Skip the Visa: Why More Businesses Are Choosing Remote Work Over Red Tape 

When your ideal candidate lives outside your home country, you’re often faced with a frustrating choice: Wait months (or even years) for a work visa—or move on to someone else. 

But here’s the truth: You don’t need a visa to hire international talent. 

Remote work makes it possible to access global expertise—without navigating a single consulate line. 

The Visa Bottleneck Is Real

Let’s say you’re a U.S. company looking to hire a top Canadian candidate. 

If you go the traditional route, you’ll need to sponsor a work visa. That means legal fees, long wait times, and no guarantee of success. 

Here’s what you’re up against: 

• Long delays – In some Canadian cities, the wait time for a work visa interview now exceeds 120 days.  
• Visa caps – The U.S. issues just 65,000 H-1B visas each year, with an extra 20,000 reserved for advanced degree holders. 
• Big players dominate – In 2024, the top 15 companies secured over 75% of all H-1B visas, leaving just 14,000 or so for everyone else. 
• High costs – Sponsoring a visa can cost upwards of $18,000 in legal and processing fees—with no guarantee of success 
• Risk of denial – H-1B denial rates have fluctuated wildly over the past decade—from 2.2% in 2022 to 24% during prior years. 

The Remote Work Advantage

Here’s the good news: Remote employees don’t require a work visa. 

That means you can: 

• Hire the right person now—without waiting a year or more 
• Skip costly legal and processing fees 
• Avoid the uncertainty of visa caps, quotas, and interview delays 

When employees work from their home country, you sidestep immigration hurdles entirely—and still gain access to the skills your business needs. 

What About Compliance?

Hiring across borders can feel like stepping into the unknown. 

What are the tax laws? What about benefits? Is it even legal? These are smart questions—and they’re why having the right support matters. 

Every country has its own employment regulations, tax rules, and payroll requirements. Getting them wrong can be costly. But getting them right opens the door to world-class talent, without the red tape. 

Stress-Free Global Hiring Starts Here

You don't need to build a legal entity in every country you hire from. 

You don’t need to become a global payroll expert overnight. 

You just need the right partner. 

IRIS Global HR Services helps you employ and pay workers compliantly in 135+ countries. We take care of payroll, tax, benefits and HR—so you can focus on finding the right people and getting them to work. 

Skip the visa, not the talent. And grow your business without borders.