osu

your insights are really helpful. the situation i'm concerned about is quite convoluted (for me). no one without a work-permit has worked _within_ the us, but compensation for a software product was paid directly to the individual. this involved that individual signing a W8BEN. maybe it makes sense for me to contact a lawyer at this point. thanks again,

*edit: i don't know if anyone else is reading this thread, but references for a trustworthy lawyer who can discuss a specific situation via email would be welcome.

okay. but, under what rubric is it legal for a person without us work authorization, situated outside of the us, to be paid by a us person/organization for work done such as developing software?

how does this mesh with paying individuals (who do not hold us work permits) while they are situated outside of the united states? i'm think in particular of small outsourced software development projects.

"300 sketches"

ah, okay - that's fair enough. the real reason i'm curious is that i want to quit my job and publish my own software.

would you be comfortable telling us what category the app falls into, or giving a sense of what it does? can you say what kind of marketing went into attaining those sales?

okay, it's clearly not about PR - you haven't mentioned the name yet. but i'm still very curious, and at this point i don't think it would distract from the intention of this post.

can you tell us the name of your app? it doesn't seem to be referenced here or in the original post.