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I mostly ask this because I'm from Spain and I wouldn't mind working on the United States.

I have the legal right to work there ... provided a did get a Green Pass for which usually helps a lot having a job offer in the first place so... Does it refer just to something like I'm of age and I'm not crazy nor do I intent to kill the USA president?

Or should I uncheck the "legal right" checkbox? And if I do, would that mean that I won't be appearing on US employers searches?

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Awkward cat is awkward. –  George Stocker Nov 12 '09 at 14:27
If you check that box, and you don't have the legal right, then expect some blow back. It would be disingenuous of someone to say the have the right when they don't--a waste of everyone's time. –  Stu Thompson Nov 12 '09 at 14:53

3 Answers 3

up vote 10 down vote accepted

Its whether you could legally turn up that country today and work there. For Example as you are an EU citizen you have the legal right to come to the UK and work there all you want. However you do not have the Legal Right to work in the US, unless you can get an employer to sponsor you for a Visa etc.

So my guess would be that you can put whatever location you want to work in, but if you don't have the right to work there, you would not tick this box, then if an employer say in the US see's your CV, he will see that you want to work there, but you don't have a Visa, so if they want you, they are going to have to sponsor your Visa application, which may or may not put them off, depending how amazing you are.

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Ok, I think I get it. "This is a key search field, and it defaults to required for employers. So if it's not filled correctly, you won't show up!" ... so an employer would need to actually seek for people in my situation. –  Jorge Córdoba Nov 12 '09 at 14:38
That sounds right. –  Thomas Owens Nov 12 '09 at 14:44
But they don't know his citizenship, so the work required to get him a work permit may be easy or it may be very hard. –  Ether Nov 12 '09 at 23:55
True, I don't know how common this is in the US, but this question is on every job application you get here in the UK. Employers don't want to go through the hassle of getting work permits, even if its relatively straight forward. –  Sam Nov 13 '09 at 9:46

I added "today" to the end of the phrase since that seemed to be the source of most of the confusion:

I have the legal right to work in this location


I have the legal right to work in this location today

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I guess it depends on the meaning of the word today? If you mean the today it is being checked then that's one thing, but if you mean the today it is being read that is something else entirely. ;) –  ongle Nov 12 '09 at 22:32
maybe "right now" then? –  Jeff Atwood Nov 12 '09 at 22:40
Maybe a footnote/tooltip/link to a FAQ item would be in order for this option. Not everything has to be self-explanatory in one line. If the user isn't sure whether it applies to him, he can click through to a longer explanation. –  Ether Nov 12 '09 at 23:56

I think it's referring to if you can work there right now. So if you have the necessary authorization to start working there right now, then you can check it.

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I don't have it because I don't have a proper offer. Having a proper offer would actually make it easier to get a green pass but I won't be receiving any offer at all (not through careers anyway) if I don't mark the checkbox... So ... infinite loop. –  Jorge Córdoba Nov 12 '09 at 14:36
I'm stating that you can work there right now, like book a flight now and start working later today. –  Ólafur Waage Nov 12 '09 at 15:52

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