Suspending, settling, sponsoring: the intimate chronomobilities of young Asian migrants in Australia

Abstract

In this article, I develop the concept of ‘intimate chronomobilities’ to understand some of the intersections between the temporalities of intimate relationships and of migration in the lives of young and ‘middling’ transnational migrants from Asia to Australia. Drawing on in‐depth interview data, I reveal how romantic partnerships are highly significant to experiences of transnational mobility, and how such experiences take place in the context of a governance regime in Australia in which migration has become increasingly transient, transitionary and transitory, and in which sponsored partner and spouse visas can secure migration futures. The analysis explores how the lived and imagined timelines and timings of intimate partnerships play highly significant roles in defining and structuring migrants' mobilities, and reveals how intimate chronomobilities of ‘suspending, settling and sponsoring’ are understood by migrants through lived experiences of sequence, synchronicity and tempo.

Hearts in Australia, Souls in Nepal

“…There are large financial as well as emotional investments to be made. Shanthi Robertson (2013Robertson ( , 2019Robertson ( , 2020, in particular, highlights the struggles of "middling" migrants' and the "staggered" pathways to PR, often over several years, while managing ambiguity, uncertainty, transience, and being diverted from their anticipated pathway as they aspire to fulfil migration goals and career aspirations in a rapidly changing policy scenario. As Mares (2016: 4, 5) notes, many become "the settlers who remain unsettled", unable to transition from a temporary migrant to a permanent resident despite living in Australia for several years, feeling a sense of belonging, and investing their "money, sweat and hope in an Australian future".…”

“…But, like Maya, they shared similar aspirations for PR in Australia and securing futures. However, migrants can spend extended periods in Australia, even decades, in pursuit of PR, frequently re-routing life, education, and career goals around changing migration policies (Robertson 2020(Robertson , 2019. Although Maya's journey to PR in Australia was clearly "staggered" (Robertson 2019), she remained devoted to fulfilling her "mobile aspirations" including PR.…”

“…Against the backdrop of education migrants' aspirations for PR in Australia, this article focuses on the intergenerational nature of migrants' aspirations and the emotions that attach to them. While studies on migration in Australia have examined the migrants' aspirations for PR (Robertson 2013, Baas 2010, Neilson 2009 as well as the pathways to PR (Robertson 2019(Robertson , 2020, an understanding of the parents' perspective on how they experience the children's aspirations for PR remains limited. The aim of this article lies in addressing this specific gap.…”

‘Somehow I’m an Expat and He’s a Migrant’: Intersectional Identities, Multiple Migrations and Family Decision-Making Amongst Middling Migrant Couples

“…While useful, this definition resulted in the demarcation of a wide segment of migrants, where more-recent studies have begun to show that, far from being a homogenous category, the 'middle' includes a diverse range of encounters, non-linear movements, varied migrant classifications, shifting class statuses and mixed experiences of temporariness and permanency (Scott, 2019;Robertson & Roberts, 2022). In addition to spatiality, the 'temporal turn' in migration studies increasingly contests binaries such as student/worker, tourist/worker, skilled/ unskilled and temporary/permanent within contemporary migration policy, where experiences of the 'middle' can be conceptualised as dynamic and multiply constructed (Parutis, 2014;Rutten & Verstappen, 2014;Baas, 2017;Scott, 2019;Robertson, 2020). By understanding the pathways of middling transnationals over their life-course, a broader and more-mobile range of relationships with place and time than those attributed to isolated categories like managerial elites or lowerwaged labour sectors becomes evident.…”

Italian youth mobility: The case for a Mediterranean model of ‘family-centred’ mobile transitions

“…However, moving to London is also a way to break away from family pressures by living independently and to escape the interference and close supervision of their parents and other relatives over their personal life choices. Similarly, Martin’s (2018) and Robertson’s (2020) work reveals that young, middle-class Asian women in Australia see their time abroad as a ‘zone of suspension’ in which they can delay or reframe the cultural and family expectations of timelines for gendered transitions to marriage. Gradations of class privilege are likely to be significant here.…”