Controlling Immigration through Language and Country Knowledge Requirements

“Hagelund Comparative Migration Studies (2020) 8:13 Page 8 of 17”

“…by national elites at the european level, where the possibility of applying integration conditions was ultimately codified in eU directives. see goodman 2011. welfare state dependence,7 the “rightist turn of the political climate,”8 elite consensus over the idea of civic integration,9 and…”

“The presumed link between naturalisation and family reunion laws may be driven by similar political discussions of restricting marriage migration, including for the second generation (Goodman, 2011; Wray, 2013; Strik et al., 2013).”

“Scholars in the field must intensify their efforts to study the actual effects of civic integration policies, and, by providing such factual grounding, they must help shelter policy developments in the field from the worst entrapments of ‘common sense’ ideological illusions about what works and why.”

“In other words, family ties, while necessary, oftentimes are no longer sufficient to gain access to family immigration as states have imposed new conditionalities on family sponsorship ranging from heightened income and age requirements in virtually all states, to policies of civic integration – such as the use of pre…”

“The current debate in the integration literature has offered different ways of decomposing policies: for example, Joppke (2017) refers to Bennett’s (1991) operationalisation (see above); Goodman (2011) distinguishes between ideational and policy convergence.”

“Naturalization policies, especially those featuring citizenship tests or lengthy waiting periods, may act as deterrents against certain types of migratory flows (Goodman 2011).”

“lowed the lead of other European countries, notably the Netherlands, in introducing pre-entry integration requirements for dependants.(30) These have included language competence and self-sufficiency in terms of income, but controversially only apply to citizens of non-EU countries which are subject to visa entry requ…”

“…are often accompanied by integration courses and civic education to a “basic knowledge of the host society’s language, history, and institution” (Goodman, 2011) and are more often available for refugees than for other immigrants in most EU countries (Zwysen, 2019; Kanas and Steinmetz, 2021).”

“…integration policies in general and predeparture integration requirements in particular has received increasing attention in the literature (cf. Carrera 2006; Goodman 2010, 2011; Groenendijk 2011; Jacobs and Rea 2007; Joppke 2007; Van Oers et al 2010 – see also the PROSINT and INTEC projects2).”

“9% in 2009, well below the EU average, is considered a ‘pioneer’ of the strategy of civic integration to limit immigration, especially family reunification (Goodman, 2011).”

“[8] In other work (Goodman 2011), I argue that conditions under which integration requirements for immigration are adopted*namely political opportunities created by EU Directives, ambitions to regulate and limit family-based migration, and policy diffusion*differ from those of citizenship and settlement.”

“For example, in Europe, entry often requires meeting certain expectations of integration, like language proficiency or cultural familiarity (FitzGerald, CookMartín, García, & Arar, 2018; Goodman, 2011).”

“There is good reason to believe that the exchange and diffusion of information in these European platforms has not only contributed to policy diffusion across member-states (Wallace Goodman 2011; Block and Bonjour 2013), but also within Belgium, and across regions (Adam and Martiniello 2013).”

“…language skills, norm adherence, and cultural-historical knowledge shown by the migrant (Strik et al. 2010; Goodman and Wright 2015; Goodman 2010; Goodman 2011; Borevi et al. 2017).1 Other lines of research focus on the impact of residency status on non-labour outcomes such as health or…”

“…the implementation of an additional tier to allocate seats in PR systems; sixth, an increase of at least 20 per cent in the percentage of seats that are allocated in the PR tier in mixed systems; and, seventh, the introduction of linkage between tiers in Pedro Riera multi-tier or mixed systems.”

“Language testing as a technique of governing access to rights and privileges has gained relevance in the global north in the context of the securitisation of migration (Goodman 2011; Hyndman 2012; Khan 2022b).”

“…mainly conclude that European countries have become increasingly restrictive in admission, asylum and integration policies, access to family reunification and permanent residency and citizenship (Gebhardt 2016; Goodman 2011; Joppke 2007, 2017; Klaus and Pachocka 2019; Lafleur and Mescoli 2018).”

“In addition, Goodman (2011) highlights that these tests follow an implicit racial logic, mainly targeting Muslim sending countries, since family migrants from countries such as the United States and Canada are exempted from taking these tests.”

“These policies often take the form of language and knowledge-of-country requirements for newly arrived immigrants, and are prerequisites for attaining permanent residency and full citizenship (see e.g., De Waal, 2017; Goodman, 2010; Goodman, 2011; Van Oers, 2013).”

“Moreover, the coincident argument that state nationalisms are more likely to adopt inclusive positions towards immigrants is questionable because many nation states have shifted towards stricter immigration and settlement policies that use integration tests as tools of exclusion (Goodman, 2011).”

“Either way, it can be used as a novel device of immigration control (Bonjour, 2010; Goodman, 2011), especially geared towards the reduction of thirdcountry nationals and familybased migration (i.”

“…of family reunification rights is in these instances – i.e. in case of the UK, Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands or France – linked to the condition that incoming spouses should fulfil a socalled “pre-departure” or “pre-integrative” language and country knowledge requirement (Goodman 2011).”

