Over the last decades states of origin have increasingly adopted policies to keep political, economic or political ties with their emigrants (i.e. non-resident citizens). These emigrant policies vary among different countries and include programs as diverse as return policies, dual citizenship, the stimulation of remittances and the creation of government agencies to administer emigrant issues. The Emigrant Policies Index (EMIX) is a valuable tool to order and structure the emigrant policies adopted (up to the end of 2015) by 22 states of origin in Latin America and the Caribbean. It includes information about 102 policy indicators, grouped hierarchically along 12 dimensions and two components. The EMIX can be a useful tool for policymakers as well as academics working on migration. It aims at contributing to the development of this field by providing a clear conceptualization of emigrant policies, as well as empirically based data that allows users to draw comparisons across countries.
