Portugal wants to bring back its emigrants with aid and tax exemptions

“The Regressar program reaches a record number in 2025,” announces Público . In the first half of this year, 2,851 Portuguese emigrants applied for this aid, 30% more than in the same period in 2024, the newspaper notes. In total, 37,000 people living in 116 different countries were able to return.

In this case, 17,000 emigrants (including 4,123 from Switzerland and 3,290 from France, the two countries from which the most applications come) have had their applications granted and 20,000 of their relatives (spouses and children) have returned to Portugal since the launch of the program in 2019. An initiative of the former socialist government of António Costa aimed at encouraging the return of emigrants who left Portugal, particularly during the troika period (2011-2014).

The benefits are varied: financial aid that can reach up to €15,000, partial coverage of travel expenses, a line of credit to support business creation, and, above all, a 50% tax exemption on income for five years. Público reports that this last benefit cost the state €48.3 million for 2023 alone, according to the latest available data.

A "significant" amount that Miguel Fontes, the former Secretary of Labor, refuses to reduce to a burden on the state. "The return of workers and residents will also lead to an increase in tax revenue, especially VAT. If they didn't return, some tax revenue would never be collected," argues the man who oversaw the Regressar program from 2022 to 2024 in the newspaper's columns. For him, "this measure has been a success."

A relative success, however, when comparing the number of departures and returns. A further 70,000 people left Portugal last year, according to the latest report from the Portuguese Emigration Observatory, which is reported in the newspaper . Switzerland is their preferred destination.