Attachments as mode of regulation: migrant inclusion in the welfare state (ATTACH)

Over the past few decades, migration policies in Nordic welfare states have gradually weakened the security of residence and rights once granted to legal migrants. A key part of this shift is the growing focus on migrants’ “attachments” to the state ('tilknytning' in Norwegian). These attachments often determine whether a person can stay in the country, reunite with family, obtain permanent residence or citizenship, or receive welfare benefits.

Attachments are assessed through criteria such as how long someone has lived in the country, their age at arrival, family connections, income, and language skills.

Focusing on Norway and Denmark, which have been at the forefront of this regulatory trend, the ATTACH project investigates two main questions. First, how are migrants’ rights and residence conditions shaped by rules that link belonging to perceived integration? Second, how do bureaucrats, courts, and migrants themselves interpret and navigate these rules in practice?

By exploring these questions, ATTACH shows how policies designed to promote integration while limiting migration interact—and what this means for migrants’ access to rights, citizenship, and trust in state institutions.