Constructing categories of 'desirable migrants' through bureaucracy in French and Canadian mobility regimes

Bibliographic Data

ID3619984
AuthorsAnne-Cécile Delaisse (0000-0002-4337-7399, University of British Columbia, corresponding author), Tamsin Barber (0000-0001-8994-999X, Oxford Brookes University), Gaoheng Zhang (0009-0007-6195-5969, University of British Columbia), Huot (0000-0002-1276-0969, University of British Columbia)
Year2025
Volume51
Issue17
Pages4502-4523
Publication date2025-10-21
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueNew Community (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0047-9586 • E-ISSN: 1469-9451
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/1369183x.2025.2501716
OpenAlexW4410304735
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited46

This paper comparatively examines ‘highly skilled’ Vietnamese migrants’ encounters with the mobility regimes in France and Canada, through their experiences with immigration administrative procedures in these countries. We seek to highlight how categories of ‘desirable migrants’ are constructed through these bureaucratic encounters, by the policies and bureaucrats but also by migrants themselves. We draw from ethnographic interviews with 64 Vietnamese university-educated migrants, including a majority of international students and graduates. Our findings highlight participants’ experiences of France’s and Canada’s mobility regimes through administrative processes; as well as how participants position themselves with regards to their receiving country’s immigration bureaucracy. Participants in both countries performed as ‘desirable migrants’ through ‘competent management’ of their paperwork. In France, facing procedural injustices and suspicion, ‘highly skilled’ migrants also emphasised their lawfulness. In contrast, in Canada, they experienced more procedural justice and support afforded by their financial capital. Nevertheless, participants presented themselves as ‘desirable migrants’ by emphasising their thoughtfulness in facilitating smooth procedures and their ‘merit’ or ‘hard work’ in securing employer sponsorship and handling paperwork independently. This study enhances our comprehension of mobility regimes as being characterised by dynamic interplays between state policies and migrants’ performances shaping the formation of categories and norms

Bureaucracy · Demographic economics · Economic geography · Economics · Geography · Irregular migration · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Gender Studies · Healthcare Systems and Practices · Law · Migration, Identity, and Health · Migration, Refugees, and Integration

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