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Comment by sbayeta | Hacker News Reader

Hi! Thanks for doing this!

I've been wondering for a while whether it's possible/practical to create a solo company (maybe Delaware LLC) in the US just to be able to offer and invoice my services as a software developer to US companies that look for US candidates.

I assume (please correct me if you think I'm wrong) that sometimes this requirement is because of taxes and bureaucracy, and my be could be overcome by hiring a US company services (owned and operated by a non US citizen/resident).

Thanks again for giving your time for this!

Cheers!

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You don't need to incorporate in the US to do business with US companies on a freelance basis. I have worked as a Canadian freelancer working for US companies for nearly a decade. I did eventually incorporate but that actually makes it more complicated because many large corps are used to dealing with international freelancers and just need to send you withholding exemption docs to fill out. They usually only have the individual freelancer docs at the ready -- not the incorporated entity docs. That said, hiring an employee and hiring a freelancer are different for a lot of reasons and there are good reasons why a company might not hire international folks. Including because certain industry's regulations keep them from hiring in certain places or because the work requires you be on a certain time zone. I would also say that... you shouldn't always believe what a company says when they say they're only hiring in the US. I have gotten interviews and offers for jobs that were listed like that. Here's what I do: I find a job that I find interesting and then go to the company's LinkedIn page. I look at their People tab and check to see if they currently have any employees in my country. If they do, they might have an international hiring strategy but could prefer US staffers because there's less paperwork and they don't need to go through an agency in that country to hire you. Then, I apply with my address clearly listed. It's more work for me because there are many jobs that won't even consider Canadians. However, there are some that will for the right candidate. And in the last year, I received a number of offers and interviews from companies willing to hire me remotely from Canada but who had originally advertised US only. Many companies, especially small startups, are moving towards international hiring strategies.

Not proberts, but I take your question to be "I live outside of the USA, and want to work remotely for US companies. Can/should I incorporate to make this easier?":

1. As a non-US citizen, you can establish a company in the USA today for ~$500 with Clerky/Stripe Atlas/AngleList Stack/Gust. You'll need to file additional forms due to foreign ownership, but otherwise, incorporation is a smooth process.

2 I hire international developers who bill me from their international companies all the time. There is no meaningful difference between them and US-based invoices, and there is no advantage with taxes or bureaucracy.

If you wouldn't be creating jobs in the U.S. through this company, then the only option would be an O-1 but the standard for an O-1 is high - although not as high as the O-1 criteria would suggest.

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