The Centre for the Study of Democratic Citizenship presents:

Immigrant Naturalization in Denmark, the Netherlands and Sweden: Origin, Destination and Life Course in Longitudinal Perspective (1995-2015)

Maarten Vink (Maastricht University)

You can learn more about Professor Vink by clicking here

Abstract: What is the relative influence of characteristics associated with origin country (geographical distance, human development, political regime, dual citizenship acceptance) and the migrant life course (age at migration, marital status, children) on the propensity of immigrants to naturalize, and how do these factors condition the impact of changing citizenship policies in destination countries? Despite a thriving literature on immigrant naturalization, most studies focus on origin country and individual characteristics while attention to institutional variation at the destination country level remains more limited. Data limitations have resulted in analyses that focus mostly on single destination countries and rarely capture policy change over time. This paper draws on micro-level longitudinal data from population registers in Denmark, the Netherlands and Sweden from 1995 to 2015. These data allow us to track the naturalization propensity of six migrant cohorts from up to 200 origin countries over a period of fifteen years for each cohort. The longitudinal and comparative design of the study enables an analysis of the influence of changing citizenship policies, covering both major institutional changes within countries over time (restrictions in Denmark in 2002, 2006, 2008 and dual citizenship acceptance in 2014; restriction in the Netherlands in 2003; acceptance of dual citizenship in Sweden in 2001) as well as a comparison of long-term differences between these countries.

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This series is sponsored by the Inter-university Centre for the Study of Democratic Citizenship, which is funded by the Fonds de recherche du Québec – Société et culture (FRQSC).