Naturalization Dynamics in Immigrant Families

Abstract

In recent decades millions of people have migrated to the democracies of North America and Western Europe. Some of these immigrants have become citizens of their new homelands, while others remain foreign residents. This article shows that the family context shapes decisions over naturalization. The costs and benefits of becoming a citizen of one's country of residence depend, in part, on the naturalization decisions of immediate family members. The article draws on evidence from interviews and census data in Austria, and extends the analysis to the USA in order to test the scope for the argument to generalize. I conclude by discussing what family-level dynamics in naturalization can teach us about the concept of citizenship.

Intergenerational Family Relations, Civic Organisations, and the Political Socialisation of Second-Generation Immigrant Youth

“…Specifically, we show that civic organisations that offer young people extensive political exposure not only politicise individual youth participants, but also have an effect on the politicisation of their families. In this regard, our research complements recent cross-national work by Street (2013) which draws attention to family-level processes in shaping immigrant political incorporation.…”

The Influence of Partner Choice and Country of Origin Characteristics on the Naturalization of Immigrants in Sweden: A Longitudinal Analysis

“…Earlier empirical studies on the determinants of naturalization are mainly conducted on a North American context (Portes and Curtis ; Liang ; Yang ; Jones‐Correa ; Bloemraad , ; Chiswick and Miller 2008), whereas studies on European countries have only started to emerge during the last decade (Bevelander et al ; Street ; ; Vink, Prokic‐Breuer, and Dronkers ). Theoretically, as well as empirically, the decision to naturalize has been linked to a number of individual and contextual factors.…”

“…The study did not, however, differentiate between whether the spouse had naturalized. Comparing the United States and Austria, Street () examined the role of the family context in the process of naturalization. The results indicate that individuals who co‐reside with others that have naturalized experience an increased probability to naturalize themselves.…”

“…Starting from an individual level, Yang () was one of the first scholars to assess the probability to naturalize. Later studies have stressed the importance of the family situation for the probability to naturalize (Street , ) as well as the significance of sending countries’ contextual factors. One caveat with a majority of earlier studies has to do with the cross‐sectional nature of the data being examined.…”

Understanding Membership in a World of Global Migration: (How) Does Citizenship Matter?

“… Just moving the level of analysis from individual to family‐based decision‐making can help explain statistical trends that appear to counter cost‐benefit analysis (Street , ). …”