The Effect of Health Change on Long-Term Settlement Intentions of International Immigrants in New Destination Countries: Evidence from Yiwu City in China

Objective: Previous studies on settlement intentions have mainly focused on the explanations of social and economic rationality, culture, and institution, but insufficient attention had been paid to the relationship between health and settlement intentions. This study explored the relationship between changes in the health status of immigrants and their settlement intentions. Method: A cross-sectional survey was conducted both in 2018 and 2019. Foreigners who visited the Yiwu Municipal Exit–Entry Administration Office to extend their visas were invited to participate in the study. Quantitative data, such as the participants’ sociodemographic characteristics, job status, employment, immigration experience, key factors associated with the intention to settle down, medical insurance coverage, and changes in health status, were collected by questionnaire. Results: A change in health status significantly affected the intention to settle down: the more healthy that people became, the more likely they intended to settle down (β = 0.233; p < 0.001), and, simultaneously, changes in health status were also moderated by the length of stay in China (β = 0.320; p < 0.001) and medical insurance (β = 0.134; p < 0.001), which affected people’s willingness to settle down. Conclusions: Changes in health status, and not health status itself, affected immigrants’ willingness to settle down. In addition, social insurance, and the length of stay in the place receiving immigrants, affected immigrants’ willingness to settle down not only directly, but also indirectly by moderating the impact of the change in health status on the willingness to settle down.