As scholars argue, there has been a rapid diffusion of civic integration policies in Western Europe the last decade. In the light of the debate about the extent of civic integration policies, recent studies have shown that the diffusion is limited to certain countries. Despite a flurry of literature based on civic integration policies, attention drawn to the implication of these policies has been quite inferior. This paper tries to examine what civic integration policies means in relation to immigration. Are civic integration policies used as an informal tool for the purpose of limiting certain groups of immigrants? I argue in this paper that the conditional factor in the civic integration policies creates a barrier for affected immigrants and their possibilities to gain long term residence. This is especially relevant for family migration. The material used for the empirical research emanates from Migrant Integration Policy Index (MIPEX) who addresses the existent of integration policies in several European countries, and OECD International Migration Outlook who estimates the immigration to European countries based on category of entry. The results presented here demonstrate that there is a connection between civic integration policies and reduced family immigration. In comparison to other integration policies, civic integration policies emerge in terms of correlation and significance. The main concern is the few studied cases in this research which unfortunately obstruct the possibility for generalization. This paper, however, reveals a noteworthy intersectional correlation that ought to be of interest for further research.
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