Internal and international migration have increased exponentially in scale, complexity and significance in the last two decades. There are often strong relationships between internal and international migration, but they remain little understood because the two types of movement are conceptualised, measured and studied separately. This paper is divided into two parts. The first summarises the areas of both convergence and divergence in the types, patterns, causes and consequences of internal and international migration in the Asian region. These are considered partially in the context of the complex relationship between migration and development. It is shown that there is more convergence than divergence conceptually and theoretically. The second part of the paper addresses the issue of linkages between internal and international migration. This model argues that on the one hand international migrants usually engage in a different pattern of internal migration than the established population at the destination. It also suggests that in some cases international migration itself may influence the internal migration patterns of the resident population. On the other hand there are also linkages in ‘origin’ countries where particular patterns of internal migration precede international migration. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.