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This paper presents the first results of the INTERACT project on Chinese and Indian migrants in the United Kingdom (UK). It is based on the data gathered by the project using a mixed method of data collection and analysis. We identify the policies of the states of origin (India and China) and destination (the UK), their implementation and their impact on migrants’ integration paths in the UK. In this paper, we first present an overview of the evolution of Chinese and Indian migration flows to the UK, and then present the current policy frameworks at both destination and origin, before analysing how they affect the integration trends of Chinese and Indian migrants in the UK. Even though contemporary Indian migrants – and to an even greater extent, Chinese migrants – living in the UK are highly skilled migrants, they do not automatically integrate into British society. Although Chinese migrants are better educated than Indian migrants, fewer hold a British passport, and more are unemployed. The position of Chinese and Indian migrants in British society seems to be the consequence of the combination of the origin and destination countries’ policies. These policies indeed influence current and past migration flows, namely through entry conditions to the UK, and exit policies at origin. In addition, both the year of arrival and the duration of stay impact migrants’ integration. Since the migration flows from India are older than those from the People’s Republic of China (PRC), Indian migrants speak better English than Chinese migrants and more often own a home, hold a British passport and identify as British. State policies at destination and origin also affect the way that migrant communities are organized and integrated into mainstream society. Chinese migrants, who in recent years have mainly been students, have more connections with the PRC than Indian migrants do with their state of origin since new Chinese civil society organisations based in the UK have close ties with the Chinese State. These associations are also aware of Chinese migrants’ potential difficulties with integration, and thus try to counterbalance it. Destination and origin policies can thus affect migrants’ opportunity structures differently over time and have both a direct and indirect effect on migrant integration in the long run.
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