National policy requires private colleges in Oman to have an academic affiliation with a foreign university. How this policy is received and acted on was investigated through an interview-based study involving colleges with affiliates based in England, Scotland, India, Malaysia and Jordan. The study draws on social practice theory, Bourdieu's concept of capital and ecological systems theory and finds examples of affiliate partnerships that are evolving constructively in response to the ongoing development of the local institutions, the accumulation of capital and the agency of local actors, and the dynamics of the environment. These partnerships are perceived and experienced by local HE colleges as an ongoing journey. This evolution of partnerships, which is facilitated by historically loose policy requirements, offers a promising and contrasting narrative to that of relatively static transnational education (TNE) arrangements in which receiving nations and institutions are perceived as likely victims of educational and cultural imperialism.