Around 20,000 Seychellois returned home in the decade before 2020. Coming home is normal, it is common, and it is still harder than the homesick imagination expects. This is the honest version.
Citizenship and papers
Seychelles allows dual citizenship, so taking another nationality does not automatically cost you your Seychellois citizenship. Individual histories differ, so confirm your status with Immigration and Civil Status through gov.sc before you build plans on it. If you were born abroad to a Seychellois parent, start the paperwork early. Civil status records move at island pace.
Work
The islands have a genuine skills shortage. Health, education, engineering, hospitality management, marine trades, finance. Diaspora returnees with foreign training are wanted, and that is official policy, not just sentiment. Salaries are lower than in London or Dubai while the cost of living is not proportionally lower, so run the numbers on real terms, not on nostalgia.
Cost of living
Almost everything is imported and priced like it. Housing on Mahé is expensive and scarce, and government housing has long waitlists. Cars carry heavy import costs. Budget conservatively for the first year and treat any surplus as a bonus.
Moving your life
Returning residents should check the current rules on importing personal effects and vehicles with the Seychelles Revenue Commission at src.gov.sc before shipping anything. The difference between the right paperwork and the wrong paperwork is measured in tens of thousands of rupees.
The part nobody writes down
You will not return to the Seychelles you left. Home changed while you were away, and so did you. Returnees who thrive treat the return as a new migration, with the same patience they gave London or Perth in year one. Give it eighteen months before you judge it. Lakaz i reste lakaz. Home is still home.