Looking for Work in All the Wrong Places: An Argument for the Adoption of a Job-Seeker Visa in the United States

• Author: Emily C. Callan
• Position: Attorney working in private practice in Arlington, Virginia
• Pages: 29-42

LOOKING FOR WORK IN ALL THE WRONG PLACES: AN

ARGUMENT FOR THE ADOPTION OF A JOB-SEEKER

VISA IN THE UNITED STATES

EMILY C. CALLAN*

In Alexandre Dumas’s acclaimed novel, The Count of Monte Cristo, the

titular character, Edmond Dantes, completely remakes himself after

escaping from prison, shedding his previous identity in its entirety and

adopting a new life.

1

While eventually the Count’s true identity is revealed

by his own admission, Dantes’s ability to drastically change his

circumstances, and dramatically improve his life, was a direct result of the

freedom of movement mankind enjoyed in the early 1800s.

2

Dumas’s story certainly puts to mind the ease with which generations

past were able to pack up their belongings and move to new cities, or even

countries, in order to start a new life and significantly improve their current

circumstances. As the idea of “ex-pat life” continues to gain popularity,

especially among millennials, hundreds of thousands of people now must

take great pains to move to different countries in order to pursue higher

education, foreign investment prospects, and new employment

opportunities.

3

The employment-based immigration opportunities available to foreign

nationals are several in number though extreme in their complexity.

4

In

2017 alone, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (hereinafter

“USCIS”), the federal agency within the purview of the Department of

Homeland Security which adjudicates petitions for immigration benefits,

* Emily C. Callan (nee Kendall) is an attorney working in private practice in Arlington,

Virginia. She has published articles on multiple immigration and Constitutional issues in law

journals including the Georgetown Immigration Law Journal, the St. Thomas Law Review,

John Marshall Law Review, the Michigan State University College of Law International Law

Review, the Journal of Supreme Court History, DePaul Journal for Socia l Justice, the

University of Baltimore Law Review, and others.

1

ALEXANDRE DUMAS, THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO (Liz Heron trans., Alfred A. Knopf

2d ed. 2009) (1909).

2

See id. at 975.

3

See Nadine Ajaka, The Hardest Place in the World to Visit, ATLANTIC (Sept. 9, 2015),

https://www.theatlantic.com/notes/2015/09/the-hardest-place-in-the-world-to-escape-

to/404041/ [https://perma.cc/F4LQ-23HM].

4

See generally 8 C.F.R. pt. 214 (2019).