Locating and Hiring Foreign Developers and Designers - H-1B Visas Explained (3)
Part 3: Moving Day
This is the third in a three-part entry on hiring developers abroad. Click here for Part 1: Finding New Team Members, and here for Part 2: The H-1B Visa Process.
Now that you have found, vetted, and completed all the paperwork for a great new developer on your team, it is time to move them out to the US. This may seem like the easiest part, but there are definitely some things to watch out for.
Mainly, moving to a new country is not easy, so there may definitely be some culture shock or anxiety around the whole experience for a while. A startup is like a family, so you should do whatever it takes to make everyone feel welcome. Ease the transition as much as possible.
That starts with buying a flight (find the best mutual date) and arranging for an apartment/hotel for the first couple months. Or, if you have enough space, putting them up in your apartment or house. It is much easier to feel comfortable in a new country when that is taken care of.
Everything else is new as well, so the team will have to play tour guide, escort the developer to open a bank account, and assist with getting a phone plan. The two most challenging logistical items for any new arrival are probably:
- Driver’s License and the DMV experience
- Getting a social security number (which they need before they can be put on payroll)
Neither of these are that hard once the overall experiences of the team have been explained to the new dev. Well, maybe the DMV, but there’s no changing that!
Social activities are not just going to appear out of thin air for someone just arrived, so the team should invite them to whatever it is they have going on.
Perhaps most importantly, remember that emotionally and psychologically the move can be taxing, so as odd as it sounds being available and reaching out to see how everything is going are critically important.
There are certainly some unique logistical and administrative hurdles to hiring developers and designers abroad, that can at first seem daunting. Having gone through the process a few times, I can attest that it is not as big of a hassle as it appears. It is important to keep in mind that you can have engineers working on projects from abroad as independent contractors while this whole process is underway.
The benefits of accessing worldwide new friends, team members, and assets in engineering are too great and should never be prevented by logistical hurdles.
Would be a joy to see more international developers and designers working at US startups!
DISCLAIMER: I am not a lawyer and am not giving legal advice in these posts. I am simply sharing my thoughts and experience in hiring developers abroad and completing the H1-B visa process. You should always consult with a lawyer before working on H1-B visas, or any independent contractor or employee issues.
Locating and Hiring Foreign Developers and Designers - H-1B Visas Explained (2)
Part 2: The H-1B Visa Process
This is the second in a three-part entry on hiring developers abroad. Click here for Part 1: Finding New Team Members, and here for Part 3: Moving Day.
Before diving head on into the H-1B process, it’s generally a good idea to fly the developer to the US for some time to feel out the interpersonal connections, and also the developer’s comfort with the team and new country. Many countries can use a fairly accessible 90 day Visa Waiver Program (VWP) that can be obtained easily. Or, one can use a relatively simple Visitor’s Visa that is good for up to 6 months. Get one of those, a flight, and a hotel/apartment and off you go.
A few notes on the this time in the US as a visitor/tourist:
-Less than a week is generally not enough time, and most visitor’s programs won’t last more than three-six months, so that’s the timeframe.
-The more time the team can spend together, the better: writing code, going to restaurants, seeing the sites, etc.
-Working for your company directly, while in the US as a visitor, is illegal.
-However, an independent contractor abroad is certainly allowed to visit the US on business, in order to gain the necessary context and understanding to complete their consulting projects. Just make sure to:
- pay any of their invoices directly to a bank abroad
- don’t control their workflow or work environment - treat them as consultants on a project
If all goes well, the engineer and company get along famously, and there’s a great fit and mutual interest in moving to the US. Now is the time to begin the H-1B visa process.
The process is a typical bureaucratic headache, but I hope to explain it simply enough.
The Pre-Boarding Checklist:
- Get an immigration lawyer. Ultimately, it will not be that expensive, and having their expertise and experience will save you a lot of headache and legal trouble. Generally, legal fees will be around $3,000 per H-1B visa (plus $1-2k in government fees). Here is a lawyer I have used in LA and recommend:
Heidy Berger Trombi, Attorney at Law
trombi@sftvisalaw.com
http://www.sftvisalaw.com
- There are no specific requirements on a company itself to apply for H-1B developers, but it generally is easier if you have been around for a few years, have some other employees, and have some revenue.
- The position being hired for must be a position that requires a university degree or the equivalent relevant work experience in the specific field. If you have a job posting up, one of the requirements must be a “4-year degree from an accredited university.” Generally, 3 years of work experience equals 1 year of university. In the case of a software engineer, the US believes this definitely requires a degree, so no problems there. However, the developer must have the degree or equivalent work experience.
- Any questions on the various positions above can be checked at the Department of Labor’s Occupational Outlook Handbook.
