When the Homeland Calls: Transnational Practices, Return Intentions, and the Political Integration of Vietnamese Migrants in Poland

This study examines how Vietnamese immigrants’ transnational practices shape political integration in Poland, focusing on both latent and manifest forms of political participation. It asks whether political and non-political transnationalism act as complements or substitutes, and how return intentions moderate these relationships. The analysis employs complementarity and substitution perspectives on transnationalism and incorporates Carling and Pettersen’s model of return intentions as a moderating factor in explaining the integration-transnationalism nexus. Quantitative analyses with robustness checks assess the impact of political and non-political transnational practices on political integration, with particular attention to the moderating role of return intentions. Transnational practices significantly influence political integration, though effects vary by participation type. Political transnationalism generally fosters host-country political participation through spillover effects within corresponding domains. By contrast, non-political practices, particularly family visits, may weaken integration by sustaining attachment to the homeland. Return intentions have a limited direct effect but condition these relationships by amplifying some influences and moderating others. By disaggregating political and non-political transnational practices and testing return intentions as a moderator, this study sharpens debates on whether “home” is a distraction or resource for integration, offering new evidence from Central and Eastern Europe.