What it’s really like to move to another country to be with the person you love

People who leave countries to flee war or poverty have had their fair share of column inches devoted to them lately. But what about those who are motivated by love? This question of ‘love migration’ is what Yvonne Clarke-Salt hopes to understand; and to do that, she’s collecting scores of stories and photos of people who’ve made the journey. (To disguise their identities, she shot only their hands, and has changed their names for publication.)

As an English language teacher in Mexico, Poland, Italy and the UK, Clarke-Salt saw countless couples with different mother-tongues leaving home for their partners. Inspired by her own relationships abroad, three years ago she decided to explore others’. The Love Migration Project is the result. 
European migrants are not just paying their way, they're paying our way too
Clarke-Salt has so far collected nearly 60 love stories from couples whom she has interviewed both in person – in Barcelona, Brussels and London – as well as online. She hopes to question the view that migration "is mostly about push-and pull factors and delve into what it is like to move for the person you love”. 

True, she says, wider political contexts can create painful chasms between couples. Yet, however stressful the experience, those she has met have pushed on regardless. For them, moving is a heady, romantic gesture which can also can present new opportunities. Clarke-Salt hopes to submit an 80,000 word PhD thesis on the subject in 2017. Meanwhile, here are five love-migrant couples that she has interviewed.