Love on the move: Understanding the mobility ex-perience of mixed-status couples in the EU

Abstract

In recent years, national family reunification laws in countries in the EU have diverged from the EU’s own family reunification laws that apply to mobile Europeans. These national policies have become onerous for mixed-status couples attempting to live together under national laws. This is especially the case in Denmark. Mixed-status couples have taken to exercising their legal EU mobility in order to access more favorable family reunification laws. Using mixed methodologies (phenomenology and auto-ethnography) this thesis explores the experiences and meanings behind couples’ mobility given their own ‘constellations of mobility’ (Cresswell, 2010). This research also explore how mobility regimes (Glick-Shiller & Salazar, 2013) shape the experiences of mobile couples, and how mobility can emerge as a form of social capital (Kauffman et al., 2004; Moret, 2018). Couples are driven to be together, but they are also compelled to move together. Their experiences with stringent family reunification laws shape how they view their subsequent EU mobility; their experiences are also shaped by the security that EU residency status present them. Beyond their legal status, mobility is also a way to improve prospects, have new experiences and regain a feeling of control over their everyday lives