How to get paid in USD from a remote job

Affiliate note. Some links on this page are affiliate links: if you open an account through them, Psst may earn a fee, at no cost to you. Your employer often decides the platform, so we explain all three the same way. Fees change; always check the provider's own price page before you choose.

First, find out which of these three you are

How you get paid depends far more on how the company hires you than on which app you like. Ask before you sign:

1. Employee through an “Employer of Record” (Deel, Remote, Oyster, Rippling and others). A local company employs you on the US company's behalf. You get a normal local payslip, in your local currency, with taxes taken out. You don't need to set anything up. You won't be paid in USD, and that's fine.
2. Contractor paid through a platform (most often Deel). You sign the contract in the platform, the company pays into your balance there, and you choose how to withdraw it: to Wise, Payoneer, a card or your bank.
3. Contractor paid directly. You send an invoice and the company pays it by bank transfer. This is where a USD account (Wise or Payoneer) saves you the most money, because the company can pay you like a local US supplier instead of sending an international wire.

Wise, Payoneer and Deel side by side

Prices: Wise · Payoneer · Deel. Availability depends on your country.

Step by step, before your first payday

1. Ask five questions before you sign

• Am I an employee (through an Employer of Record) or a contractor?
• In which currency is the pay: USD, or my local currency?
• How often am I paid, and when does the first payment arrive?
• How do you pay contractors: Deel or a similar platform, ACH, or international wire?
• Who pays the transfer fees?

None of these will cost you the offer. Companies that hire abroad hear them every week.

2. Open the account now, not on payday

Wise and Payoneer check your identity before you can receive money, and it can take a few days. Do it the week you accept the offer, with your ID and proof of address ready, so your first invoice doesn't wait.

3. Give the company the right details

If the company is in the US, give it your US account details (routing number and account number) so it can pay by ACH, like a domestic payment. Only give SWIFT details if it can't pay by ACH: international wires usually cost the sender a fee, and banks in between can take their own cut from your money before it arrives.

4. Fill in the W-8BEN (contractors outside the US)

US companies ask non-US contractors for a W-8BEN form. It says you're not a US person, so the company doesn't hold back US tax from your pay. Deel asks for it during sign-up; companies paying you directly will send it to you. US citizens and residents fill in a W-9 instead.

5. Decide when to convert

The real cost of a transfer is the fee plus the exchange rate. Banks and some apps add a margin to the rate that never shows up as a “fee”. Compare what lands in your local account, not the fee line. If you pay bills in dollars, or prices at home move a lot, keeping part of your pay in USD can make sense.

Mistakes that cost people money

• Using your local bank's SWIFT details for every payment: sender fees, middle-bank fees and a weak exchange rate, every month.
• Converting at your bank's rate without comparing it to the mid-market rate on Google or XE.
• Opening the account after the invoice is due, then waiting for verification.
• Leaving a Payoneer account unused: low-activity accounts can be charged a yearly fee.
• Paying to get paid. A real employer never asks you to pay a fee, buy equipment with a check they sent you, or move money for them. That's a scam, however good the job ad looked.

What about taxes?

As a contractor you normally declare the income and pay tax where you live, and you may need to register as self-employed. Through an Employer of Record, tax is taken out for you. Rules differ by country, so check with a local accountant before your first invoice. This page isn't tax advice.

Where the USD jobs are today

Of the 42,118 remote jobs Psst found on company career pages today, many are open to people outside the US:

• Work from anywhere: 676 jobs
• Open to Europe: 8,263 jobs
• Open to Latin America: 3,642 jobs
• Open to Asia-Pacific: 4,205 jobs (see also the Philippines)
• Open to Africa and the Middle East: 1,138 jobs
• Contract jobs, the kind usually paid through Deel or directly by invoice

Every job on Psst shows where you can live before you click, so you don't fall in love with a “remote” job that only hires in the US.