Moving back to India from the USA: a checklist.

Six things, in this order: a tax conversation with a cross-border accountant, your Indian bank accounts, a verified money transfer account with a limit high enough for your savings, a plan for your US bank and retirement accounts, shipping quotes, and a folder of records. Start three to six months before the flight.

Three to six months out: speak to a chartered accountant who handles US and Indian returns, check which Indian accounts you hold and in what status, verify your transfer account, and ask for a higher limit if your savings need one.

One to two months out: send a small test transfer to the account your savings are going to, then begin moving money in planned instalments. Collect shipping quotes, and decide what happens to your US bank account, credit cards and retirement accounts.

The last two weeks: download statements and tax documents from every US account while you still have easy access, update your address where you can, and make sure two-factor codes do not depend on a US phone number you are about to cancel.

After you land: tell your Indian bank that your residential status has changed, and keep every transfer confirmation. You will want them for tax filings in both countries.

Send it from your US bank account to your own Indian account through a regulated transfer service, in planned instalments rather than one transfer on one day. Compare providers on the rupees that arrive, not the fee line, because on a large amount the exchange rate is where the cost sits.

A worked example with a hypothetical provider: it advertises zero fees but gives a rate half a rupee per dollar below the mid-market rate. On $50,000 that is 25,000 rupees that never arrives, and no receipt shows it.

ComplyRemit sends at the mid-market exchange rate, the one you see on Google, with any fee shown on the review screen before you confirm. You can add your own Indian account under Send to yourself and say whether it is an NRE or an NRO account, and the account is checked with the bank before its first payout.

Send a small amount first. It confirms the name matches, the IFSC is right and the account accepts the credit, before the amounts that matter follow.

No legal limit applies to sending your own money from the USA to India. What you meet in practice is your transfer provider's per-transfer, daily and weekly limits, which rise with verification. Check yours months ahead, and ask for a higher one rather than splitting an amount to fit under it.

On ComplyRemit, adding your Social Security number takes about two minutes and raises your limit as soon as the check passes. Beyond that you can request a higher limit with a recent pay stub and bank statement; a person reviews it in about two business days, and approval is not guaranteed.

Sending in instalments because that is how you planned the move is normal. Breaking one amount into small pieces purely to stay under a limit is not, and providers are required to look for it.

There is no single number. Work it out from your own monthly costs in the city you are moving to: housing, school fees, health insurance, transport and support for parents. Then add a cushion for the months it may take to find work, and keep the one-off costs of the move separate.

Figures traded online describe somebody else's city, family and lifestyle. A household that owns its home in a smaller city and one renting near an international school in a metro are not planning for the same life.

Keep part of the cushion where you can reach it quickly. Money locked in a long deposit is not much help in the month a school asks for a year's fees.

Keep at least one US bank account open: you will need it for final paychecks, tax refunds and any money you move later. A 401(k) does not have to be cashed out when you leave. Withdrawing early usually means income tax plus a 10% penalty, so decide with an adviser, not in the last week.

Tell the bank you are moving and ask what it needs to keep the account in good standing with a foreign address. Policies differ, and finding out from India that an account has been restricted is the expensive way to learn yours.

ComplyRemit transfers are funded from a US checking account in your own name, linked through Plaid. Set that up, and send, while your US bank and address are still in place.

Not straight away, for most returnees. People who come back after years abroad usually hold RNOR status for about two tax years, during which income arising outside India is generally not taxed in India. After that India taxes worldwide income, with the India-US tax treaty deciding which country taxes what.

Moving the savings themselves is not income: sending your own money to your own account is a transfer, not a taxable event. What gets taxed is what the money earns afterwards.

The date you land affects which Indian tax year you first become resident in, which is why the accountant comes first on the checklist. The guide on RNOR status covers the tests. This is general information, not tax advice.

They become resident accounts. Under Reserve Bank of India rules, NRE and NRO accounts are redesignated as resident accounts once you return to India to stay, and you can move NRE balances into a Resident Foreign Currency account instead. Existing FCNR deposits can run to maturity. Tell your bank when you move.

This follows India's foreign exchange rules, not your income tax status, so RNOR does not let you keep an NRE account as it is.

Do the slow steps first. A higher transfer limit can take about two business days to review and a bank debit one to three business days to clear, so verify your transfer account and send a test transfer as soon as a move looks likely. Keep your US bank account open after you go.

Workers on an H-1B generally have up to 60 days after their employment ends, or until their authorised stay runs out if that is sooner, to change status, find a new sponsor or leave. That is not long to close out a life, and the money is the part you can prepare before any decision is made.

Setting up a transfer account commits you to nothing. If the next job comes through, you have lost an evening.

It depends on volume, speed and service. Sea freight is priced by the space you take in a container and takes weeks; air freight is priced by weight, arrives in days and costs far more per kilogram. Get at least three door-to-door quotes that state what is included, and insure the shipment.

Ask each mover how Indian customs treats used household goods for someone transferring their residence, and which documents they will need from you. Then ship less than you planned to: most things with a plug are cheaper to replace than to move.

It depends on why you are going, and only you can weigh that. What the move can be is well prepared. The accounts people share afterwards tend to turn on the same four things: work lined up, a school chosen, enough money to take time, and realistic expectations of daily life.

Money will not make the decision for you, but running short of it can unmake one. Plan it first, and the rest of the move gets the attention it deserves.