An index to measure the legal obstacles to the integration of migrants

Abstract Legal integration is often considered a precondition for the integration of immigrants into the society of a receiving country. The nature and the extent of the rights immigrants are eligible for has considerable bearing on their opportunities in, among other spheres, the labour‐ and the housing‐market and in the educational system. European states differ considerably in the number and the nature of the rights they are willing to grant to immigrants and each state thereby creates a specific legal base of opportunities for the integration of immigrants. The present article summarises the method and results of a research project that aimed at building an index to measure the Legal Obstacles to the Integration of Immigrants. The goal of the LOI‐index is to condense information on integration policies and to evaluate the liberality or restrictive‐ness of legal systems governing the integration of immigrants.