Marriage migration: Lived experience of foreign spouses married to Malaysian citizens
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
6-1-2018
Abstract
Marriage migration has led to marriage migrants as a significant aspect of migration. While much of the literature on migration in the Malaysian context discusses labour migration, very little is documented on marriage migration in Malaysia, especially concerning foreign spouses’ viewpoint on their international marriage. Therefore, this paper sought to investigate and document the foreign spouses’ lived experience in several aspects of life from acquiring the spouse visa to employment to family and relationship with friends in Malaysia. Results obtained from data collected through in-depth interviews give the overview that foreign spouses experience difficulties due to their status as a ‘foreigner’. Foreign spouses’ experience of living in Malaysia is related to the idea that a ‘foreigner’ is considered socially excluded in the country, leading to difficulties. Overall, foreign spouses face many challenges living in Malaysia.
Keywords
International marriages, foreign spouses, lived experience, Malaysia, marriage migration
Divisions
arts,BuiltEnvironment
Funders
Equitable Society Research Cluster (ESRC), University of Malaya, under the research grant RP028C-15SBS
Publication Title
Pertanika Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities
Volume
26
Issue
2
Publisher
Universiti Putra Malaysia