The relationship between spatial mobility and place attachment has always been an important part of the psychology of place. However, surprisingly little attention has been paid to the context of international migration. Thus, this paper brings together the existing scholarship on place attachment and migration studies in order to discuss the development of place attachment among settled migrants, focusing on the example of Poles living in London and Oslo. Drawing on 60 semi-structured in-depth interviews, it is argued that people's bonding with a new place of residence could be described more adequately as a dynamic process rather than through static typologies. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that different aspects of place attachment, namely place dependence, place discovered, place identity, and place inherited, often coexist and may emerge gradually in the process of adaptation to a new urban setting. •Studying migrants' place attachment as a process offers a new insight.•Different aspects of place attachment emerge gradually with time and may coexist.•Even first generation migrants may develop strong bonds with their destination places.•Relative forms of attachment based on affordances or direct experiences emerge fast.