- If there is a question as to the validity of the education or experience, a CV and/or transcripts may have to be sent to an educational credential company for review (such as Foundation for International Services or Morningstar).
- The position must also offer the “prevailing wage”, which basically means lowest realistic fair market wage. Right now, about $65k is minimum for devs.
- Any questions on the above wages can be checked at the Department of Labor’s online wage library, the Office of Foreign Labor Certification.
- Documents needed from the future employee:
-official copy of their degree and transcripts
-full, detailed CV
-if possible, educational evaluation and letters of employment verification
-copies of passport pages including cover pages, current visas (if any), and I-94 -immigration forms (if already in the US on a visitor’s visa)
- Overall expenses to have ready:
-~$3,000 in legal fees (optional)
-$325 filing fee to Dept. of Homeland Security
-$500 anti-fraud fee
-$750 (25 employees or less) - $1,500 (26 or more) employer’s fee
-$1,225 premium processing fee (optional), which is a 15 day expedited review vs. 2-4 month review
- Be incredibly thorough and detailed. This is the US government, meaning one typo starts the whole process over again.
- Read this guide to understand the overall process. Then read it again.
The Process:
Timing - Each year, the US gives out 65,000 H-1B visas, plus an additional 20,000 for individuals with US master’s degrees or above. The clock officially starts on October 1st each year, which means the visas run out usually by late November. As a company, what this means is that no matter when you start the process of reaching out, you need to begin filling out the application forms 2-6 months earlier, in April-August. The earliest one can apply is April 1.
Now, again, developers and designers can work as independent contractors as long as they are still generally based abroad before they are approved on H-1B visas. But, they cannot work in the US or as an employee officially until that time. If an individual is in the US already on a visitor’s (or other) visa at the time of application, the same application form can be filled out, the only difference being checking the box for “change of status”.
Approval of the I-129 can take 2-4 months, or 15 days with the premium processing fee. Generally, I-129 approval is valid for 3 years of working in the US, and can be extended for an additional 3 years (6 years total).
Forms - Generally, there are two forms for the employer to fill out: the Labor Condition Application (LCA or Form 9035 E), and the Petition for a Non-Immigrant Worker (Form I-129). Each is described below.
1. LCA: The Labor Condition Application is e-filed with the Department of Labor, and is an attestation stating the position, salary, prevailing wage, and fair treatment of employees. The DOL will review, certify, and return it, signifying that your company is legitimate and all is on the up and up. In order to complete the LCA, a few items are needed:
i. two notices about the position posted on a wall in your office in two conspicuous locations for ten days, 30 days prior to filing the LCA
ii. the creation and availability of a Public Access File (just a file folder in the office) one day following the submission of the LCA for review. The file contains:
a. declaration of posting the above notices
b. a copy of the prevailing wage from the DOL’s online wage library (see above)
c. a wage memorandum on the specific position
d. the original signed LCA, with a copy given to the H-1B employee
2. I-129: The Petition for a Non-Immigrant Worker is filed with the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), and includes the three fees mentioned above ($325, $500, $750-$1,500, and optionally a $1,225 premium processing fee), made out to the Department of Homeland Security. In order to complete the I-129, a few items are handy:
i. an approved LCA
ii. your company letter of support for the developer, outlining position and duties
iii. educational credentials and qualifications
iv. company brochures or information
Once the I-129 is approved, the developer can legally begin working in the US! If it is not approved, the USCIS may request additional evidence or credentials on the qualifications of the developer.
Last Step - The H1-B Visa - The developer now has some work to do on their own, in order to be able to legally enter the US. While your company may legally accept them as an employee, they are not actually able to enter the US until getting the H1-B visa affixed to their passport.
The basic process is for the developer to head to a US consulate in their home country. If they are already in the US and applying for a change of status, they are usually allowed to stay until the next time they leave the country, at which time they must go the the consulate before returning once again to the US.
Requirements:
- DS-160 - fairly standard visa application form
- Filing fee - normally about $140 USD - with receipt of payment
- In-person interview
- The I-129 petition submitted online
- Passport
- CV/credentials/qualifications (same as before)
- More information may be requested, such as marriage documents or criminal history
The US consulate will review immediately, before mailing back the passport with the H-1B attached about a week later.
Whew, lots of logistics. But now, good to go to buy a flight, move to the US, and work at an awesome startup! Check out Part 3 for the moving process.
DISCLAIMER: I am not a lawyer and am not giving legal advice in these posts. I am simply sharing my thoughts and experience in hiring developers abroad and completing the H1-B visa process. You should always consult with a lawyer before working on H1-B visas, or any independent contractor or employee issues.
Locating and Hiring Foreign Developers and Designers - H-1B Visas Explained (1)
Part 1: Finding New Team Members
This is the first in a three-part entry on hiring developers abroad. Click here for Part 2: The H-1B Visa Process, and here for Part 3: Moving Day.
