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Chain migration refers to the mechanism by which foreign nationals are allowed to immigrate by virtue of the ability of previous adult immigrants who gain citizenship to send for their adult relatives. It is often used by immigrants from developing world countries seeking economic opportunities in industrialized countries.
In the United States
In the United States, chain migration is supposed by many to be one of many reasons that legal immigration has quadrupled from levels during the 1960s. As such, it is one of the causes of the United States' current immigrant population boom. However, the number of immigrants per native-born citizen still has not reached the levels of the 1880s to 1910s, when over 13% of the population was foreign born. See Immigration to the United States. Until the late 1950s, America's chain migration policies included only spouses and minor children of immigrants. However, ever since the late 1950's, chain migration policies of the United States have included the ability for immigrants to send for not only their children and spouses, but also their parents and adult children of their parents. Theoretically, those parents and adult children, in turn, can send for their children, their parents, etc. In practice, however, the wait times from when the petition is filed until the adult relative is able to enter the U.S. are typically on the order of 15-20 years (as of 2006). This is in addition to 5 or more years that it typically takes for the initial immigrant to obtain the U.S. citizenship.
References
- Kaplan, David H.; Wheeler, James O.; Holloway, James O. Urban Geography. York, PA: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2004.
See also
