What is semi-legality, and why does it offer a viable alternative to the legality-illegality binary divide? Semi-legality, as a heuristic device, is useful to frame the various "in-between" statuses and not resorting to illegality every time ambiguities arise as this casts the net of potential fraud far too wide. It could be viewed as a multidimensional space where migrants' formal relationships with the state interact with their various forms of agency toward the law. As a sensitizing theore...