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Selecting the highly skilled: norms and practices of the Swiss admission system for non-EU immigrants

Hercog, Metka and Sandoz, Laure. (2018) Selecting the highly skilled: norms and practices of the Swiss admission system for non-EU immigrants. Migration Letters, 15 (4). pp. 503-515.

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Official URL: https://edoc.unibas.ch/65636/

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Abstract

This article problematizes the concept of highly skilled migrants through an analysis of policy documents and key informant interviews in Switzerland. Current political discourse classifies foreigners differently according to their country of origin and skill level. Existing legislation prioritizes immigrants from the European Economic Area and is very restrictive towards Third-country nationals. By examining the implementation of admission policy for labour migration, this article evaluates which criteria matter most to governments for determining if someone is a desirable immigrant. Despite its stress on qualifications and economic interest, the admission process for Third-country workers is also found to fulfil non-economic objectives, such as providing the impression of state control over immigration and of state protection of local populations from migrants. Building on this observation, the article argues that more in-depth studies are needed to better understand how states reconcile the different objectives of immigration governance in practice.
Faculties and Departments:04 Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences > Departement Gesellschaftswissenschaften > Fachbereich Kulturanthropologie > Kulturanthropologie (Leimgruber)
UniBasel Contributors:Sandoz, Laure
Item Type:Article, refereed
Article Subtype:Research Article
Publisher:Transnational Press London
ISSN:1741-8984
e-ISSN:1741-8992
Note:Publication type according to Uni Basel Research Database: Journal article
Language:English
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Last Modified:09 Sep 2019 15:32
Deposited On:16 Oct 2018 07:38

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