Albanian and Polish Migration to Italy: The Micro-Processes of Policy, Implementation and Immigrant Survival Strategies.

This study makes part of a larger empirical research that investigates the experience of migration as narrated by Albanian and Polish immigrants in Italy, including their contact with natives, social integration, identity aspects and their overall experience of entering the country, finding accommodation and a first job and their contact with authorities as well as assistance networks, both formal and informal. This paper will concentrate on three particular aspects of the migration experience of these two groups: their strategies of entry, their strategies of finding or changing employment, and their interaction with public authorities in the effort to achieve or maintain their legal status.