Many many months ago, I read this post about the difficulties of hiring developers at a startup. There’s also this on a surplus of founders leading to a shortage of good developers, especially in SF. But, it wasn’t until I read this post on the difficulties of hiring developers abroad that I became inspired to write this article. What happened here to Pau should never, ever happen to any great developer, worldwide, and it effected me deeply.
There are plenty of great developers (and designers!) out there that would be overjoyed to write code at your startup.
They just don’t live in this country. Yet.
We had an amazing team of 15+ Ruby and Python engineers at Citrusbyte. Clients loved them, they fit in amazingly with the team, and their code was top-notch. The vast majority came from countries like Argentina, Uruguay, and The Philippines. We also had two great international designers.
I personally had the pleasure of onboarding a good chunk of them, and now count them among my friends. Not only were we and our clients getting top-quality work not usually available at a consultancy - we were able to create a rich and culturally diverse environment that transcended day to day business (that sounds fluffy but it’s true).
So - it’s going to take a little extra work to find foreign devs and designers. But, guess what? You were going to work extra hard anyway, competing with a mass of other startups for really scarce, local, quality engineers. Foreign developers have a bit more operational work associated with hiring them - but you’re accessing more available and higher quality engineering talent.
A couple brief notes:
-This post was originally written focused on developers, but has been expanded to include designers. It still may have a developer focused feel to it, at times.
-While this article focuses on H1-B visas, I also feel compelled to mention http://startupvisa.com which I recommend any reader pledge their support to. The Startup Visa legislation is working its way through Congress, and supports entrepreneurs staying in the US with new companies.
Here’s how to find developers or designers abroad:
- Use your network: Your existing development team should be working on open-source projects, either professionally or personally. Often, there are contributors on these projects who make great targets to bring aboard. Ask around - the odds of finding a talented, available developer in the right programming language are high. If you’ve already hired someone internationally, they probably have friends/contacts they can recommend who are eager to join them. Again, ask around within your existing dev team.
- Use your tools: There are plenty of places on irc, Hacker News or GitHub where you can find foreign developers. For designers, Dribbble is really the big winner, sorting by location, skill, or popularity (based on number of likes or comments). Again, I’d recommend exploring with a developer who is already on board and knows the landscape. I have not seen as much success going through Mechanical Turk or Odesk.
- Conferences: Next time you are taking a vacation - pick a location with a language specific conference happening at the same time. See baruco, RubyConf Argentina, RubyConf Uruguay, euruko, etc. Attend the conference - and chat up everyone you see. The conference organizers are a great resource and generally are awesome programmers themselves, or can recommend some.
- Craigslist: I have seen a surprising amount of success posting on local craigslist boards. It generally works better when you are traveling abroad so that you can meet with people in person.
- I am much less of a fan of hiring foreign consultancies, although in certain situations it can work out well - usually on smaller, more specific projects.
Checking for fit:
Reach out via whichever channel the initial discovery came from. If a referral was involved, definitely go through the shared connection. It is stunning how receptive developers are compared to the US, largely due to the relative levels of competition for their services.
The basic pitch is: “Hey, want to work on [insert challenging technical problem] for our company [insert awesome company description] with a great development team [insert open source contributions and notable team members]? We’re based in the US, can hopefully triple your salary, and think you’d be a great fit. If all goes well, we’d love to have you move out here as well!” For designers, the pitch is a bit more product focused.
A note on money: this is not going to be a main selling point with developers. Instead, focus on the product and team. However, I believe strongly in paying people what they’re worth - and that means their market-rate in the US (with some minor adjustment for cost of living). If you reward developers and designers abroad fairly for their value, you will find that salary does indeed become a more serious consideration, especially if you are talking 2-4x what they currently earn.
It is imperative for both sides to have a feeling-out period, or trial project. This typically looks like this:
-Hire developer as an independent contractor for a 1-3 month term.
-Simple, easily understood contract agreement.
-Fair market value - flat monthly rate.
-Integrate them immediately onto a live project with an existing team member or two.
-Constant communication: irc, skype video. Get their feedback, give yours.
While having everyone in the same room is important for a product minded startup - it is surprisingly effective working over irc and skype for developers. The communication barrier is less, and workflow is less obstructive.
If all goes well and they are well reviewed by you and other devs - fly them out and put them up for one week to three months to get a better sense of the cultural fit. More on that process and the H-1B process in Part 2.
DISCLAIMER: I am not a lawyer and am not giving legal advice in these posts. I am simply sharing my thoughts and experience in hiring developers abroad and completing the H1-B visa process. You should always consult with a lawyer before working on H1-B visas, or any independent contractor or employee issues.
