Paper short abstract:

Based on narratives of undocumented migrants and their partners married in Italy and Portugal, the project will propose a transnational, comparative and qualitative approach on their practices debating the nuances and consequences of their legally/socially attributed versus self-perceived status.

Paper long abstract:

The paper depicts a theoretical reflection on some preliminary results of the fieldwork carried out in Rome and Lisbon, in the context of a PhD project at the Institute of Social Sciences, University of Lisbon. The project aims at deepening knowledge about practices and representations related to marriage and migration in two specific European contexts, including its implications in terms of legal and social status and citizenship. Namely, it focuses on couples in which, prior to marriage, one partner is undocumented and the other has a formally recognized permanent residence or nationality status. This analysis reflects the nuances and consequences of the legally/socially attributed versus self-perceived status of migrants and their family, based on interviews to individuals engaged in marriages/civil unions in Italy and Portugal with a comparative and qualitative approach.