Verifying that every employee has the right to work in their country of employment is an important part of our international employee onboarding process. Our comprehensive approach ensures compliance and peace of mind for everyone involved!

If you're unsure about an employee's right to work, simply ask whether they have citizenship, permanent residency, or a work permit/visa for the country where we're hiring them.

As part of the onboarding process, we will ask employees to verify their nationality and right to work status. Non-nationals will need to complete a right-to-work check. If the employee does not currently have the right to work, don't worry! We'll assist you in completing the necessary right-to-work and eligibility checks before looking into visa sponsorship.

Important Information

Plane verifies each employee's right to work status to ensure compliance.
Each employee must have either citizenship, permanent residency, or a work permit/visa in their country of work.
We can provide visa support for eligible employees through our immigration partners in most countries; fees may apply.

We are constantly expanding the countries where we can provide visa support. Currently, visa support is not available in Canada, Russia, Ukraine, and the Netherlands (except for blue cards). Please reach out to support@plane.com if you have questions about visa support in a particular country.

Types of checks

Right to work

A right-to-work check is required for non-nationals who hold a residency permit, work permit, or visa before onboarding with Plane. We are required to ensure the employee does not have any limitations associated with their current permit. If the employee's visa has limitations, we will review the available visa sponsorship options.

Process: Plane requests proof of right-to-work documentation from the company admin and the employee, as applicable, and then sends it to our visa partners for review. Once our partners have received all required documents, they can begin the right-to-work verification process.
Timeline: 1 to 2 weeks.

Eligibility check

An eligibility check confirms whether an employee is eligible for visa sponsorship in a country. The information and documentation required may vary from country to country. The eligibility check will also assess the likelihood of success for the visa application.

Process: Plane will request that you and the employee complete an eligibility form and provide the required documentation, which will then be sent to our immigration partners for review.
Timeline: 2 to 3 weeks.

You will be asked to complete a questionnaire and provide documents, which include:

Job title and salary per annum
Detailed job description
Highest level of education, name, and type of degree
Copy of CV/resume
Copy of passport

Visa sponsorship

If an employee requires a visa to work in the country where you're hiring, we may be able to assist through our visa partners.

Here's what our visa sponsorship process looks like:

If our visa partners determine that the employee requires visa sponsorship, Plane will gather the relevant documents from the employee and share them with our visa partners.
If applicable, a member of the visa team will contact the employee to begin the visa application and gather additional information.
Once the employee is granted the right to work, we will be able to legally hire and pay them in their country of work.
An employee will need to provide an address in their country of sponsorship as well as their social security number, tax identification number, etc., to be fully onboarded.
Timeline: Varies from country to country. Generally, about 3 months or more upon submission of a visa application to the appropriate local authority.

Costs

Please refer to the Immigration Fee Structure article for more detailed information about the cost.

Frequently Asked Questions

The employee says they have the right to work. Can I hire them?

If the employee is a non-national, we will need to conduct a right-to-work check to verify their right to work.

Can Plane guarantee the employee's start date?

We cannot guarantee an employee's start date, as it depends on when the local immigration authority issues their permit or visa. Additionally, the employee must sign their employment contract and submit all of their onboarding documents prior to their start date. We can move the start day if necessary.

Can Plane guarantee the visa application will be successful?

Plane cannot guarantee whether a permit or visa application will be successful. The success of an application ultimately depends on the employee's ability to provide the correct documents and the final decision made by local immigration authorities.

The process is taking longer than expected. Why is that?

Visa processing timelines are guidelines. Delays can happen for a number of reasons, such as missing documentation or processing delays with the local authorities.

Can I hire the employee as a contractor while we wait for their permit/visa to come through?

We do not recommend hiring an employee as a contractor in the interim. An employee should always have the right to work in a country in order to be employed or contracted there. Additionally, contractors are responsible for their own taxes, and if immigration authorities become aware that the employee is working without the correct permit, it may negatively impact any future or in-progress applications for a permit or visa.

Why can you sponsor visas in some countries but not others?

To sponsor visas as an employer, we must be registered and hold licenses to apply for permits and visas on behalf of employees. We use a visa partner who holds the required licenses to assist us with these applications. Our visa partner is currently expanding the list of countries where we can provide this service based on demand.

What do the fees cover?

The fees go toward several areas related to visa sponsorship. These include: