Nationality policies in the books and in practice: comparing immigrant naturalisation across Europe

This article explores whether differences in the implementation of nationality laws explaingaps between nationality laws and nationality acquisition across Europe. Previous researchconfirms that nationality acquisition among the foreign-born in Western European countries islargely determined by the inclusiveness of nationality policies and the characteristics of theimmigrant population. Drawing on recent data on nationality procedures across Europe, thisarticle argues that, regardless of the nationality laws in place, nationality procedures createmajor obstacles for different types of immigrants. This article uses data from the EuropeanSocial Survey to conduct multi-level analysis of nationality acquisition in 17 European coun-tries among long-settled foreign-born adult arrivals, controlling for their individual, origin anddestination country characteristics. The analysisfinds that nationality procedures are as impor-tant as nationality laws for nationality acquisition among most immigrants living in Europetoday, especially for immigrants who are most likely to benefit and apply: immigrants fromdeveloping countries.