Adult vocational education and training (VET) systems are increasingly recognized as vital components in the governance of migration and the labor market. By facilitating skill development and certification, adult VET aims to enhance employability, promote social inclusion, and foster the economic integration of migrants. However, mounting evidence suggests that training pathways do not consistently yield uniform outcomes and that their effects are significantly influenced by migrants’ legal, biographical, and socio-economic contexts. This paper examines how the governance of adult VET systems creates differential inclusion among migrant participants in Italy (Italian Government, 2018; 2023; Ambrosini, 2023). Drawing on qualitative data from 33 semi-structured interviews conducted as part of the Skills4Justice Horizon Europe project, the study explores the training trajectories and labor-market transitions of adult migrants enrolled in vocational and professional programs. Rather than evaluating the effectiveness of these programs, the paper investigates the interplay between VET and migration governance and how these factors interact with migrants’ positions and personal journeys to produce unequal outcomes. The findings reveal that adult VET serves as an effective mobility mechanism primarily for migrants with stable legal status, ample temporal availability, and minimal caregiving responsibilities. Conversely, for other groups—especially those with families and precarious or irregular legal status—training seldom leads to upward mobility. Instead, it often results in the stabilization of participants within segmented, low-skilled sectors of the labor market, despite formal skill acquisition. The paper contends that adult VET systems act as mechanisms of differential inclusion, distributing opportunities unevenly based on migrants’ trajectories and the constraints of governance. By shifting the focus from individual employability to the systemic impacts of VET governance, the study contributes to broader discussions on VET cultures, migration, and social justice, underscoring how training policies may perpetuate rather than mitigate structural inequalities.

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