From irregular immigrants to naturalised citizens: Indian immigration and immigration policies in Spain, 1985-2018

Immigration policies have a considerable impact on the influx and settlement process of immigrants, including ways and routes of immigration, regularisation, access to public services (such as education, housing and medical services), entry into the labour market, family reunification and access to citizenship. Consequently, changes in immigration policy determine the pace and direction of migrant integration and status mobility in host countries. Drawing from 64 semi-structured in-depth interviews with Indian immigrants in Spain, this paper explores the perceived effects of changes in immigration policies in Spain on immigration conditions, status mobility and integration of Indian immigrants, and strategies adopted by them to deal with these policies, during the period between 1985 and 2018. Results show that the Spanish immigration policies had several unintended negative effects on immigration conditions, regularisation, family reunification and access to Spanish citizenship, which in turn have slowed down their pace of integration and upward social mobility.