“Previous research contributing to the restrictive-liberal debate has mostly concluded that European countries have become increasingly restrictive (Goodman 2011; Joppke 2017), and studies of the Scandinavian countries also support similar conclusions (Dahl-stedt and Neergaard 2019; Ekman and…”

“These studies are concerned with the institutionalised social boundaries involving primarily citizenship policies (Howard, 2006; Janoski, 2010; Koopmans, Michalowski, & Waibel, 2012) and studies of integration policies (Banting & Kymlicka, 2013; Goodman, 2010, 2011, 2015; Joppke, 2007).”

“…focussed so far on the philosophy and the politics of integration policies rather than on the effects of those policies: topics include citizenship (Goodman 2009, 2011; Joppke 2007), the politics and governance of civic integration (Jørgensen 2012; Poppelaars & Scholten 2008), the interactions…”

“During the past decade, nationality policies in many countries (most visibly perhaps in Western Europe) have attempted to make it more demanding to become a new citizen by imposing naturalization tests (Goodman, 2011).”

“Other critical work has examined the use of integration programs as a tool of racial and ethnic projects (Fitzgerald et al. 2017) or as a tool of immigration control (Goodman 2011).”

“…many scholars have made regarding growing conditionality and stratification in family migration policy (e.g. Bech, Borevi & Mouritsen 2017; Block 2015; Bonjour & Kraler 2015; Goodman 2011; Kofman 2018; Scholten et al. 2012; Schweitzer 2015; Sirriyeh 2015; Strik, de Hart & Nissen 2013; Wray 2009).”

“Indeed, an extensive literature has noted that integration requirements more often demonstrate a selective effect on immigration, as opposed to positive effects on labour-market integration (Goodman, 2011; Jensen et al., 2019).”

“EU citizens, highly skilled and economically well-off migrants receive preferential treatment in most states (Goodman 2011; Strik, Hart de, and Nissen 2013; Staver 2015).”

“…of immigration policies, and the language requirement is used not only as part of the conditions for naturalization but also as a “pre-entry barrier” (Goodman 2011) used against migrants.1 1We do not discuss the sovereign right of states to legalize or constitutionalize official or national…”

“According to research, such policies are considered as more a disguised form of migration control than as actual help aimed at the individual or family (Goodman, 2011; Ahlén and Boräng, 2018).”

“On the contrary, pre-entry language tests function as a selection mechanism, allowing governments to classify individuals among different ethnic groups (FitzGerald et al., 2018; Goodman, 2011).”

“…nation-states started to both liberalize their immigration policies and introduce demanding citizenship tests as a means of immigration control, 18 the American political philosopher Amitai Etzioni 19 published an influential article in The Political Quarterly in which he provides “ compelling…”

“…salient issue in the discussion of immigration policy because it is regarded as a pre-entry requirement (Magos and Politi, 2008; Kostakopoulo, 2010; Goodman, 2011; Frost and McNamara, 2018); and immigrationseekers’ application results, even partially based on language proficiency, may still bring…”

“This backlash informed a shift in emphasis from the emancipation of ethnic minorities to integration and citizenship (the so-called civic integration turn) (Bonjour and Duyvendak 2018; Goodman 2011).”

“166 Goodman 2011, n 128 above, p. 235.”

“With the exception of civic integration policies, namely language and host society knowledge requirements (Goodman 2011; Groenendijk 2011), integration policies do not impact a migrant’s opportunity to enter a host society; however, they significantly impact a migrant’s ability to successfully…”

“Instead, cultural and economic factors, such as evaluating an applicant’s economic independence or requiring integration courses, have become common (Goodman 2011) and increasingly supported among German citizens (Diehl and Tucci 2011; Worbs 2009).”

“Distancing herself from most literature on citizenship tests debating their in-or exclusionary and (il)liberal nature (Kostakopoulou 2010; Goodman 2011; Hampshire 2011; van Oers 2013), Merolli shows in her analysis of integration exams in Canada, the UK and the Netherlands how they were introduced…”

“Stadlmair (2018) zoomed in on the effects economic conditions for naturalisation, in particular; Goodman (2011), and, more recently, Jensen et al. (2019) discussed how language requirements may impact on naturalisation rates.”

“It is therefore not surprising to observe that a consensus has emerged among theorists in favor of multicultural policies, for whom requiring language does not push citizenship tests across the threshold of discriminatory, illiberal practices (Goodman 2011; Benhabib 2011: 164; Carens 2013: 183).”

“Turning to the digital sphere, Alonso-Muñoz et al. (2020) examine Eurosceptic discourse on Twitter during the 2019 European Parliament elections.”

“Language proficiency in a majority or official language is increasingly being used as a condition of immigration and to determine eligibility for residency or citizenship (Goodman, 2011; van Oers, 2021).”

“55 Mnogi avtorji kljub odsotnosti harmonizacije zakonodaj in kljub raz-likovanju politik integracije opažajo splošen (evropski) trend zaostro-vanja meril in zahtev (Bonjour, 2018; Goodman, 2011; Strik idr., 2013; Block, 2015; Benarieh Ruffer, 2011; Gorenendijk, 2011).”