Sponsorship of Relatives for Migration and Immigrant Settlement Intention

Siew-Ean Khoo, Australian National University

The paper examines how important family reunification is in immigrants' decision to settle permanently in their country of destination. Using longitudinal data for a cohort of recent immigrants to Australia, it examines whether migrants' permanent settlement intention reported soon after arrival is related to their sponsorship patterns and intention to sponsor, and whether family sponsorship patterns and intention in turn have an effect on immigrants' permanent settlement/return migration decisions. The results show that a significant relation exists between sponsorship of close family members for migration and permanent settlement intention and that the relation is particularly strong among skilled migrants. Immigrants who have sponsored their parents or siblings for family reunification migration are much more likely to settle permanently than those who have not. The policy implications of the findings are discussed.