

Ask HN: Paying overseas founders - zhurlock

How do startups pay their overseas founders? Can a founder without a working visa be paid in a US account? I have an incorporated US startup that finally grew to the point where we feel comfortable paying ourselves, but in the meanwhile my F1 visa and my post graduation practices time (in which I could legally work in the US and had a SSN from my on-campus work) expired and I had to leave. My bank account remained open to pay off my credit card debts. Could I legally receive my payment in that account? If not, which other options do I have?
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seekingcharlie
It's illegal to receive any US money without a US work visa. That said, it's a
pretty grey area if you're working remotely, but by law you are supposed to be
paying tax to the US for any money earned from the US (even if you aren't in
the country).

You could just set up a bank account in whatever country you're in & just get
paid to that account. Paypal is really expensive, so I wouldn't recommend
that, but you can look at alternatives like Xoom & TransferWise.

If you're going to be on US soil anytime soon, I know others use Charles
Schwab which has some kind of international account where you can withdraw
money at atm's all around the world with no fees. I think you'd need to be in
the US to open an account though.

~~~
raquo
> you are supposed to be paying tax to the US for any money earned from the US
> (even if you aren't in the country)

Just note – this can be overridden for some cases in US-<your_country> income
tax treaty. For example certain kinds of remote work can often be taxed in the
country where the remote worker is located, not US.

