Volume 47 - Article 10 | Pages 247–290  

Multiple (il)legal pathways: The diversity of immigrants' legal trajectories in Belgium

By Bruno Schoumaker, Mireille Le Guen, Louise Caron, Wanli Nie

Abstract

Background: A growing number of primarily qualitative studies have shown that the legal trajectories of immigrants in Western countries are often complex. However, immigrants’ long-term legal trajectories remain a blind spot in quantitative migration research.

Objective: This paper aims to provide new empirical insights into the variety of legal pathways among non-European immigrants who arrived in Belgium between 1999 and 2008. We build a typology of legal trajectories, and we investigate how these trajectories are related to immigrants’ country of origin, asylum status, and social ties in Belgium.

Methods: The micro longitudinal data is from the Belgian National Register. We use sequence analysis to identify clusters of legal trajectories, and multinomial logistic regressions to explore how they are related to immigrants’ characteristics.

Results: We identify seven types of legal trajectory. While some are simple and smooth, others are characterized by moves back and forth between legal statuses and frequent periods of irregularity. Immigrants from the least developed countries and rejected asylum seekers are more likely to experience slow and chaotic trajectories. By contrast, simple and short trajectories are more common among immigrants from higher- or middle-income countries. We also find that social and family ties are a key factor in long-term immigrants experiencing smooth legal trajectories.

Conclusions: Legal statuses vary substantially over time, and trajectories differ widely among immigrants. Some categories of immigrants are more at risk of highly precarious long-term trajectories that may lead to situations of ‘permanent temporariness’.

Contribution: The paper highlights the relevance of a quantitative longitudinal perspective on immigrants’ legal status and underlines the need to take into account not only the legal status upon arrival but also the complexity of legal trajectories during the stay in the destination country.

Author's Affiliation

• Bruno Schoumaker - Université catholique de Louvain, Belgium EMAIL
• Mireille Le Guen - Université catholique de Louvain, Belgium EMAIL
• Louise Caron - Institut National d'Études Démographiques (INED), France EMAIL
• Wanli Nie - Université catholique de Louvain, Belgium EMAIL

Other articles by the same author/authors in Demographic Research

Migration’s contribution to the urban transition: Direct census estimates from Africa and Asia
Volume 48 - Article 24

Demographic change and increasing late singlehood in East Asia, 2010–2050
Volume 43 - Article 46

The effect of spousal separation and reunification on fertility: Chinese internal and international migration
Volume 43 - Article 29

Measuring male fertility rates in developing countries with Demographic and Health Surveys: An assessment of three methods
Volume 36 - Article 28

Reconstructing trends in international migration with three questions in household surveys: Lessons from the MAFE project
Volume 32 - Article 35

A Stata module for computing fertility rates and TFRs from birth histories: tfr2
Volume 28 - Article 38

Most recent similar articles in Demographic Research

Tools for analysing fuzzy clusters of sequences data
Volume 51 - Article 16    | Keywords: fuzzy clustering, sequence analysis, silhouette coefficient, visualization, weighted gradient index plots

Transitions to adulthood in men and women in rural Malawi in the 21st century using sequence analysis: Some evidence of delay
Volume 51 - Article 14    | Keywords: Africa, Health and Demographic Surveillance System, longitudinal analysis, Malawi, sequence analysis, transition to adulthood

Climate change and fertility desires: An experimental study among university students in Belgium and Italy
Volume 51 - Article 2    | Keywords: Belgium, climate change, fertility desires, Italy, students, young adults

The intergenerational transmission of migration capital: The role of family migration history and lived migration experiences
Volume 50 - Article 29    | Keywords: childhood, emigration, Europe, immigration, life course

Mortality inequalities at retirement age between migrants and non-migrants in Denmark and Sweden
Volume 50 - Article 18    | Keywords: immigration, life expectancy, lifespan inequality, Nordic countries, pension age, pension policy