA since past 11 yrs, and looking for a change. Your blog made sense and has made me reaslise I am doing the right thing
RG said:
:), good luck..
Aman said:
rajesh,
Thanks for very detailed insight. I was wondering if you can share the school you finalized for your kids as well any recommendations for apartment communities? we are moving from USA to Gurgaon in May 2014 and and this information will be very useful.
thanks in advance
RG said:
Aman, thanks for the feedback. We had finalized GDGWS, but you may also consider AES, SriRam, Pathways, Suncity and Scottish. As far as apartment
communities are concerned, these recommendations are tough, Gurgaon has apartment rents starting from 20K to 500K per month. With the price many thing varies. Nirvana, Vatika, Orchid, Heritage are few decent ones.
I suggest to stay in hotel or service apartment for few days and evaluate yourself. Do include 100% power backup which can run all ACs in your priorities. Good luck with your move.
Monika said:
Hey Rajesh,
I read about cpworldwide on your blog and met someone from there. How was your experience? Did you take 20 or 40 foot? husband likes them for they are estimating us at 20 …only ones 🙂 all else think its 40 ! but my concern was more about the overall experience n the handling of our goods.
thank you for your time on this blog. we are moving to Delhi and are apprehensive about the outcome 🙂
Monika
RG said:
Hello
We had used cpworldwide in 2011, they were wonderful. But I do suggest to ask them to provide
latest references. We had 15 years of stuff to move so 20T did not work. If you think
you are moving a lot of stuff then go for 40T as in the end you do not need any surprises and
differential cost between 20T and 40T is not too mcuh. Good luck with your move..:)
RG
Monika said:
Thank you so much. One more question..please. We are taking fine china and a lot of crystal . Were you satisfied with the packing and handling of these items?
Thanks again for all your suggestions and help.
Monika
RG said:
We had lot of fine china and many big screen TVs. Since we had zero loss, I guess they knew what they were doing. Also you can tell them to take extra care of expensive items. You can also think about the accidental insurance as few things are not in their hands.
RC said:
Hey Rajesh,
Thank you very much for your logical and sensible write-up. I am planning on moving to Bangalore after 13 years in USA.
Do I need to close my bank accounts with Chase, Bank of America, and other credit union if I am not a resident of US anymore. What happens to the credit cards?
Do I need to submit my SSN card and Driver’s License?
Do I need to personally report to USCIS about my departure?
Do you have any suggestions to select the board (CBSE/ICSE, I am not sure what else is available) for child’s education?
Can I transfer my cell phone number to any Indian carrier?
Thanks
RG said:
Do I need to close my bank accounts with Chase, Bank of America, and other credit union if I am not a resident of US anymore. What happens to the credit cards?
I suggest keep one account active which has no monthly fees. You may be returning for good, but you still may have to deal with some money related transactions. Also if you do not have income in India then you will not get Indian Credit Card. If your cc company does not charge you for international transactions then I suggest to keep it, again if you ever come back then you can reuse these cards.
Do I need to submit my SSN card and Driver’s License?
If for some reason, you go back on official or family leisure trip and want to drive there then you need IDL. So I suggest keep it.
Do I need to personally report to USCIS about my departure?
If you are on work visa then you may have to consult your immigration lawyer.
Do you have any suggestions to select the board (CBSE/ICSE, I am not sure what else is available) for child’s education?
This depends upon the age of your kid(s), please go through some of the questions asked by other visitors.
Can I transfer my cell phone number to any Indian carrier?
Nope. You can redirect calls through VOIP service providers like Vonage but there is monthly fee involved.
Seenia said:
Hi
I know this blog is almost a year old but very relevant and helpful. Thx for posting it. Had a question:
1) we have green card currently and will be eligible to file for US citizenship in a few months. — is there an advantage of citizenship vs. green card before moving back to India?
2) do we file for US taxes even while living in India
3) if the move doesnt work out and we want to return to US, or if we want to visit for holidays, what is the way to retain GC or citizenship
I got some answers from USCIS website but wasnt sure i understood well and would appreciate ur input
Thx
RG said:
Hello, I suggest you should consult your immigration lawyer as the regulations change from time to time, to my best knowledge, trying to provide you some answers, please see below.
1) we have green card currently and will be eligible to file for US citizenship in a few months. — is there an advantage of citizenship vs. green card before moving back to India?
