Contingent on paradoxical policies: migrants’ trajectories to permanent residence and skilled care work in Denmark

Syrian refugees and Ukrainian work migrants are among the increasing number of migrants in Denmark who have enrolled in training programmes to become skilled care workers in response to the Danish state’s initiatives to increase labour supply for public sector elderly care. However, stricter immigration legislation together with regulations concerning state-financed education complicate training, employment and residence for these migrants. The article explores how the Danish welfare state’s conflicting interests in and attempts at pursuing both a strict immigration policy and securing enough trained care workers in eldercare affect trajectories to skilled care work among foreign nationals residing in Denmark. Based on data from long-term ethnographic fieldwork, we demonstrate how in various ways Syrian and Ukrainian care work trainees with temporary residence face a double-sided uncertainty, as their lives in Denmark are contingent on events and decisions out of their control, such as amendments to immigration and educational policies and legislation. On the one hand, these events and decisions jeopardize the migrant trainees’ and their families’ future in Denmark. On the other hand, they offer opportunities to make new connections, and acquire new knowledge and skills, which in the longer run may contribute to improving their lives in Denmark.