Sponsorship of relatives for migration and immigrant settlement intention

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 family sponsorship patterns and intention to sponsor, and whether family sponsorship patterns and intention in turn have an effect on immigrants' permanent settlement/return migration decision. The results show that a significant relation exists between sponsorship of close family members for migration and immigrants' permanent settlement intention and that the relation is particularly strong among skilled migrants. The study demonstrates the importance of kinship ties in permanent settlement and return migration decisions and suggests that liberal policies on family reunion migration may minimize settle loss, especially among skilled immigrants.