Hiring Considerations by CountryCurrency SelectionEmployer of RecordIndicative Offer LettersImmigrationH-1BO-1Country-Specific Hiring Considerations
Hiring Considerations by Country
OCV supports a fully remote workforce, but many jurisdictions outside the USA have restrictions that do not align with the needs of an early-stage startup workforce. With flexibility and speed in mind, OCV recommends prioritizing hiring workers in the United States classified as employees and workers outside the United States to be engaged as contractors through a third-party firm.
Exceptions are made for critical hires outside the USA. We expect no more than 2 key employees outside the USA to be hired. A critical hire is someone who has extensive experience with your open-source project and can make significant contributions to your company's success.
Currency Selection
In general, we recommend portfolio companies pay employees and contractors in their local currency to avoid situations of adverse exchange rate fluctuations for the employees. Exchange rate management is not a core activity to scaling the business and will create an unnecessary distraction for the management team down the road.
Employer of Record
An Employer of Record (EOR) is a third-party company that is responsible for administrative tasks related to employing a worker such as payroll and tax compliance. The EOR is considered the legal employer of the worker while the worker is under the direction and supervision of the client or hiring company. The EOR provides services such as human resources, payroll, and benefits administration services to other companies.
Open Core Ventures companies which support a global workforce where the company may not have a legal entity leverage an EOR in helping manage local employment laws and regulations.
Indicative Offer Letters
OCV presents non-U.S. employment candidates with indicative offer letters prior to an employment contract to demonstrate intent to hire an employee. OCV companies utilize an employer of record (EOR) firm to generate the official employment contract.
Indicative offer letters generalize and outline intended terms while local employment contracts are dictated by local law and include relevant local employment statutes. Indicative offer letters provide written documentation to move forward with providing notice to current employers and signify an intent to move forward with an opportunity but are not directly binding until an employment contract is signed.
In some countries (e.g. Netherlands, France, and Belgium) collective bargaining agreements provide industry-wide terms and conditions that will apply on top of employment contracts which will cover items such as the notice period required from employer to employee in the event of termination. When employing executives or senior leaders, local legal teams can inform employment contracts beyond the guidance offered by the EOR.
Immigration
Due to the expensive and time-consuming nature of visa sponsorship and renewals, OCV companies do not provide visa sponsorship or transfers for team members. The only exception is executive relocation support for CEOs and CTOs. In these cases, OCV partners with an Employer of Record (EOR) to assist founders with visa transfers.
H-1B
H-1B visas are temporary US employment visas for a period of three years which have the option to renew after another three years. After 6 years (initial 3 years and a 3 year renewal), if employees don’t have a green card which would provide permanent resident status (renewed every 10 years), they would have to leave the United States.
O-1
O-1 visas are for individuals who possesses extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics, etc. See specific details from the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) here.
O-1 visas can be transferred, and the transfer process may be easier if the beneficiary (i.e. founder) has a copy of the complete O-1 filing. It is favorable if the beneficiary has already been approved for an O-1 visa. The new O-1 filing will be separately assessed by USCIS.
O-1 visa transfer process for founders:
- A US legal entity must be established first before an employment-based petition can be filed with USCIS.
- [To be confirmed with legal team]: founders can still purchase common shares during the company formation process.
- After the legal entity has been established, the company's EOR acts as the official sponsor and handles the full visa and legal process. The EOR charges an additional monthly fee for this service on top of its standard monthly fee.
- Timing: The standard EOR processing takes 14 weeks from start to finish, though premium processing (for an additional fee) reduces this to about 10 weeks. The timeline varies based on information gathering and government response times for the transfer petition. Since O-1 is one of the most complex visa types, having a copy of the prior petition can significantly speed up the preparation process. O-1 Timeline Overview is as follows:
- Sign EOR engagement letter
- Complete intakes
- Attorney case kick off call with case planning
- Case Building (8 weeks or 4 weeks with fast-track)
- Ship with premium processing (15 days)
- Approval or request for evidence
- Estimated Cost: $15,000 to $18,000