What impact does access to the rights associated with formal permanent residency status have on immigrants’ sense of integration in their country of residence? I explore this question with a focus on ‘affective integration’, an original measure developed to refer to immigrants’ sense of belonging, recognition, equality, optimism and loyalty in, or to, their country of residence. Original data are drawn from an online survey and a series of in-depth interviews with New Zealanders resident in Australia. As some survey respondents were affected by 2001 changes that withdrew New Zealanders’ entitlements to welfare and citizenship in Australia and others were not, levels of ‘affective integration’ among the two groups were able to be compared. The data reveal that many New Zealanders without access to the welfare and citizenship entitlements associated with permanent resident status had a highly ambivalent sense of affective integration in Australia. Many reported being economically, socially and culturally well integrated in Australia but also reported strong feelings of exclusion, rejection, exploitation and discrimination. They identified these feelings as being the result of their ineligibility for welfare assistance and citizenship acquisition. For some such migrants, these feelings have led to a decision to migrate back to New Zealand in the near future. For others, however, a high degree of structural integration into Australian society has deterred return migration, creating a significant population of long-term residents whose generally favourable structural integration into Australia is undermined by their growing sense of disadvantage, marginalisation and exclusion. These findings contribute to our understanding of the relationship between access to the rights of permanent residency and affective integration. They also contribute empirical data to policy debates about the consequences of treating those who move under human mobility regimes as temporary migrants.
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