Abstract

GRASSI, Marzia. Migratory Forms: marrying the passport in the Schengen space: An introduction to the Portuguese case. Etnográfica [online]. 2006, vol.10, n.2, pp.283-306. ISSN 0873-6561.

In this paper I reflect on a recent phenomenon in contemporary Portugal inside the recent migration flows: the "marriage as immigration gate", here called "marrying the passport". This is a migratory form whose actors recognize as an informal economical activity. At the same time this migratory practice is considered illegal and treated like a criminal matter in police procedure. I propose here a different perception of this practice that will allow us to argument on how the migratory context is a visible place for the complexity of the concept of "informality" and how the crystallized cultural "forms" may produce the marginalization of the actors that present "different" practices.

Keywords : informal; illegal; criminal; transnational migrations; marriage; economy; identities.

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