This data collection consists of semi-structured interviews designed to cover processes in five domains of integration (social, cultural, structural, civic and political, identity) with sections on life before and after marriage. The data deposited consists of the transcripts of the recorded semi-structured interviews with British Pakistani Muslim and British Indian Sikh spouses, and migrant Pakistani Muslim and migrant Indian Sikh spouses. This research explored the relationships between marriage migration and integration, focusing on the two largest UK ethnic groups involved in transnational marriages with partners from their parents’ or grandparents’ countries of origin: British Pakistani Muslims and British Indian Sikhs. Spouses constitute the largest category of migrant settlement in the UK. In Britain, as elsewhere in Europe, concern is increasingly expressed over the implications of marriage-related migration for integration. In some ethnic minority groups, significant numbers of children and grandchildren of former immigrants continue to marry partners from their ancestral homelands. Such marriages are presented as particularly problematic: a 'first generation' of spouses in every generation may inhibit processes of individual and group integration, impeding socio-economic participation and cultural change. New immigration restrictions likely to impact particularly on such groups have thus been justified on the grounds of promoting integration. The evidence base to underpin this concern is, however, surprisingly limited, and characterised by differing and often partial understandings of the contested and politicised concept of integration. This project combined analysis of relevant quantitative data sets, with qualitative research with the two largest ethnic groups involved (Indian Sikhs and Pakistani Muslims), to compare transnational ‘homeland’ marriages with intra-ethnic marriages within the UK. These findings will enhance understanding of the relationships between marriage-related migration and the complex processes glossed as integration, providing much needed new grounding for both policy and academic debates.

The project employed mixed methods: analysis of existing survey data, semi-structured interviews, and focus groups. Data was collected between October 2013 and March 2015. Interview participants were recruited in Bradford, the Midlands, Bristol, Leeds and London.