What an EOR asks you for before day one: documents, money and signatures, in the order they come

Summary

"Start in as little as 3 days" describes a hire whose papers are complete, whose contract nobody redlined, and whose deposit is paid. From the help centers of the four providers this site has read, here is what is asked of the company and of the employee, in the order it actually arrives. Each row says who, what, and what stops it, so the page works as a checklist.

0. Before any contract: the company review and the agreement

Step	Who	What	What stops it
0-1	Company	Know Your Business review. Remote starts it when the first employee is invited, and no onboarding completes until it is approved	The review is open
0-2	Company	A signed MSA or Order Form. Remote wants the signature in place for customers on an SLA or Service Order. Deel has you sign the EOR contract before showing the employee agreement	Legal review
0-3	Company	Deel's Work Order Form carries an exclusivity clause. Read it before signing

1. The deposit, which can come before the contract

Step	Who	What	What stops it
1-1	Company	Oyster: the deposit invoice arrives within two business days, and no agreements are shared until it clears	Payment
1-2	Company	Remote: a reserve invoice is generated the moment you add the employee and onboarding is blocked until it is paid, unless an exception is granted (reserves themselves are for "rare, high risk circumstances")	Payment
1-3	Company	Deel: countersigns the employment agreement once the deposit is in. From one to one and a half months of all monthly charges	Payment

How large it is sits in what an EOR charges you on top of the monthly fee. The signing month's cash is salary plus statutory cost plus fee, plus this.

2. The employee's contract: every change adds days

Step	Who	What	What stops it
2-1	Company	Enter the country and the wanted start date. Remote sets a minimum lead time per country and shows the next available date on a calendar; Deel offers "the earliest permitted date based on onboarding requirements and country of employment"	A date earlier than the minimum
2-2	Company	Deel: a cost quote at once in supported countries, within 30 minutes to one business day elsewhere
2-3	Company	Receive the standard agreement. Ask for a clause change and Deel's legal team answers within five business days and warns it "may delay the onboarding process"; Multiplier quotes 3 to 5 days of legal review	Redlines going back and forth
2-4	Employee	Signs. At Deel, if the employee signs before pending changes are processed, those requests are canceled

3. The employee's documents

Step	Who	What	What stops it
3-1	Employee	Accepts the platform invitation and self-enrolls. Remote's "approximately 3 days" counts from here	The person does not enroll
3-2	Employee	Government ID, proof of address, tax identification number, bank details (Deel's list). A bank account in someone else's name delays or blocks the first salary	Missing papers, wrong account name
3-3	Employee	Right to work. Remote issues no employment agreement until the right-to-work check is done, plus a medical check in some countries	Visa, medical not done
3-4	Employee	If a visa is needed: Deel lets you request immigration support while creating the contract, runs a free eligibility check, then gives costs and timelines; onboarding stays blocked until the check is complete. Remote sponsors only where it is recognized as an eligible employer	A country where sponsorship is unavailable

4. The start date and the first payslip

Step	Who	What	What stops it
4-1	EOR	If onboarding runs late, the start date moves; Remote will not backdate an agreement and calls that "not uncommon"
4-2	EOR	Own entity, no contract changes: 3 working days or less (Multiplier). Partner entity: 13 to 15 working days. Pre-registration countries: onboarding done at least 7 days before the joining date	A partner country
4-3	Company	Payroll cutoff. Remote's is the 11th (the 16th in some countries), Deel's the 20th; anything after it is paid next month. In most of Latin America the law requires pay in the month of joining, so a hire who misses the cutoff starts on the 1st of the next month	The cutoff

The short version, for your own use

Have ready on the company side: registration details and proof of existence, a signatory, cash for the deposit, a decision on billing currency, and the list of clauses you want changed (none is fastest).

Tell the employee to have ready: ID, proof of address, tax number, a bank account in their own name, proof of the right to work. If all of it goes in on the day of enrollment, "3 days" is a real number.

This site has read the procedures of Remote, Deel, Oyster and Multiplier; the other ten providers' steps are unchecked. The order varies by provider, but the spine, company review, agreement, deposit, employee documents, start date, is the same at all four.

Compare EOR fees and quote terms Estimate country employer cost

Links on this page currently go directly to providers without affiliate tracking.

Sources

Related on this site

Written by Kaz, independent publisher. No commercial relationship with the providers named unless it is listed on the disclosure page.

Page last updated 2026-10-02. Sources are listed per figure and labeled statutory or payroll reference. Rates last verified 2026-08-21. This is not legal, tax or payroll advice and we do not file anyone's payroll.

Every formula on this site is written out in full on Method. Ordering is by computed cost, never by what a provider pays us.

Corrections: contact form.