This special issue revisits key themes in the social science literature on transnationalism and mobility before addressing specific issues associated with return, circular, and onward migration arising from this special issue. We frame our discussion around the interconnected temporal, spatial, social, and legal dimensions explored by our contributors: the relationship between migration, generation, and stage in the life cycle, the implications of changing responsibilities to kin in the home and host countries, the notion of returning ‘home’ or to the ‘homeland’, and the relationship between citizenship, documentation, and (national) identification. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.