For years, the H-1B visa has stood for a startup immigration strategy. It was never a perfect fit. Even before the proposed $100,000 fee, the H-1B program was constrained by an annual cap and a lottery that turned critical hiring decisions into a game of chance.
For early-stage companies, this has always posed a problem. You can’t build a product roadmap, funding strategy or customer commitments around a visa category where approval depends on timing and luck. The latest fee proposal didn’t break the system; it simply made clear what many founders already knew: The H-1B may not be the most logical default path for global startup hiring.
This moment is forcing a reset. Instead of starting with “How do we bring everyone to the US?” more founders are asking, “Where can this work be done best — and how do we hire there compliantly?” That shift is pushing global-first hiring models to the center of the conversation.
The Real H-1B Problem: Structure, Not Just Cost
It’s tempting to focus on the sticker shock of a $100,000 fee, especially when margins are thin. But for most startups, the bigger issue is structural:
- A fixed annual cap that hasn’t kept pace with demand.
- A lottery system that makes outcomes unpredictable, even for highly qualified candidates.
- Processing timelines that don’t always match startup speed.
In practice, that means even well-resourced founders can spend months lining up an H-1B case only to watch it fall through in the lottery. Smaller companies, meanwhile, face both the unpredictability and the cost. For many startups, these combined pressures make the H-1B untenable at scale, pushing them to hire outside the US instead.
So, if the H-1B is unreliable and increasingly expensive, what should founders do instead?
Global-First Hiring Via Employer of Record
For most roles, the most resilient answer is not another visa category. Instead, it’s a different hiring model.
Employer of Record (EOR) allows companies to hire talent in their home country (or another strategic market) without opening a local legal entity. The EOR becomes the legal employer, handling payroll, benefits, tax and compliance, while the startup manages day-to-day work and culture.
We’ve already seen that, when visa pathways become unpredictable, businesses need solutions that allow them to continue hiring and managing employees without disruption, and many turn to EOR to do exactly that.
EOR stands out as the best default option for most startups for several reasons.
Removes the Entity Barrier
Setting up a new subsidiary can take months and cost tens of thousands in legal, tax and consulting fees. EOR lets you bypass that.
Reduces Compliance Risk
Misclassifying contractors, mishandling benefits or getting local labor laws wrong can create six-figure liability. A mature EOR model builds that compliance into the product.
Matches Startup Speed
Hiring via EOR can often be done in days instead of months, which matters when you’re trying to ship a release or close a customer.
Crucially, global-first hiring isn’t just about traditional hubs like Canada and Western Europe. Some of the most dynamic growth we’re seeing is in the UAE and broader GCC region. These countries are investing heavily in tech ecosystems, rolling out talent-friendly visa frameworks and positioning themselves as destinations for engineers, product leaders and data teams. For startups, that means you can build substantial capabilities in places like Dubai or Riyadh through an EOR model, gaining both access to talent and a foothold in rapidly growing markets.
According to a recent Global Hiring Report, 86 percent of leaders surveyed expect to hire globally in the next 24 months. In this context, EOR isn’t a workaround; it’s becoming the default operating model for globally ambitious startups.
Where the O-1 Still Shines
If EOR is the best default option, the O-1A visa is the precision tool you reach for when you truly need someone in the US.
The O-1A — often referred to as the “genius visa” — is better understood as a category for people with demonstrated excellence in their field: scientists, engineers, founders and technical leaders who can document their impact through publications, patents, press, awards or key contributions. Recent USCIS guidance and AI-driven screening tools have made it easier to evaluate whether someone meets the standard.
For startups, the O-1A has several advantages over the H-1B.
No Lottery and No Annual Cap
You’re not competing once a year for a limited pool of slots.
More Flexible Timing
You can act when the business needs someone on the ground, not just when the H-1B window opens.
Founder-Friendly
Many startup CEOs and early leaders already meet or can grow into O-1A eligibility, even if their company is small or pre-IPO.
In a world without a dedicated U.S. startup visa, the O-1A is emerging as a flexible, merit-based path for bringing exceptional contributors into the country while EOR and global hiring handle everyone else.
A Practical Playbook for 2026 and Beyond
For founders planning their next 12 to 24 months of hiring, a clear pattern is emerging.
How Can Startups Avoid H-1B Visa Fees?
- Lead with global-first hiring and EOR.
- Use the O-1A surgically.
- Design for resilience, not just cost.
1. Lead With Global-First Hiring and EOR
Build distributed teams where talent already lives, including growing hubs in the UAE and GCC, without waiting on entity setup or lottery outcomes.
2. Use the O-1A Surgically
Reserve U.S. sponsorship for the people whose in-person presence materially accelerates your roadmap: the staff engineer driving a new platform, the founder raising a round, the research lead collaborating with U.S. partners.
3. Design for Resilience, Not Just Cost
The real ROI isn’t only savings on visa fees; it’s the ability to keep hiring, shipping and serving customers even as policy environments change. As we’ve seen, that agility is the biggest advantage startups have over incumbents.
The proposed H-1B fee increase may fade from the headlines, but the underlying shift is here to stay. Startups that treat it as a nudge toward global-first hiring and smarter use of immigration tools will be the best positioned for the long term.
The future isn’t H-1B or bust. It’s EOR as the foundation, global hubs as the canvas and the O-1A as a targeted bridge to the US for the exceptional talent who truly needs to be there.