To keep your green card status, you need to make sure that you be in USA for certain days in a year. But if you get citizenship then that hassle is gone. You can
be US citizen and then apply for OCI to be in India.
2) do we file for US taxes even while living in India
This is correct in both cases. Does not matter if you are GC holder or US citizen.
3) if the move doesnt work out and we want to return to US, or if we want to visit for holidays, what is the way to retain GC or citizenship
For citizenship you do not have to do anything, other than retaining your US passports. For GC you have to visit US every year and stay there for certain no of days.
Hope this helps.
RG
VJ said:
Hi Rajesh,
Very helpful blog! Thanks. One question: Are there any drawbacks of staying in India with a OCI card and being a US citizen?
Thanks much!
RG said:
Thanks VJ, OCI is the best option for US Citizens, only two drawbacks that I know are 1. You can not vote 2. You can not buy agriculture land.
Suman said:
Hi Rajesh – Thank you very much for putting together a very practical and sensible article, I surely had a lot of insight after reading this.
l’ll be moving back from USA after 14 years, have one kid that I’ve decided to admit in IB school. But I’m still wondering what could be the best good option to
1) deal with 401-k, some people think rolling over to IRA is best
2) since I have to pay Tax in USA even with a $0 in the W2, would be a good idea to withdraw the 401-K slowly at a rate the amount withdrawn is non-taxable
3) accumulating some incremental fund over next few years for child education like 529 to my son in case he decides to return back to USA for higher studies
Thanks
Suman
RG said:
Thank you, Suman. There are some bigger issues that you have to deal with and if money involved here is substantial then I suggest you should take proper advice. Indian laws on global earnings and US laws are different.
I am dealing this situation currently and trust me this is not easy to handle. I am in a process of writing another blog where how move to India could impact your taxes and earnings. But it will take some time. For the time being please see below:
1) deal with 401-k, some people think rolling over to IRA is best
If you are not going back for sure then you have 729 days to get this money to India, else any withdrawal afterwards will be taxable according to Indian law in India. This initial time limit depends upon the day you
land in India for good and how many times and days in the last 7 years you have spent in India.
2) since I have to pay Tax in USA even with a $0 in the W2, would be a good idea to withdraw the 401-K slowly at a rate the amount withdrawn is non-taxable
This is not true, if you come back to India as US citizen, you will be paying taxes in India on your earnings in India and US taxes for US earnings(Rule 1 gets applied again) and afterwards US has exemption up to certain limit.
But withdrawing money slowly within 729 days, will save you from Indian tax burden, as in that case you will be paying taxes in US according to US law.
3) accumulating some incremental fund over next few years for child education like 529 to my son in case he decides to return back to USA for higher studies
OK, this is a good idea, but again as US law for your 529 account is tax free withdrawal, am not sure how this would impact if you stay in India and become resident here. In my case I had taken out the money.
I strongly suggest you to take proper advice and not follow discussions in forums and blogs including mine.
RG said:
Reblogged this on RajeshGautam.com.
Mike Garrod said:
Hi everyone. I’m looking for couples or families who are considering/planning a move to India from the UK. I was wondering if they’d be interested in allowing the BBC to film their move for a new TV show? Please contact me for more info
Kishore K. said:
Hi RG,
your blog is very informative.
We are also planning to leave USA for good after two years since living is getting tough as there are very few opportunities for middle aged people(40+ old) over here.
My few friends in US have passed away because of heart attack & stroke due to harsh working conditions in Wall street and Silicon valley. I don’t want to be part of
rat race and I think I have seen enough.
Why did you prefer Gurgaon over Bangalore?
Kishore K.
RG said:
Thanks Kishore
Very sad to hear about your friends. We were considering Bangalore and Pune, but family commitments pushed us to move to Gurgaon. Take care, RG
Megha said:
Thanks for the detailed information Rajesh.
We are also planning to move back to India permanently. I have some confusing information about school for my kid, who is US citizen.
As per my information, I can only admit him in International School because of his US citizenship. If I want to admit him in Indian school like the one with CBSC curriculum, I will first have to denounce his US citizenship, get Indian citizenship and at the age 18 my kid will have option to select between the citizenship. Confusing, I know. Can you share anything on this front? Also what school you choose for your kid? International or one with Indian curriculum?
