Although Czechia is well-established as an immigration country, for much of CEE the 21st century has been a period of mass out-migration. However, this has changed. Poland and Lithuania achieved net immigration around 2018-9, while in south-east Europe -- for instance Croatia and Romania -- immigration country status has arrived still more recently. Employers and labour brokers have been recruiting workers from across the globe, while some countries have also received large numbers of Ukrainian refugees. My paper will survey and synthesise emerging literature on the migration transition in different countries, referring to research reports as well as academic publications. The paper will also draw on my own research in Poland, where I conducted 173 interviews with Poles and foreigners between 2019 and 2025. My interviews shed light on the behaviour and experiences of the migrants themselves as well as on the migration transition as a process: the geographical spread and diversification of the foreign population, and the trend towards settlement and family reunification. I will use insights from the Polish case to identify common threads which are becoming visible in other countries of the region.
