Temporalities, dependency, and the politics of marriage migration

As states have increasingly restricted family migrations and questioned the authenticity and genuineness of relationships, diverse temporal conditionalities have been imposed in the past decade on crossing borders and acquiring residence. Time periods have been stipulated for demonstrating proof of resources, not being reliant on welfare benefits, for the couple remaining together and prolonging the time taken by the spouse to obtain independence. Whilst most attention has been paid to the impact of socio-economic demands for entry and residence, the negative experiences of dependency faced by marriage migrants, and especially women, has been understudied. During this time a number of states in Europe) have extended the period lasting as long as 5 years in which the spouse is tied to the sponsor. In this chapter we focus on the implications of prolonged dependency or the aptly named probationary period in the UK, during which women in particular may be entrapped in failing relationships and domestic violence and thus with the threat of deportation. In order to unpack the lived experiences of prolonged dependency inscribed in the UK family migration regime, we mobilise border theories to explain how internal borders operate to extend and institutionalise dependency as a mode of control.