Literatures on skilled migration have predominantly investigated migration flows at the global and international scale, paying less attention to the local experiences of skilled migrants. Recently, scholars have called for studies that locally ground literatures on transnationalism and diasporas through studies of everyday practices. Such a perspective provides a more nuanced understanding of the local incorporation of skilled migrants and local politics of belonging. Drawing on an empirical study of foreign-born information technology specialists in Oslo, Norway, this paper investigates the ways in which skilled migrants create local spaces and places of belonging, and the actors and institutions that are involved in this place-making process. In particular, this paper brings together literatures on international migration, place, and belonging to provide insights into the local incorporation of skilled migrants. The findings underline the salience of history and locality in geographies of belonging, and the necessity to address the experiences of “ordinary” skilled migrants in integration debates.
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