Blog
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CBSE Schools Admission Process for NRIs Moving to India (Updated for 2026)
My younger son was 4 when we moved back from the US. He’d only known American preschool. Circle time. Snack time. Show and tell. His teachers called him by his first name. He wore whatever he wanted. Then we walked into a CBSE school in Bangalore for admission. Uniforms. Assembly prayers. Hindi as a compulsory…
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Planning to Move to India Soon? Here are 10 Things You Should Do While in USA
I made a mistake in 2017. I was so focused on the India side of things. Finding a school in Bangalore. Setting up our apartment. Figuring out the banking. I completely ignored the stuff I should have done while still in the US. Dental work. Credit history. Documents. Things that are easy (and cheap) in…
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Benefits for US-Born Kids as a US Citizen Living in India
My younger son was born in California. Three years later, he was eating idli with his hands in a Kochi apartment. Speaking a mix of English, Tamil, and whatever language toddlers invent on their own. That was 2017. He’s a teenager now. He holds a US passport. He has an OCI card. He goes to…
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How to Transfer OCI Card to New Passport
I’ll tell you how I learned this the hard way. 2019. My son’s US passport expired. We renewed it. 2020. Got the shiny new passport. Celebrated. Then we tried to fly to India for Diwali. At the airport check-in counter in Bangalore, the agent looked at the OCI card. Then the new passport. Then the…
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OCI Card Application Process for Returning US Citizens
I got a call from a friend in San Jose last year. “Mani, I just got my US citizenship. I’m planning to move back to India next year. But now I need an OCI card? I didn’t even know that was a thing.” He sounded confused. A little frustrated. He’d spent a decade in the…
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Can US Citizens/NRIs get Aadhaar Card?
A friend from Chicago called me at 11 pm last month. “Mani, I moved back to Bangalore three weeks ago. I went to open a bank account today. They asked for my Aadhaar. I don’t have one. Never got one. Am I stuck?” He wasn’t stuck. But he was confused. And I don’t blame him.…
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What to Do with Your 401K when Returning to India
This is the question that keeps NRIs up at night. Not “which city should I move to?” Not “what school for the kids?” Not even “how do I ship my stuff?” It’s this: “What happens to my 401(k)?” I get it. For most of us who worked in the US for a decade or more,…
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After How Long Will You Lose NRI Status on Returning to India?
This was the first question I asked my CA friend when I decided to move back from the US in 2017. His answer? “It depends.” I hated that answer. But he was right. Because NRI status isn’t one thing. It’s defined differently under two separate laws. And the timelines are different for each. Let me…
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What is OCI Match Up Process?
I remember applying for my son’s OCI card back in 2015. Everything was going smoothly. Application done. Documents sent. Status said “Processed.” Then I got an email that said something about “match up.” I had no idea what it meant. Neither did anyone around me. I called the VFS helpline. Got transferred three times. Finally,…
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What are the Benefits of Child Born in USA for Indian Parents
A few years ago, a member in our BacktoIndia WhatsApp community asked a question that sparked one of the longest discussions I’ve seen. “My wife is expecting. We’re in the US on H1B. Should we plan to have the baby here, or should we go back to India?” Within hours, over 200 messages. Parents sharing…