This work represents a systematic literature review that studies the effect of international migration on the health of households in the countries of origin and of returned migrants. The effect is due to: 1) remittances, 2) transfer of ideas, habits and behavioral norms, and 3) the previous migratory experience of returned migrants. Aspects of health that may be affected are fertility rate, general health condition, access to health services, mental health, life expectancy, anthropometric measures and nutrition, health expenditure, risk factors or health protectors. The search included articles and documents published between January 2000 and August 2017, written in English or Spanish, included in the databases Jstor, Proquest, IDEAS-RePec, Scielo, Google Scholar and PubMed. Based on quantitative and qualitative methodologies, the 85 selected articles, found positive and/or negative effects on health of children, adolescents, women, older adults and returned migrants. This systematic review offers a broad look of the effects of international migration on the health of the ones who stay, which results useful for policy makers and researchers. Not all findings are consistent and therefore, further research on the matter is necessary, considering qualitative approaches.