The Minister of Labour, Solidarity and Social Security, Ana Mendes Godinho, released this Saturday (17) the Regressar program, which already records 11 thousand accessions, with emigrants who have entered Portugal through the border of Vilar Formoso.
“Since its creation, about 11,000 people have been covered by the Regressar program,” said Ana Mendes Godinho in 2019 on the border of Vilar Formoso, in the municipality of Almeida, Guarda district, where she participated in the initiative “Natal Sem Fronteiras”.
According to the minister, the last half of 2022 is the one that registers “the most applications”, which she considers “a good sign”.
“The countries where most emigrants come from at the moment are first Switzerland, then France and then the United Kingdom. Each of these countries has about 20% of the people who return,” he told journalists.
He added that people who joined the program left Portugal “between 2011 and 2015” and are aged between 25 and 44.
The emigrants covered by the program cited “different reasons and different motives” for entering and returning to their countries of origin, he stressed.
The Minister of Labour, Solidarity and Social Security also explained that emigrants interested in returning to the country under the Regressar program are supported by the Institute for Employment and Vocational Training, for creating their own jobs , and receive a tax reduction “during the first five years when they return to Portugal”.
During this afternoon’s action at the border of Vilar Formoso, the Minister contacted some emigrants returning to the country during this holiday season and provided information on the support measures and benefits of the program for all those who intend to return to Portugal permanently .
“I come here with the same salary and the same conditions [para Portugal]said Nélia Vieira, emigrant in Paris (France), born in Mortágua, in the district of Viseu, when approached by Ana Mendes Godinho.
However, the emigrant admitted “in a few years, only retired”, to return to her country.
Bráulio Silva, who was on his way to Coimbra, also from Paris, in turn said that “at the moment” he is not exchanging Portugal for France, to which he emigrated ten years ago: “France currently has better conditions and a better life than that here”.
The Regressar program, which will run until 2026, “aims to support emigrants who want to return to their country”.
“It covers all government services and provides for concrete measures such as financial support for emigrants or emigrant family members coming to work in Portugal, a more favorable tax regime for those returning and a credit line to support business investment and the establishment of new businesses in the national territory , among others,” according to information from the Portuguese executive.
The Regressar program was created “in a period of economic and labor market recovery in Portugal to encourage the return of emigrants and their families and respond to the lack of manpower” in the country, according to the same source.
In the initiative carried out at the border of Vilar Formoso, the Minister of Labour, Solidarity and Social Security was accompanied by the Secretaries of State for Labor, Miguel Fontes, and for Social Security, Gabriel Bastos, by Paulo Langrouva, member of the Council of Board of Directors of the Institute of Labor and Vocational Training and by the Executive Director of the Contact Point for the Return of Emigrants – Regressar Program, José Albano Marques.
Source: DN
