Migration trajectories of 'highly skilled' middling transnationals: Singaporean transmigrants in London

The role played by the state in regulating population movements has been the subject of study in migration scholarship. Immigration regimes manage migration through visa restrictions stipulating the type of work migrants perform and their entitlement to rights. However, studying migration only in terms of visas or occupational categories limit a full understanding of the breadth and changing episodes making up migrant experiences. Based on a case study of ‘highly skilled’ Singaporean transmigrants in London, this paper investigates, first, the way such migrants utilise changing visa strategies to incrementally extend their stay in London. Second, the paper contextualises their migrant subjectivities and identities within the immigration and emigration regimes in which they are embedded. In so doing, the paper argues for a trajectory perspective of migration that recognises the changing strategies as well as practical and emotional challenges experienced by ‘highly skilled’ middling transnationals. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.