US companies that hire remote employees in other countries are often faced with visa-related challenges.

Your employee may want to move themselves and/or their family members to the United States, or another country that requires a visa.

A common question when working with an Employer Of Record (EOR) is if they can sponsor visas

An Employer Of Record (EOR) provider can sponsor your employee’s visa and helps your employee obtain a work permit in other countries. This allows them to legally live and work in that country.

EOR services can also help navigate the rules and regulations about your employee’s immigrant status abroad.

How long does an EOR take to set up employee visas?

Typically, this process can take a few months to set up. Depending on who you’re working with, it may be faster. Some EOR services can have an employment visa set up within two weeks.

It really depends on your provider. There can also be delays and complications that your EOR may have to deal with which can increase the amount of time it takes to get it done.

Do EORs help with dependent visas too?

Yep, an EOR can provide dependent visas for spouses, children, and other dependents. Depending on the EOR provider you work with, this may come at an additional cost.

How do EORs help with visas and work permits?

Typically, EOR providers can help with the following visa-related challenges:

• Visa guidance to help determine which visa is best for your employee
• Visa application support and sponsorship
• Immigration and taxation guidance
• Navigating local labor laws
• Moving and relocation services (not always)
• Working on additional relocation efforts like background checks and medical checks

Visa-related challenges for EORs

Most of the time, visas and immigration are too time-consuming and costly to make hiring remotely worth the trouble. That’s where an EOR comes in handy.

While using an EOR for visas can be a lot easier than doing it yourself, there are still some challenges you should be aware of.

Political issues

Because immigration is a political topic, visas are never going to be a straightforward, seamless, easy process. Some countries may not want to take in additional workers, or will only be considering refugee applications during certain time periods.

Delays

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, visa processing is significantly slower these days. Immigration departments are backlogged with visa applications. So you should be prepared for time delays in the process.

Additional costs

There can be additional costs related to background checks or medical checks.

If your employee needs to relocate to a different country like the US, immigration laws can also cause delays and additional paperwork.

Denied applications

Sometimes a visa application can be denied for a myriad of reasons. This can cause additional delays. Luckily, an EOR provider will typically deal with these issues.

Despite the challenges, EORs are still a great solution

When you partner with an EOR you’re putting your trust and faith in another company’s expertise, resources, and processes for your global hiring and many important aspects of your global HR.

It can be difficult when you’re not in control of your global HR team when things don’t go as planned. But it’s still a lot easier than trying to figure it all out by yourself with limited resources and knowledge.

EORs have the entities, expertise, systems, processes, and resources you need to be able to hire remotely quickly and cost-effectively compared to setting up your own entities and building a global HR team.

Our Recommended EORs

---

---

---

---