Download full report

The Evaluation of the Results of the Introduction of the New Regime for Migration of Skilled Labour to Norway (Spesialistordningen). The Case of Ukraine (pdf, 749 kB)

Abstract

Due to the size of the population and the hardships of the transition period Ukraine has become one of the most important migration countries in Europe. External migration has played a major role in the development of the Ukrainian society in the whole post-Soviet period. The overall migration balance of the country in the post-Soviet period is negative; more people decided to leave Ukraine than to move to the country; the situation is even more dramatic if we take into account not only the permanent officially recorded migration but also informal migration trends and various experts’ accounts on the size of mostly illegal Ukrainian labour migrant community in Europe.

The goal of this study is to examine how the introduction of new more flexible rules for the migration of skilled labour to Norway has resulted in the emergence of the new pattern of labour migration from Ukraine to Norway. In order to understand how this administrative decision influenced migratory choices of the Ukrainian citizens we have, however, to start by looking at the overall pattern of migration from Ukraine, then place Norway on the Ukrainian migration map and so find out whether the introduction of the new labour migration regime by Norway has had any impact on migratory patterns. In other words, if we want to understand what was the impact of the new regulations we need to take a closer look at Ukrainian labour migration in the post-Soviet period and place this important phenomenon in a broader political and social context.

Comissioned by: UDI

Carried out by: NUPI