The RNOR window is the single biggest financial lever for a returning NRI. You get 2–3 years where foreign-source income and capital gains are exempt from Indian tax. The window opens when you land — and it's easy to waste it.
Which accounts to keep open, which to close, which credit cards to cancel, which to keep for the perks. Plus: porting your US/UK phone number to Google Voice so you never lose OTP access to US accounts.
What to do with the account itself — Schwab, Fidelity, IBKR, Vanguard, HL, Trading 212. Which to keep open from India, which close down NRI accounts the moment you change address, which need a residency-update form. The account-level decision precedes the position-level decision.
Your 401k, IRA, ISA, pension, US stocks, RSUs — every asset class has a different answer. None of them is "sell everything and remit to India." The sequencing of what you sell and when is the most consequential financial decision of the move.
GIFT City is India's offshore financial centre — inside India's borders but outside FEMA. After you return, you lose NRE account status. GIFT City is how you keep USD-denominated assets inside India without converting to INR or needing a foreign bank account.
International movers, Transfer of Residence (ToR) for customs duty exemption, shipping vs air freight, what to bring vs sell, pet relocation, and the phone number most people forget — until they're locked out of their US bank account from Mumbai.
OCI, Renunciation of Foreign Citizenship (if applicable), PAN update, and the document sequence that most people get wrong — doing things in the wrong order costs 4–6 weeks. Do it right the first time.