E.g., 07/22/2026
E.g., 07/22/2026
María Belén Zanzuchi
Experts & Staff
Photo of María Belén Zanzuchi

María Belén Zanzuchi

Policy Analyst, MPI Europe

+32 (2) 02 23 52 270

@BelenZanzuchi

María Belén Zanzuchi is a Policy Analyst at MPI Europe, where she conducts research on refugee protection pathways, including resettlement and complementary pathways, as well as on labor migration, irregular migration, and return migration.

Previously, she worked with the Humanitarian Corridors Initiative at the University of Notre Dame, evaluating humanitarian corridors in Italy and assessing whether these programs could serve as a model for migrant integration elsewhere in Europe. Ms. Zanzuchi also worked as an Economic Advisor to the Secretary of Commerce of Argentina, focusing on issues related to competition policies, trade agreements, and sectorial policies, and coordinating with private and public stakeholders. 

Ms. Zanzuchi has a master’s degree in sustainable development from the University of Notre Dame, with a focus on refugee and migrant studies, and a bachelor’s degree in economics from the Universidad Torcuato di Tella in Buenos Aires.

Bio Page Tabs

Cover image for Building Refugee-Inclusive Labor Mobility Pathways
Reports
February 2026
By  María Belén Zanzuchi, Kate Hooper and Abigail Goldfarb
Cover image for Best Practices for Designing and Managing Labour Migration Corridors to Europe
Reports
December 2025
By  Kate Hooper, María Belén Zanzuchi, Abigail Goldfarb, Ravenna Sohst and Bertrand Steiner
Cover image for No One-Size-Fits-All...
Policy Briefs
January 2025
By  María Belén Zanzuchi and Bertrand Steiner
Cover image for Complementary Pathways: Key Factors in Future Growth
Reports
December 2024
By  Susan Fratzke and María Belén Zanzuchi
Cover image for Attracting, Retaining, and Diversifying Sponsors
Reports
September 2023
By  María Belén Zanzuchi, Nadja Dumann, Florian Tissot and Admir Skodo

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Worker holds stack of paperwork
Short Reads
December 2025
By  Kate Hooper, Nurbanu Hayır and María Belén Zanzuchi
Video, Audio
February 26, 2026

This webinar explored labor migration pathways as a potential avenue for qualified refugees to access protection in Europe while helping meet destination countries’ skill needs. Speakers examined ways to make work visas more accessible to qualified refugees and how to remove barriers that prevent refugees from entering via the labor pathway. 

Video
January 23, 2025

Connecting with and providing counselling to irregular migrants is crucial for addressing irregular migration in Europe yet remains a challenging and underexplored area.

Video, Audio
December 4, 2024

Experts explore the steps that can be taken to unlock further growth and overcome obstacles to scaling various refugee sponsorship initiatives and complementary pathway schemes, including education and labor-based programs, for those people in need of international protection.

Video, Audio
November 14, 2023

With the Global Refugee Forum approaching, this webcast explores how municipalities and other key stakeholders can be engaged in informing and delivering on the 2024 resettlement and complementary pathways pledges. 

Recent Activity

Video, Audio, Webinars
February 26, 2026

This webinar explored labor migration pathways as a potential avenue for qualified refugees to access protection in Europe while helping meet destination countries’ skill needs. Speakers examined ways to make work visas more accessible to qualified refugees and how to remove barriers that prevent refugees from entering via the labor pathway. 

Reports
February 2026

When refugees can access mainstream work visas, this offers opportunities to find safety while also helping destination countries meet pressing labor needs. Yet the design of many work visas puts them out of reach for well-qualified refugees. This visa evaluation framework and scorecard highlight how different characteristics can make a visa more or less accessible, transparent, and predictable.

Short Reads
December 2025

The European Commission's forthcoming visa strategy must be complemented by national-level policy change given that EU-wide channels represent a small share of total legal migration pathways to Europe. To compete more fully for global talent, European governments will need faster, clearer, and more predictable visa procedures, as this short read explains.

Reports
December 2025

Labor and skills shortages threaten the European Union’s economic growth. Attracting workers with sought-after skills from abroad will be an important means of addressing these challenges. This report examines best practices for designing and managing labor migration corridors between EU and non-EU countries, with the aim of benefiting countries of destination and origin, employers, and migrant workers alike.

Video, Webinars
January 23, 2025

Connecting with and providing counselling to irregular migrants is crucial for addressing irregular migration in Europe yet remains a challenging and underexplored area. This MPI Europe webinar examines the value of outreach and counselling to irregular populations and the policy goals and approaches used, featuring key findings from an MPI brief.

Policy Briefs
January 2025

With heightened pressure to tackle irregular migration, many European governments are exploring the potential of outreach and counselling for irregular migrants. Various initiatives have sought to connect with this hard-to-reach population to inform migrants about programs including return assistance or regularization. This MPI Europe issue brief explores the diversity of actors and approaches in the field.

Video, Audio, Webinars
December 4, 2024

Experts explore the steps that can be taken to unlock further growth and overcome obstacles to scaling various refugee sponsorship initiatives and complementary pathway schemes, including education and labor-based programs, for those people in need of international protection.

Reports
December 2024

Humanitarian admission, sponsorship, and education- and employment-based mobility programs are becoming important tools for refugee protection, alongside traditional resettlement. Yet even as these complementary pathways gain in popularity, they have generally remained small. This report explores strategies and forms of support that could help these programs grow and better fulfill their objectives.

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