How on Earth did Emily make it to Paris?

The Lobster is a serious arts and literature magazine. It seems slightly offensive, therefore, to add an article on Emily in Paris to its content. And yet, needs must. By ‘needs’, I mean my newfound interest in immigration law. Visas sound dull. Emily Cooper, however, screams (literally) intrigue and glamour. I hope that by combining the two, immigration law will become the next topic en vogue.

Emily Cooper is truly spectacular – a superwoman of sorts. The opening of the first episode sees her jogging by the Chicago River; ten minutes later, she is whooshed away to her luxurious French chambre de bonne (a paradox in itself). Thoughts of consulate visits, préfecture applications and piles of paperwork are far from her mind as she indulges in – and photographs – her first croissant. In reality, the visa application process takes around five weeks, requiring documents of all sorts (health insurance, travel insurance, insurance of any other kind – you get the gist). The toil doesn’t end there; somewhere between episode 1 and 3, Emily’s visa would have required validation from the Préfecture de Police.

Of course, Netflix is right to gloss over this hassle. Audiences care to see Emily in Paris, not Emily pulling her hair out trying to get to Paris. However, my heart goes out to the increasing masses of béret-wearing tourists now taking selfies in front of the Louvre, on the banks of the Seine, or even in Emily’s favourite restaurant. The show is selling them an illusion which it feels unfair to uphold.

Emily is sent to the French marketing firm Savoir by her Chicago employer, Gilbert Group. With this in mind, her most likely route to France would have been through an Inter-Company Transfer (ICT). So far, so good. Problems arise when considering certain requirements for this visa; namely, Emily must have been asked by her employer to carry out a high-level senior management or an expert assessment mission. From my understanding, she ticks neither of these boxes. Sylvie Grateau, Savoir’s manager, doesn’t even trust her with working the printer. What’smore, Emily’s influencer side gig (mostly filming herself from her balcony) qualifies neither as imposed by her employer nor as ‘expert level’.

Alternatively, Emily could qualify for an ICT if she holds a higher education qualification. This seems a more plausible option: according to fan articles, Emily holds a master’s degree in communications and marketing. Unfortunately, that alone wouldn’t get her to France; Gilbert Group would also have to ask her to follow a training course at Savoir. This is clearly not the case as Emily seems more preoccupied in Americanising Savoir than learning the ropes of marketing for a French clientele. Just listen to her introduction on her first day: ‘I’m Emily Cooper and I’m so excited to be here… I hope to become a valuable member of your team by adding an American point of view to your fabulous French clients.’ To which her colleague replies ‘Quelle catastrophe’. Doubtless the French immigration authorities would think so too.

Emily is not one to give up, and I am willing to believe that she would have added several letters to her visa applications justifying her essential reasons for coming to France. Assuming these sway the government favourably, we come now to the question of residency. The ICT visa is valid for three years and is non-renewable. Turning once again to fan forums (oddly knowledgeable platforms), it transpires that by the beginning of season 4, Emily has been in Paris for just under a year. As irritating as she might be to most Parisians, she is perfectly in her rights to continue drinking wine in the Champagne or tanning in Saint-Tropez.

Italians, however, have more legitimate grounds for frustration. The show’s newest season trades macarons for tiramisu, whisking Emily away to sunny Roman piazzas. Injecting the storyline with a new burst of exoticism is a smart move for television purposes, but less so for Emily’s stay in Europe. As Emily is seconded to another EU country on the same grounds as those used to obtain her visa for France, she may work in Rome using her French residence permit. Prior to the move, however, her boss Sylvie would have been responsible for notifying the préfecture of the planned changes. Considering the difficult relations between the two, it is hardly likely that Sylvie would have bothered with the paperwork (mainly drafting a work contract). Realistically, then, Emily will soon be soberly shipped back to France.

If she isn’t too disconcerted by this Roman-holiday-turned-express-relocation-to-France, Emily may stay on in Paris for the remaining two years allowed on her visa. Come the end of this period, if she wishes keep working at Savoir, she will have to compromise and return to Chicago for six months before reapplying once again for the same ICT visa. This seems an unglamorous turn for her trajectory to take; for the sake of keeping both the law and audiences happy, it might be time for Emily Cooper to say a final au revoir and then leave us for good.