The current study investigates formal and social categories involved in the recent migration process of Senegalese migrants in Porto Alegre. The objective is to demonstrate the difficulty of defining a migrant in a homogeneous way, since there are social, cultural and legal factors at stake. Based on extensive fieldwork with the community, the thesis deals with topics such as: migrant s profile, reasons for leaving Senegal, migration project, chosing Brazil as a destination, insertion in the Brazilian labor market, housing issues, civil associations and religion. Concludes that a number of categories are involved in the migration process beyond political, humanitarian and economic issues. The new South to South migration flows to Brazil differ from those traditionally historical ones. The arrival of black, Senegalese and Muslim migrants brings to the fore old prejudices and stigmas linked to the Brazilian imagination and therefore new possibilities for reflection, like the notion of a culture of emigration in times of globalization. The case study allows us to understand how the different migration flows deserve attention in their specific migration realities, since there are social and formal categories involved in the process depending on who they are, where they come from and where they are going.