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Marriage and Citizenship Among U.S. Immigrants: Who Marries Whom and Who Becomes a Citizen?

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  • Eva Dziadula

    (University of Notre Dame)

Abstract

The existing assimilation literature shows that having a U.S.-born spouse, relative to a foreign-born spouse, is associated with a higher probability of becoming a U.S. citizen (naturalization). However, the foreign-born spouses are a heterogeneous group. I disaggregate them by identifying their citizenship status in the U.S. and document that it plays a larger role than simply their place of birth. The relative hazard of naturalization among immigrants with a citizen spouse, U.S.-born or foreign-born, is more than double the hazard of immigrants married to a noncitizen spouse. In fact, the largest increase in the naturalization hazard among immigrants in the U.S. is associated with foreign-born citizen spouses.

Suggested Citation

  • Eva Dziadula, 2020. "Marriage and Citizenship Among U.S. Immigrants: Who Marries Whom and Who Becomes a Citizen?," Eastern Economic Journal, Palgrave Macmillan;Eastern Economic Association, vol. 46(1), pages 34-52, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:easeco:v:46:y:2020:i:1:d:10.1057_s41302-019-00150-7
    DOI: 10.1057/s41302-019-00150-7
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    Cited by:

    1. Amuedo-Dorantes, Catalina & Wang, Chunbei, 2023. "Intermarriage amid Immigration Status Uncertainty: Evidence from DACA," IZA Discussion Papers 16548, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Eva Dziadula, 2022. "Match quality and divorce among naturalized U.S. citizens," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 89(1), pages 37-61, July.
    3. Amuedo-Dorantes, Catalina & Arenas-Arroyo, Esther & Wang, Chunbei, 2020. "Is immigration enforcement shaping immigrant marriage patterns?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 190(C).
    4. Bansak, Cynthia & Dziadula, Eva & Zavodny, Madeline, 2023. "The value of a green card in the U.S. marriage market: A tale of chain migration?," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    5. Redpath, Connor, 2022. "Spousal Visa Policy and Mixed-Citizenship Couples: Evidence from the End of the Defense Of Marriage Act," SocArXiv mzuwe, Center for Open Science.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Marriage; Immigration; Citizenship; Naturalization;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J12 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure
    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination

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