Survival migrants’ intention to stay: The case of Venezuelans in Colombia

This paper investigates the factors that determine survival migrants’ intention to stay in their host country, using a survey of Venezuelan migrants in Colombia and analysed by means of a binary regression model. A theoretical framework that explains the intention to stay was derived from the theory of return migration and confirmed the importance of both meso-level and macro-level factors in migrants’ intention to stay. A macroeconomic comparison confirmed that macro-level factors played a role in the decision to migrate and stay. With respect to meso-level factors, we found that survival migrants’ intentions deviate from those of voluntary migrants since ties to their home country were not significant influences on their intention to stay. In contrast, factors that strengthen or weaken structural integration and ties to the host country were often highly significant, as were factors that influenced survival migrants’ knowledge of the host country.