Juggling Citizenships for Transnational Familyhood: Mainland Chinese Immigrants in Canada and Their 'Return' Migration to China

<p>By considering the return migration of Mainland Chinese migrants who had immigrated to Canada, this contribution focuses on the way transnational families navigate citizenship regimes in two legal systems. It argues that despite their strong legal position in Canada, members of transnationa...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Elaine Lynn-Ee Ho
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Oñati International Institute for the Sociology of Law 2013-12-01
Series:Oñati Socio-Legal Series
Subjects:
Online Access:http://ssrn.com/abstract=2358580
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Summary:<p>By considering the return migration of Mainland Chinese migrants who had immigrated to Canada, this contribution focuses on the way transnational families navigate citizenship regimes in two legal systems. It argues that despite their strong legal position in Canada, members of transnational families experience de facto deskilling and integration barriers. This prompts return migration decisions by the lead migrant, resulting in transnational family separation as the rest of the family remains behind in Canada for children&rsquo;s schooling and to fulfil the residency requirements for citizenship status. However, the difficulties of transnational family separation result in later return by the remaining family members as well, usually after naturalising in Canada. The remainder of the article examines the immigration issues they face in China as naturalised Canadian citizens and further explores their intentions for sustained transnationalism.</p> <hr /><p>Al tener en cuenta la migraci&oacute;n de retorno de los emigrantes de China continental que hab&iacute;an emigrado a Canad&aacute;, esta contribuci&oacute;n se centra en la forma en que las familias transnacionales navegan entre reg&iacute;menes de ciudadan&iacute;a en dos sistemas legales. La autora sostiene que a pesar de su fuerte posici&oacute;n legal en Canad&aacute;, los miembros de las familias transnacionales experimentan, de facto, barreras de integraci&oacute;n y desprofesionalizaci&oacute;n. Esto lleva a que el emigrante principal decida retornar, lo que da lugar a la separaci&oacute;n trasnacional de la familia, ya que el resto de la familia permanece en Canad&aacute; para la escolarizaci&oacute;n de los hijos y para cumplir con los requisitos de residencia para obtener el estatus de ciudadan&iacute;a. Sin embargo, las dificultades de la separaci&oacute;n de la familia transnacional dan como resultado un retorno m&aacute;s tard&iacute;o de los miembros restantes de la familia y, por lo general, despu&eacute;s de la naturalizaci&oacute;n en Canad&aacute;. El resto del art&iacute;culo analiza los problemas de inmigraci&oacute;n a los que se enfrentan en China como ciudadanos canadienses naturalizados y explora a&uacute;n m&aacute;s sus intenciones para el transnacionalismo sostenido.
ISSN:2079-5971