With the accelerating trend toward transnational families in many parts of the world associated with globalization, coping with the demand for family reunification has become a major challenge for both migrant families and migrant-sending and -receiving societies. In July 2012, a significant policy change regarding the Family Sponsorship Stream (Parent Category) took place in New Zealand, which raised the bar for migrants' elderly parents on entering New Zealand as permanent residents. This policy change has a significant impact on many Chinese migrant families from the People's Republic of China (PRC), where filial piety is an important part of traditional values and the state provides very limited ageing support to the elderly. In the meantime, legislation came into force in China in July 2013 that requires children to visit their elderly parents "often" or risk being sued. This paper takes these policy and legislative changes as a starting point for an exploration of the changing dynamics of Chinese migrant families in New Zealand in a multi-generational and transnational context. It first examines the impact of the New Zealand policy and then discusses the wider implications of this policy change on migrant family dynamics as well as on New Zealand society. The second focus is on younger generations in the Chinese migrant families. Linking three generations of the Chinese migrant families together, the final part of this paper addresses a highly pertinent research area - the intergenerational dimensions of transnational migration. © 2016 Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands.

China new Chinese migrants inter-generation New Zealand transnational Family

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