Studies of migration industries have demonstrated the critical role that border-spanning businesses play in international mobility. To date, most research has focused on meso-level entrepreneurial initiatives that operate in a legal gray area under a state that provides an environment for their growth or decline. Extending this work, the present article advances a taxonomy of the ways states partner with migration industries based on the nature of their relationship (formal or informal) and the type of actor involved (for-profit or non-profit). The analysis focuses on low-paid temporary migrant work programs — schemes that require substantial state involvement to function — and examines cases from the East Asian democracies with strong economies that have become net importers of migrants: Taiwan, Japan, and South Korea. The conclusion, incorporating cases beyond Asia, explicates the properties and limits of each arrangement based on the degree of formality and importance of profit.

Why do wealthy people purchase citizenship in peripheral countries? This article investigates the demand for citizenship by investment programs, which enable naturalization based on a donation or financial investment. Extending research on long-distance naturalization among the middle class and on residence by investment programs, I examine the motives of the wealthy using citizenship by investment options. Based on over one hundred interviews with rich naturalizers and intermediaries in the citizenship industry, I find that mobility, both in the present and as a future hedge, is a strong driver, followed by business advantages. Often it is privileges in third-countries -not the place granting the citizenship -that are sought. In contrast to middle-class strategic naturalizers, quality of life, education options, and job prospects were not important, though navigating geopolitical barriers and risks were. Many naturalizers were not compensating for the failures of their citizenship at birth, but maneuvering within a world of state competition. Finally, some individuals inverted the citizenship hierarchy and downgraded from 'first tier' membership when, after years of living abroad, their nationality became a liability. The conclusion elaborates on the duplex structure of intra-state and inter-state inequality that channels demand, and the implications for citizenship more broadly.