Stepwise international migration: A multistage migration pattern for the aspiring migrant

Anju Mary Paul

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

High cost barriers and immigration policy restrictions prevent many low-capital migrants from realizing their destination preferences. However, interviews with 95 Filipino domestic workers in the Philippines, Hong Kong, and Singapore reveal how these low-capital migrants can intentionally follow a stepwise international migration trajectory, working their way up a hierarchy of destination countries and accumulating sufficient migrant capital in the process so as to eventually gain legal entry into their preferred destinations, often in the West. Such a trajectory differs from more frequently studied migration patterns in its number of stages, duration, intentionality, hierarchical progression, and dynamic nature.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1842-1886
Number of pages45
JournalAmerican Journal of Sociology
Volume116
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - May 2011

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Sociology and Political Science

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