Tucker Comparative Migration Studies (2018) 6:29 “Sweden was famous for the citizenship thing: for example, underage Palestinian Syrians [those under eighteen years old] could get citizenship after two years, and over-age would get it after five or six years.” Of the remaining participants in Germany, who were not aiming to reach Sweden, Norway or The Netherlands, while they did not state that citizenship was influential in their decision making, all noted that acquiring permanent residence in Germany was a very significant factor. This should not be read that citizenship was seen as unimportant to these participants. Rather it was just not prioritised over other factors, as is apparent when Sami, who travelled with his wife Deema to Germany, discussed his decision-making process: “I have a brother who has been in Germany for a long time, and he has German nationality. I also have some uncles and other relatives in Germany. But my first intention was to either go to Holland or Sweden because as far as I’m aware, it’s easier and faster for Palestinian-Syrians to get nationality. But the thing that made me stay in Germany was the fact that [Deema] had that visa to come to Germany.” Here we can see the devaluation of social networks, that of his brother and other relatives in Germany, as compared to acquiring citizenship as quickly as possible in Sweden. It was only due to Deema having a visa to study in Germany that Sami decided to make it the country where he sought asylum. Finally, when asked what acquiring a citizenship would mean to them, the ability to travel was highlighted as central by all participants in both countries. ‘Travel’ referred to being able to return to Palestine (for short visits), to visit family and friends, to move for work and to return to live in Syria after the war. On their return to Syria, the participants claimed that as stateless persons they would not be allowed to go back, but if they had a European citizenship it may be an option. The role of citizenship in their return also related to their appreciation of the temporariness of their rights in Syria and the need for a back-up plan if they were to return. As Jamal explains: “After we get citizenship [in Sweden] and things got better in Syria, maybe we’d go back. But we need citizenship to be able to travel — in case things kick off again.” Family and social networks As has been shown in other research on refugees’ asylum destinations, (see for example Koser & Pinkerton, 2002), as well as work on chain migration more generally, social networks and the information exchange through these proved influential in the destination decision making of the participants. The findings on the role of social networks can be broken down into two aspects in this research. The first being where the participants arrived through formal family reunification procedures. The second is when social networks were drawn on for information about possible destination countries, and/or to provide participants with the necessary resources to try and undertake the journey. Page 9 of 17