Abstract/Summary

Purpose - This article explores the contextual determinants of the move from expatriation into migration among ministers of religion originating from the developing world. Design/methodology/approach - We used in-depth analysis of narratives of four African religious ministers working in France, plus interviews with their five superiors and three host country national colleagues. Findings - The findings point to personal-level, organisational-level and country-level contextual determinants, which come into play as levers or barriers in the ‘expatriation into migration’ process. Originality/value - Our study develops a theoretical framework which points to the positive and negative influence of three-layered contextual determinants on how expatriated low-status church ministers from the developing world become migrants. We found a so far unreported determinant of the personal context: the role of a world-view: very visible as ‘God centrality’ in our participants. Results also shed new light on the international careers of this overlooked category of ‘non-traditional expatriates’ from Africa.