We are looking for interviewees to join a research project in which we investigate on how immigration control influences the everyday life of couples where one is of Finnish nationality and the other one of foreign background with an insecure status in Finland.
The foreign partner has received a negative decision on their residence permit application and is either still in the process or has secured a residence permit after a prolonged process. The residence permit application can be based on any reason, such as seeking asylum, family relation, employment, or study. Our aim is to analyse how this uncertainty affects families and their close ones (friends, relatives in Finland and abroad). As research participants, we can include both married and unmarried couples, heterosexual and queer, with or without children, and couples at various stages in life.
The research project is named “Intimate geographies of bordering: Deportability and its effects on Finnish citizens with foreign spouses and their extended families” (INDEFI, https://www.indefiproject.com/) and is funded by the Academy of Finland. The research is conducted by the Migration Institute of Finland. The Director of the institute, Saara Pellander, is the Principal Investigator. The researchers conducting the study are Eveliina Lyytinen, Jaana Palander and Pihla Siim.
If you would like to have more information and possibly participate in this study, you can be directly in touch with Pihla Siim (contact details below). Interviews usually last approximately 1-2 hours. If possible, we would like to interview both partners. Your participation is entirely voluntary and you are free to withdraw from the project at any time. We will not use your names or other direct personal information in our research.
The study helps to evaluate how immigration control influences the everyday lives of transnational couples. The project results will be shared with both academic and non-academic audiences. We also aim to present policy recommendations to ministries and other decision makers.
Research Fellow Pihla Maria Siim
pihla.siim@migrationinstitute.fi
+358 40 129 3539 (also on WhatsApp)