Pretending to be Domestic Workers to be ‘Legal’ Uneven Performances of Deservingness Within Italy’s Labour Migration Regime

The article focuses on the relationship between the Italian labor immigration regime, the categorization of domestic workers as ‘deserving’ of legal status, and the navigation strategies employed by migrants seeking to obtain a residence permit. Drawing on participant observation and interviews with migrants pursuing legal status through two specific labor migration policies in Italy, the article reveals how migrants confronting the Italian residence permit system are often compelled to conform to a particular categorization by presenting themselves as domestic workers. While some successfully navigate mass employment-based amnesties and the annual quota system for foreign workers through performances of deservingness, many others become entangled in the process, facing deception, fraud, and legal status immobility. The article thus underscores the malleable nature of state-imposed categories, the uneven outcomes of migrants’ efforts to achieve legal recognition through their appropriation, and the arbitrariness of legalization processes in Italy in recent years.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/15562948.2025.2512801