Regularisation

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.22151/politikon.6209

Keywords:

regularisation, migration governance, legal status, migration agency, Latin America, Venezuela, irregular migration, social inclusion

Abstract

REGULARISATION: A non-linear, complex, and contested process through which a state authorises non-nationals to reside lawfully within its territory, either temporarily or permanently. Encompassing migration policies, refugee status determination (RSD), and naturalisation, regularisation generates sequences of legal statuses that alternate between regularity and irregularity across countries of origin, transit, and destination. As a socio-political process, it produces migrant categories that carry specific social meanings and hierarchies that determine access to rights. Shaped by an asymmetric tension between state control and migrant agency, regularisation constitutes a necessary but insufficient condition for social inclusion.

References

Acosta, Diego, Cécile Blouin, and Luisa F. Freier. 2019. La emigración venezolana: Respuestas latinoamericanas. Documento de Trabajo No. 3. Fundación Carolina. http://webcarol.local/la-emigracion-venezolana-respuestas-latinoamericanas/

Acosta, Diego, and Luisa F. Freier. 2023. “Expanding the Reflexive Turn in Migration Studies: Refugee Protection, Regularization, and Naturalization in Latin America.” Journal of Immigrant and Refugee Studies 21 (4): 597–610.

Acosta, Diego, and Jeremy Harris. 2022. Migration Policy Regimes in Latin America and the Caribbean: Immigration, Regional Free Movement, Refuge, and Nationality. Inter-American Development Bank.

Aranda, Elizabeth, Cecilia Menjívar, and Katharine M. Donato. 2014. “The Spillover Consequences of an Enforcement-First U.S. Immigration Regime.” American Behavioral Scientist 58 (13): 1687–1695.

Bauer, Kelly. 2021. “Extending and Restricting the Right to Regularisation: Lessons from South America.” Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 47 (19): 4497–4514. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2019.1682978

Besserer Rayas, Andres, Victoria Finn, and Luisa Feline Freier. 2024. “Building Paper Bridges: Adapting Citizenship and Immigration Regimes to International Displacement.” Comparative Migration Studies 12: 47. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40878-024-00408-w

Botto, Mercedes, and Julieta Nicolao. 2023. “Migración venezolana y acción colectiva en Argentina (2015–2022).” Colección 34 (2). https://doi.org/10.46553/colec.34.2.2023.p59-94

Carens, Joseph H. 2013. The Ethics of Immigration. New York: Oxford University Press.

Carling, Jørgen (2023) The phrase ‘refugees and migrants’ undermines analysis, policy and protection. International Migration, 61, 399–403. https://doi.org/10.1111/imig.13147

Cerrutti, Marcela S., and Ana Penchaszadeh. 2023. “Regularización migratoria y acceso a derechos de la población venezolana en la Argentina: El caso de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires.” Notas de Población (115): 23–48. https://hdl.handle.net/11362/48744

Del Real, Deisy. 2025. “Gradations of Migrant Legality: The Impact of States’ Legal Structures and Bureaucracies on Immigrant Legalization and Livelihoods.” International Migration Review 59 (4): 2064–2094.

Fernández-Rodríguez, Nieves, and Daniela Célleri. 2024. “The Power of Bureaucracies: Shaping Migration Policy Paradigms in Colombia and Ecuador.” Migration Studies 12 (4): mnae039.

Gil Everaert, Isabel. 2021. “Inhabiting the Meanwhile: Rebuilding Home and Restoring Predictability in a Space of Waiting.” Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 47 (19): 4327–4343.

IOM (International Organization for Migration). 2019. International Migration Law: Glossary on Migration. Geneva: IOM UN Migration. https://publications.iom.int/system/files/pdf/iml_34_glossary.pdf

Jarochinski Silva, João C., and Jorge M. Malheiros. 2024. “Politização da (I)migração na América do Sul.” Carta Internacional 18 (3): 1–24. https://doi.org/10.21530/ci.v18n3.2023.1376

Jorgensen, Nuni. 2026. “Beyond Separation and Reunification: The Ever-Shifting Trajectories of Venezuelan Transnational Families in South America.” Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2025.2609030

Kraler, Albert. 2019. “Regularization of Irregular Migrants and Social Policies: Comparative Perspectives.” Journal of Immigrant and Refugee Studies 17 (1): 94–113. https://doi.org/10.1080/15562948.2018.1522561

Masferrer, Claudia, and Johana Navarrete-Suárez. 2026. “Implications of Complex Migrant Trajectories, Itineraries, and Legal Pathways in the Americas: Lessons from Fieldwork in Mexico.” International Migration Review 0 (0).