Thanks in advance,
Megha
RG said:
Hi Megha
This information is not correct. You need to apply for OCI/PIO card for her. Schools cannot direct and deny admission on the basis of citizenship. They may have internal limitations about admitting your kid, e.g. in CBSE Hindi is required and is must, we had opted for international school.
RG
Megha said:
Thanks again 🙂
Can you please share why you opted for International School? Just wanted to get as much information as I can before taking the big step.
Really appreciate your reply,
Megha
RG said:
Better security, infrastructure, very flexible and reasonable. Staff is trained to get out of the way to make international kids comfortable at school. Hindi as subject was another challenge where our kids did not know anything and they were provided special help.
Kishore K. said:
Hello RG,
do you have any information about OCI processing in US? First it used to be consulate in NY which used to process OCI, then it was done by travisa, then BLS international and then later COX international. Why are they changing hands in processing OCI. Can OCI be applied in India?
Also I heard renunciation of US citizenship is going to be $2400 from this month Sept 2014. It seems every government is playing their own game.
RG said:
I think OCI application process still stays with COX, it’s better to get it done from USA.
Madangopal said:
Dear Rajesh,
Many many thanks for your article, which is definitely gonna help all who are planning to come back to India.
I am working in the UK for a Indian holding company & will be moving back to India the next month.
Honestly saying in a line for your article ” very practical and true factual one”
I was staying all on my own since last 2.5 years, so more than excited to go back to home land.
I am not sure how long our holding company will retain me back in the Indian head quarters, let us hope for the best.
Thanks for our inspirational article, if majority of our countrymen based abroad start thinking like you, India will soon become a paradise.
Salute to you for the cultured upbringing of your children.
Your words are inspiring…..
Regards
Madangopal
RG said:
Many thanks for your kind words.
RG
MMT said:
Very detailed and helpful article. Thanks a lot. I have a question if you can help.
I am planning to return for good withing 6 months.
What do I do with money held in bank accounts?
Ultimately, I would like to use it in India when I am back and want favorable tax treatment because I have already paid income tax in the US on this amount. Please share your experience. Thanks.
RG said:
You are not going to pay taxes again, but bringing money back to India or not depends upon your long term plan. You should talk to your CPA/CA. There is a certain timeframe that you can get money back to India without paying taxes in India. But do realize that all your worldwide income is taxable either in USA or in India. These rules are very complex so suggest to take proper advice. Good luck with your move.
Swapn said:
Thank you for a very information blog post. I have a quick question regarding the 220V/110V converters.
Can you provide the Product name & details of the 220V/110V converters that you bought for your 1. Flat Screen TV’s and other electrical / electronic appliances with 1000-1500 Watts & 2. Other small wattage devices via Amazon ?
I checked on Amazon.com and it shows a number of adapters but few converters. Your guidance is most appreciated.
RG said:
Pleasure, Here is the link http://www.amazon.com/Goldsource-STU-500-Voltage-Converter-Transformer/dp/B0022QOSDK/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1455081179&sr=8-2-spons&keywords=voltage+converter&psc=1, these converters are by far the best and worked well. You need to check the appliance and see what wattage it consumes, multiply it with 1.5 and then buy accordingly. e.g. if LED TV runs at 100W power then use 150W converter. Hope this helps, good luck with your move.
Aditi Atal said:
Hi, very glad to have come across this blog on the net. My son is 7 years old and we plan to move to India in 3 years from now, so he will be 10 by then. People around me discourage and say if you want to move ,this is the right time, later he wont be able to adjust to the school curriculum and style of teaching.
I want to know what was the age of your kids when you moved and what challenges did they face in school regarding the style of teaching.
Also recently I hear from few friends that the IB board in India is also Indianised in the sense that the curriculum is extensive and they have to study a lot in smaller grades onwards itself, unlike US style.
Thanks in advance!!!
RG said:
Hi, age is not a constraint, it all depends how you are raising your kids and what facilities you can provide them here in India.
When we moved in 2011, they were 17, 8 and 6. Your/Friends’ opinion regarding IB being Indianised
is not correct. Kindly read about IB program, it is one of the most comprehensive thought through
program. And it is has one of the most difficult curriculum. Our elder one had gone through IB and my feedback is Kids have to study not because of the Indianised syllabus but because of the program itself. Pressure starts building from class 9. Kids will be fine, it may be difficult for you as parents to adjust here 😦