Roadblocks to citizenship: selection effects of restrictive naturalisation rules

Kristian Kriegbaum Jensen; Per Mouritsen; Emily Cochran Bech; Tore Vincents Olsen

doi:10.1080/1369183X.2019.1667757

Roadblocks to citizenship: selection effects of restrictive naturalisation rules

Kristian Kriegbaum Jensen^*, Per Mouritsen, Emily Cochran Bech, Tore Vincents Olsen

^*Corresponding author for this work

Department of Political Science

Research output: Contribution to journal/Conference contribution in journal/Contribution to newspaper › Journal article › Research › peer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)

Abstract

With rising requirements for citizenship across Western Europe, Denmark is one of the restrictive ‘leaders,’ with tough rules for language ability, economic self-support, and a clean criminal record. But what do these restrictions mean for newcomers’ ability to qualify, and how does this differ between different types of immigrants? Using register data on refugees and family migrants who immigrated to Denmark between 2001 and 2009, we show that tough language requirements exclude more people than self-support and crime rules, and many cannot qualify even after 13 years in the country. Across groups, education level at entry is the biggest predictor of whether and when newcomers qualify. These findings raise questions about the liberal nature of such requirements and about the future of democratic inclusion in Western Europe.

Original language	English
Journal	Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies
Volume	47
Issue	5
Pages (from-to)	1047-1065
Number of pages	19
ISSN	1369-183X
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2019.1667757
Publication status	Published - 2021

Keywords

Citizenship
civic integration
exclusion
family migrants
naturalisation
refugees

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10.1080/1369183X.2019.1667757

Cite this

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title = "Roadblocks to citizenship: selection effects of restrictive naturalisation rules",

abstract = "With rising requirements for citizenship across Western Europe, Denmark is one of the restrictive {\textquoteleft}leaders,{\textquoteright} with tough rules for language ability, economic self-support, and a clean criminal record. But what do these restrictions mean for newcomers{\textquoteright} ability to qualify, and how does this differ between different types of immigrants? Using register data on refugees and family migrants who immigrated to Denmark between 2001 and 2009, we show that tough language requirements exclude more people than self-support and crime rules, and many cannot qualify even after 13 years in the country. Across groups, education level at entry is the biggest predictor of whether and when newcomers qualify. These findings raise questions about the liberal nature of such requirements and about the future of democratic inclusion in Western Europe.",

keywords = "Citizenship, civic integration, exclusion, family migrants, naturalisation, refugees",

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year = "2021",

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Roadblocks to citizenship: selection effects of restrictive naturalisation rules. / Jensen, Kristian Kriegbaum; Mouritsen, Per; Bech, Emily Cochran et al.
In: Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, Vol. 47, No. 5, 2021, p. 1047-1065.

Research output: Contribution to journal/Conference contribution in journal/Contribution to newspaper › Journal article › Research › peer-review

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T1 - Roadblocks to citizenship

T2 - selection effects of restrictive naturalisation rules

AU - Jensen, Kristian Kriegbaum

AU - Mouritsen, Per

AU - Bech, Emily Cochran

AU - Olsen, Tore Vincents

PY - 2021

Y1 - 2021

N2 - With rising requirements for citizenship across Western Europe, Denmark is one of the restrictive ‘leaders,’ with tough rules for language ability, economic self-support, and a clean criminal record. But what do these restrictions mean for newcomers’ ability to qualify, and how does this differ between different types of immigrants? Using register data on refugees and family migrants who immigrated to Denmark between 2001 and 2009, we show that tough language requirements exclude more people than self-support and crime rules, and many cannot qualify even after 13 years in the country. Across groups, education level at entry is the biggest predictor of whether and when newcomers qualify. These findings raise questions about the liberal nature of such requirements and about the future of democratic inclusion in Western Europe.

AB - With rising requirements for citizenship across Western Europe, Denmark is one of the restrictive ‘leaders,’ with tough rules for language ability, economic self-support, and a clean criminal record. But what do these restrictions mean for newcomers’ ability to qualify, and how does this differ between different types of immigrants? Using register data on refugees and family migrants who immigrated to Denmark between 2001 and 2009, we show that tough language requirements exclude more people than self-support and crime rules, and many cannot qualify even after 13 years in the country. Across groups, education level at entry is the biggest predictor of whether and when newcomers qualify. These findings raise questions about the liberal nature of such requirements and about the future of democratic inclusion in Western Europe.

KW - Citizenship

KW - civic integration

KW - exclusion

KW - family migrants

KW - naturalisation

KW - refugees

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Roadblocks to citizenship: selection effects of restrictive naturalisation rules

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