Money matters in migration policy and practice. This is true irrespective of how migration is categorized, either as work, studies, family, asylum or any other category of migrants. The most obvious and controversial relevance of money in migration policy can be seen in investor visa and investor citizenship, where 'membership' of the receiving country is for sale. But money pops up almost anywhere: within EU migration law fees levied for applications were subject to ECJ case law and considered disproportionate. Income requirements for family migration have increased considerably in several Member States and have become the topic of public and political debates. But money matters in all movements across the world. One could think of payments to human traffickers, recruitment fees or fines for illegally employing undocumented migrants. The payment of remittances, access to banks for migrants, State paid immigration council or tax benefits for the talented migrants, it’s all about money. Money can be an instrument of inclusion as well as exclusion and recent developments give rise to the question if money is defining migration and citizenship values.

This panel aims to explore and theorize the value of money across selected migration practices and policy categories. We aim to focus on how money has become the implicit or explicit paradigm or ‘value’ in all types of incoming mobility, as well as after admission and in outgoing migration flows. In migration it is 'money that makes the world go round'.