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I've set colonization distance to around 1.5 sectors as it makes empires growth more connected and not a patchwork of interspersed colonies of different empires.

So about 50 years into the game I get word of a distant independent colony that wants to join my empire. It's about 1/3 around the rim of the galaxy from where I started out, way past my colonization range. Ok, this is going to be challenging as it's way outside my empire, far beyond the colonization limit. But if they want to join, why not? I considered it a challenge. I send a colony ship and they join my empire even tho it's beyond the setting's colonization limit. Then I begin to focus colony expansion to fill in that gap, intentionally colonizing minimally habitable worlds, just so the empire is connected to that distant colony. Eventually, I've managed to close the gap and my empire now wraps around the outer spiral arm of the galaxy, with other empires more toward the center.

Now, 150 years later I find another independent colony that's also outside my colonization range, and it's nestled right in the midw5 of a Boskarian empire. I've opened diplomatic talks, gifted them, given them free trade agreement, and plied them with gifts multiple times, but they've remained unswayed and have not yet asked to join. As the colony is beyond colonization range (just like the one mentioned earlier) my colony ship can't land and colonize.

Was the first distant colony a scripted event and hence colonizable, even though it was outside the game setting's colonization range limitation? Will this 2nd colony eventually want to join and be colonizable, even though it's also outside colonization range? Or will it remain uncolonizable because it wasn't a scripted event? I'll continue to ply them with gifts, (they're currently 'very friendly' with +62 relations) but curious if it may be useless since it's beyond colonization range.

Can colonies want to join but be unable to because of range limitations?

(going to war with the surrounding Boskarian empire just to acquire enough colonies to reach that independent colony close enough to colonize, does seem a bit extreme.... )

It probably has to do with the colony being in the middle of another empire's territory. I've noticed too that independent colonies generally disregard the colonization limit, but will respect it if inside another empire's territory.

I know you can't colonize unoccupied planets in another empire's territory unless you're at war, so I'm guessing that's true here too. Declare war, then you should be able to!

thanks for the reply.

Maybe it's because the independent colony contains some members of the surrounding empire in its population. It's possible the Boskarians living amongst the human population aren't sufficiently convinced to join my majority human empire. Though I do have quite the number of Xenox, Atuuk, Mortalen, and Ackdarians as well... Just not many Boskari.

I'll keep throwing money at them. Perhaps they'll eventually come around.

The in-game galactipedia explicitly states:

"You cannot normally colonize in a system owned by another empire. But you can colonize independent colonies in other empire's systems."

It says nothing about having to be at war with the other empire.