Family migration and national regulations

National migration regulations play a decisive role within the resettlement process of individuals, as those policies can facilitate or hinder family migration. Not every migrant is perceived as being equally welcome by the state – instead, individuals participating in the labour market are prioritized over non-participating individuals. Kofman argued that migrants have to demonstrate their personal responsibility and worth as a deserving citizen to “gain” the right to family migration. Based on such requirements, individuals with a high income possess more flexibility regarding their resettlement, whereas others who do not fulfil the income requirements are restrained in their mobility. Therefore, families with low income aiming for migration are particularly affected by these new policies.

Increased requirements for family migration

According to Kofman, restrictions for family migration have increased in several European countries, such as the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, taking, amongst others, the form of minimum income requirements. Moreover, while previously only spouses had to prove their suitability for migration, in the meantime sponsors also have to fulfil resource requirements. The economic capital of an individual is a measurement prioritized by the state to carve out whether sponsors can independently support their partner and therefore prevent an additional burden on the public welfare system. Kofman explained that due to these developments, class has a stratifying impact on who is eligible for family migration and who is not. The decisive influence of income on the mobility of an individual leads to the premise of the hard working, and therefore deserving, migrant. As a result, migrants with a low income are excluded from resettlement through increasingly restrictive migration policies and problematized as unworthy for admittance.

Gender, class and family migration

Furthermore, Kofman portrays how family migration not only interrelates with the class positionality of an individual but interacts with other categories, such as gender and race. It is more difficult for certain groups, such as women, ethnic minorities and young people, to meet the increased requirements for family migration. As women more often work in part-time or low-paid jobs, such as nursery assistants or care work, and more often partake in care duties, they find themselves in less stable and less secure labour market positions. As a consequence, women are more negatively affected by the increased restrictions and encounter more difficulties regarding the new sponsor and spouse requirements for family migration. Additionally, female sponsors and spouses with a different ethnicity than the majority group in the country of destination experience higher rejection rates for their migration applications. Furthermore, Kofman demonstrated that individuals migrating from one society into another often undergo changes regarding their class positionality. Those changes are, among others, interrelated with gender, as women regularly face more class-related changes and obstacles regarding their resettlement. As a result, while women migrate frequently, their migration often goes along with being placed in de-skilled jobs, such as domestic work.

Cultural capital and individual strategies

Increased family migration requirements are intended to ensure the labour market participation of migrants. As a consequence, in relation to these policies the right to a reunited family life is subordinated to economic logic – migrants have to financially contribute to their country of destination to be tolerated. Due to an enforced transnationalism, individuals cannot decide how they want to arrange their family life. Rather class- and gender-related aspects determine which individuals and families can migrate and design their own living situation. According to Kofman, this notion contradicts what should be aimed at in a moral sense – due to the increased restrictions, economic membership and class status prevail instead of enabling a united family life. Nevertheless, Kofman explained that class also operates through the cultural dimension, such as the cultural capital which enables an individual to develop different strategies to overcome a lack of financial resources, for example, through choosing a different country of destination. In some cases, cultural capital can serve as a resource to develop alternative strategies and circumvent the increased policy requirements.