Subversive Self-Employment: Intersectionality and Self-Employment Among Dependent Visas Holders in the United States

Abstract

Drawing on intersectionality theory, I examine how U.S. visa policies shape the informal self-employment experiences of Indian women and men who migrated to the United States on “dependent visas” to accompany their highly skilled spouses on temporary work visas. Dependent visa policy prohibits employment for the visa holders for a period that can last from 6 to 20 years. Despite this, only a handful of those on dependent visas pursued informal self-employment in my sample, with fewer men than women. This study is based on interviews with 45 participants, with a special focus on 18 dependent spouses (men and women), who had engaged in active self-employment, and tries to understand their experiences with self-employment, particularly their choice of businesses and the role of self-employment in their lives as dependents. I conclude that the complexities of the experiences of self-employment for my research participants are embedded in the intersections of their gender, class, race, and immigration status. Additionally, self-employment itself inadvertently becomes an act of subversion against their state-imposed dependence.