Abstract A significant share of migration studies is dedicated to understanding how large cities in Europe deal with the influx of international migrants, forced and by choice. Rural and peripheral regions, however, are hardly identified as receiving areas for migrant newcomers. Here, economic degradation, population decline and liveability are at the centre of academic debate. Nevertheless, peripheral—and shrinking—areas are increasingly regarded as favourable locations for hosting non-EU migrants, in particular asylum seekers, refugees and recognised refugees. In our study, we combined the two debates by examining how declining small peripheral cities and rural communities in the Netherlands and Poland deal with the arrival and settlement of non-EU migrants. We identified different spaces of decoupling to better understand how local policy discourses on migration governance relate to national ones. From our study, it appears that in these spaces of decoupling, alternative, cross-regional governance networks are formed to host migrant newcomers, and in some cases, migration is framed as a panacea for the decline. Within these networks, the leading efforts of non-governmental organisations and volunteers stand out and are more prominent than in urban contexts.