Naturalisation and mobility in the migrant life course: a longitudinal analysis of the Netherlands

Abstract

The legal status transition from foreigner to citizen is typically viewed as part of the integration process, and therefore associated with permanent settlement. While naturalisation may signal the intention to stay for some immigrants, this perspective neglects that citizenship is not only a token of membership but may also impact mobility rights. To address the mobility perspective on naturalisation, this article analyzes whether and for whom naturalisation is the catalyst for outmigration, using register data from Statistics Netherlands between 2006 and 2019. We argue, theoretically, that naturalisation may increase mobility rights for three specific groups, namely non-EU migrants, those who renounce their original citizenship, and involuntary migrants. We apply an identification strategy that captures selection into naturalisation, and focus on long-term effects. We find empirical support for the hypothesis regarding non-EU and involuntary migration, but not for migrants who cannot retain their original citizenship upon naturalisation. The effect sizes, however, are small, especially compared to the overarching and consistent finding that naturalisation increases the likelihood to stay. Overall, our findings provide no support for the notion that citizenship is generally used as a mobility instrument.