Transnational Migration and Legal Vulnerability Among Immigrant Communities

Abstract

This study aimed to explore how immigrant communities living in Tehran experience, interpret, and manage legal vulnerability in the context of transnational migration, uncertain documentation, institutional access, and everyday social regulation. This qualitative study was conducted using a conventional qualitative design. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 24 immigrant participants residing in Tehran, selected through purposive sampling with maximum variation in gender, age, country of origin, duration of residence, employment condition, and documentation status. The sample included immigrants from Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, and Syria, with different legal statuses, including valid residence documents, refugee documentation, temporary registration documents, and undocumented status. Interviews continued until theoretical saturation was reached at the twenty-first interview, followed by three additional interviews to confirm saturation. All interviews were audio-recorded with consent, transcribed verbatim, anonymized, and analyzed through thematic analysis using NVivo software. Credibility was strengthened through member checking, peer review, prolonged engagement with the data, and an audit trail. Analysis produced four main categories: unstable documentation and bureaucratic uncertainty; restricted access to justice and public services; labor exploitation and economic dependency; and social invisibility, stigma, and fear of institutional contact. Participants described legal vulnerability not only as the absence of formal status but also as a layered condition shaped by complex administrative procedures, dependence on employers or intermediaries, limited legal literacy, language barriers, fear of deportation, and discriminatory treatment in housing, employment, healthcare, and policing encounters. Legal insecurity affected family life, mobility, livelihood decisions, children’s education, and willingness to seek institutional protection. The findings suggest that legal vulnerability among immigrant communities is produced through the interaction of migration status, administrative practices, social exclusion, and economic dependency. Legal protection for immigrants requires not only documentation reform but also accessible legal information, safe complaint mechanisms, anti-discrimination measures, and service pathways that do not expose vulnerable migrants to further risk.