-says this demonstrates the trust & confidence of the diaspora in the PPP/C government

The growing trust in Guyana’s economic and political climate has been demonstrated with the remigration of 409 Guyanese to their homeland in 2024. During the opening day of the 2025 Budget debates on Friday, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation, Hugh Todd highlighted that the majority of these re-migrants hailed from countries such as the United States (US), United Kingdom (UK), Canada and various nations in the Caribbean.

Todd said that the government, under the leadership of President Dr Irfaan Ali, continues to aggressively pursue the involvement of the diaspora community in the national development.
The Foreign Minister said, “In 2024, Guyana undertook more than 15 diaspora engagements in approximately eight jurisdictions. We will continue to engage with Guyanese living abroad to encourage their involvement in the national development process.” He also pointed out that the ease and efficiency with which Guyanese nationals are now able to return to their home country is a direct result of the administration’s efforts to streamline the re-migration process.

“The remigration unit continues to process applications within seven working days. This represents one-third of the processing time under the ANPU+AFC [A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance for Change] government,” Minister Todd remarked during his speech.

He further shared that since the PPP/C took office in August 2020, the government has processed approximately 2,000 qualified re-migrant applications, a significant achievement that reflects the growing trend of Guyanese nationals returning to their homeland. “This highlights the trust and confidence of the diaspora in the PPP/C government,” he emphasised.

The Diaspora and Remigration Unit within the ministry continues to play an essential role in processing applications expeditiously. For those wishing to apply for re-migrant status, the required documentation and step-by-step guidelines are readily available on the ministry’s official website, as well as on the websites of Guyanese Embassies and High Commissions located overseas. The Re-migrant Scheme of the Government of Guyana is administered by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation in conjunction with the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA). The ministry is responsible for determining and granting re-migrant status while the GRA administers the tax exemptions.

To qualify for re-migrant status, a Guyanese citizen must meet certain criteria. The individual must be at least 18 years old, have lived legally overseas for a minimum of five consecutive years, and intend to return to Guyana or a Guyanese graduate who has completed their studies at an institution abroad and resided overseas for a minimum of three years and is now returning to Guyana to reside. Upon meeting these conditions, the applicant qualifies for all tax exemptions offered by the GRA under the Re-migrant Scheme.

In his 2025 budget speech, Finance Minister Dr. Ashni Singh emphasised the government’s commitment to involving the diaspora community in Guyana’s national development. He said the administration worked to reverse changes to the re-migrant scheme, stating that engaging the diaspora is crucial to maximising the potential of the country’s human resources. To date, he said, the government has worked to enhance services to the diaspora through the revival of the Diaspora Unit and the re-establishment of stakeholder engagement programmes. Several fruitful engagements with the diaspora in recent times, the Virtual Diaspora Conference in 2021, webinars on remigration and investment in 2023, and job fairs held in Suriname, Trinidad and New York in 2024.

These, the Minister noted, have resulted in significantly higher interests in remigration and are evidenced by the surge in re-migrant applications approved over the last four years.