Selective Migration Policy Models and Changing Realities of Implementation

Selective migration strategies vary considerably in that they may be very explicitly realised in supply-driven systems with governments using point-systems to select permanent migrants from among visa applicants and reach an annual immigration goal (e.g. Canada and Australia) or they may be more implicit in the form of demand-driven systems in which employers petition the government for permission to admit those foreign nationals they wish to hire and states supplement permanent resident permits such employer selected permanent immigrants with increasing numbers of temporary high-skilled visas to meet employer demand (e.g. the US).  While Canada and Australia both use point systems, they have taken different approaches in terms of the selection objectives and criteria as well as the participants in the selection process.  These varying selective migration policies can be grouped into three models: the “human capital” model based on state selection of permanent immigrants using a point system, as practiced by Canada; and the “neo-corporatist” model based on state selection using a point system with extensive business and labour participation, as practiced by Australia and the market-oriented model based primarily on employer selection of migrants, as practiced by the US.  European countries have been emulating these policy models to varying degrees with the UK, Denmark and the Czech Republic opting for supply-driven system utilizing point systems similar to Canada and Australia while Germany, Spain and Ireland have opted for more of a demand-driven employer selection approach of the U.S.  After providing an overview of each model, the models are compared in terms of policy outcomes, recent changes in policies that deviate from the respective models are critically reviewed and implications are drawn for immigration policymaking in European countries.