The citizenship premium: Immigrant naturalisation and socio-economic integration in the Netherlands

In this dissertation the central research question is: what are the explanatory factors for naturalization, and what is the role of naturalization for the socio-economic integration of first generation immigrants in the Netherlands?

To start with the second part of the research question; it can be concluded that naturalization matters for the integration of immigrants. Dutch citizenship increases the chances of employment, and for migrants from economically underdeveloped countries it as a positive effect in terms of income from employment.

Moreover, labor market opportunities are already increasing leading up to the moment of naturalization. Migrants invest in their labor market potential in anticipation of the opportunities that Dutch citizenship will provide, and in the context of the formal requirements for naturalization. For this reason, naturalization matters especially when citizenship of the destination country is obtained relatively quickly.

Naturalization also facilitates access to the housing market by increasing the likelihood of home ownership. Although naturalization thus does not remove all obstacles that migrants face in the labor and housing market, it can be concluded that citizenship of the destination country can make an important contribution to solving some of the structural obstacles that migrants face in the integration process.

In other words, naturalization can function as a springboard for integration, opening doors for further upward mobility. This is especially true for migrants from economically underdeveloped countries of origin, who have the most difficulties in the labor market, and could use a helping hand. However, these vulnerable migrants are highly dependent on the accessibility of naturalization policies in order to naturalize.

This brings me to the first part of the research question. Migrants naturalize less quickly and less often under restrictive naturalization policies. However, the effect of strict policies is not the same for all migrant groups. Strict requirements are especially an obstacle to naturalization for migrants from economically underdeveloped and politically unstable countries of origin.

In contrast, naturalization policies hardly matter for migrants from highly developed and politically stable countries of origin. These migrants have little interest in naturalization, and also have less need for citizenship of the destination country. Thus, the positive role naturalization can play for migrants’ integration depends on a balance between naturalization requirements on the one hand, to encourage migrants to invest in their integration, and on the other hand, the accessibility of these requirements to provide migrants with a realistic perspective for naturalization.

Peters, F. W. C. (2018). The citizenship premium: Immigrant naturalisation and socio-economic integration in the Netherlands. Dissertation, Maastricht University, doi:10.26481/dis.20180328fp.