Menjívar, Cecilia. 2024. “Immigration Bureaucracies and State-Created Categories across the Globe.” Ethnic and Racial Studies 48 (4): 927–947.

Moulin, Carolina, and Gisela P. Zapata. 2025. “Beyond Regularity: Gendered Inequalities in South American Migrant Integration.” In The Oxford Handbook of Intersectional Approaches to Migration, Gender, and Sexuality, edited by Gökce Yurdakul et al. Oxford: Oxford Academic.

Pelacani, Gracy, and Carolina Moreno. 2023. “The Response of the Colombian State to Venezuelan Migration: Migratory Regularization to the Detriment of Asylum.” Derecho PUCP 90: 497.

Penchaszadeh, Ana Paula, and María Dolores Linares. 2026. “Teoría y praxis de la regularización de migrantes: Un esquema y un caso para su comprensión dinámica y crítica.” REMHU 34. https://doi.org/10.1590/1980-858508803402004

Prieto Rosas, Victoria, Gisela P. Zapata, Luciana Gandini, Marcia Vera Espinoza, Camila Montiel, Natalia Debandi, Julieta Nicolao, Vania Reyes, João Carlos Jarochinski, Ana Penchaszadeh, Gustavo Gatica, Julieta Bengochea, Alethia Fernández de la Reguera, Consuelo Sánchez, Gioconda Herrera, Marisol Franco, and Nicolas Carranza. Forthcoming. “Unpacking Complexity in Migrants’ (Ir)Regularisation Pathways and Social Inclusion in Latin America.” In Special Issue “Migration, Mobility and Social Rights: Inverting the Lens on Inequality,” Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies.

Robles, Jozef C. 2025. “Remnants of Illegality: DACA, Legal Status, and Unlearning Illegality.” Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 51 (9): 2203–2221. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2024.2393655

van der Werf, Cynthia, Jeremy Harris, and Andrea Velásquez, eds. 2025. El derecho a pertenecer: regularización de migrantes en América Latina y el Caribe. Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo. https://doi.org/10.18235/0013812

Vera Espinoza, Marcia. 2024. “Migration Governance in South America: Change and Continuity in Times of “Crisis.”” In The Palgrave Handbook of South–South Migration and Inequality, edited by H. Crawley and J. K. Teye. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-39814-8_29

Vera Espinoza, Marcia, Victoria Prieto Rosas, Gisela P. Zapata, Luciana Gandini, Alethia Fernández de la Reguera, Gioconda Herrera, Stephanie López Villamil, Cristina Zamora Gómez, Cécile Blouin, Camila Montiel, Gabriela Cabezas Gálvez, and Irene Palla. 2021. “Towards a Typology of Social Protection for Migrants and Refugees in Latin America during the COVID-19 Pandemic.” Comparative Migration Studies 9: 52. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40878-021-00265-x

Vera Espinoza, Marcia, and Ana Paula Penchaszadeh. 2026. “La normalización de la excepcionalidad en la gobernanza de las migraciones en Sudamérica.” In Descentrando los estudios migratorios desde Latinoamérica, edited by Diego Acosta Arcarazo, Jacques Ramírez, and Ana Paula Penchaszadeh, 231–266. Madrid: Aranzadi.

Zapata, Gisela P., Luciana Gandini, Marcia Vera Espinoza, and Victoria Prieto Rosas. 2023. “Weakening Practices Amidst Progressive Laws: Refugee Governance in Latin America during COVID-19.” Journal of Immigrant and Refugee Studies 21 (4): 547–565. https://doi.org/10.1080/15562948.2022.2163521

Published

2026-09-29

How to Cite

Vera Espinoza, Marcia, Gisela P. Zapata, Vania Reyes Muñoz, Ana Penchaszadeh, João Carlos Jarochinski, Victoria Prieto Rosas, Luciana Gandini, Alethia Fernández de la Reguera, Camila Montiel, Julieta Nicolao, Natalia Debandi, Consuelo Sánchez Bautista, Gioconda Herrera, Gustavo Gatica, Julieta Bengochea, and Marisol Franco. 2026. “Regularisation”. Politikon: The IAPSS Journal of Political Science 27 (1). Online:83-91. https://doi.org/10.22151/politikon.6209.