Client Asking for ID, Proof of Education, Criminal Background, and Financial Background

[55c0f26e]

Hello everyone,

I recently got invited to an interview by client. This client comes from a translation company in US. She responded to my proposal asking to build a long-term collaboration. We arranged a short call for an interview. I checked her phone number, and it is similar to the one used by the company.

It seems like she is trying to hire an employee for her translation company. I haven't been employed by abroad employer before. She asked me to provide these things:

1. Identification or Proof of Citizenship: A government-issued document that states your country of birth and/or residence. E.g.: A copy of the first page of your passport or a National Identification Number (NID).

2. Proof of Education: An official document that attests to the veracity of your formation. E.g.: A simple copy of your diploma and any relevant certifications.

 3. Criminal Background: Any government-issued document that accounts for the absence of a criminal record. In most countries, these can be easily obtained by requesting them at your local police station, or through the webpage of the overseeing entity for your judicial system.

 4. Financial Background: Any government-issued document that accounts for your compliance with your country’s tax and/or credit regulations. E.g.: A Credit Report or Tax Return.

5. Asked me to sign NDA & SLA.

All those documents absolutely contain my personal information. I am worried about how they will use my personal information.

On the other hand, this client looks convincing. She's been on Upwork since 2014 and has spent around 300k.

Can someone tell me anything you know about this? 

[df602768]

Just tell them NO. 

[55c0f26e]

I really wanna do this, but still trying to find some explanation since I need this job.

[4745399f]

Your a freelacer, and don't give your personal deatail it's again for TOS.

[55c0f26e]

I see, it seems like she wants to hire me as a regular freelancer for her company, but payment will be made on Upwork.

[tlsanders]

No, it's not, as long as you have a contract in place first. 

[wlyonsatl]

This client may never have hired outside her own country. She's got a checklist for hiring new employees and she wants to check things off as she collects information about you.

Or (s)he may just be fishing for personal information for nefarious purposes.

Regardless, she doesn't NEED any of those four items to do business with you. And considering how rampant identity theft is on the Internet, she should understand your reluctance to provide so much of your person information to a stranger.

You cannot share contact information pre-contract on Upwork, but you can answer some of her questions nonetheless (your background (especially as it relates to the project you would be working on), examples of your work, etc.

But if she wants any information that has nothing to do with your ability to do the work she's wanting done, tell her you do not distribute that on the Internet. And then be happy to go your separate ways if that is not acceptable to her.

But your question does bring up an interesting conundrum: I have never dealt with an Upwork client I wanted to be employed by, but it would be reasonable for a potential full-time employer to ask many questions pre-hiring. If Upwork doesn't allow such questions, that means the employer must first make an offer with very little information about the hiree. I haven't ever worked for companies in the non-Internet space who were willling to put someone on the payroll without knowing a good deal about the person they were hiring.

Has anyone gone through that process who can tell us how this situation is handled by Upwork?

[55c0f26e]

Absolutely.
It seems like she wants to hire me for her company, but payment will be made through Upwork.

Now I got a second offer from the client I'd worked with. They directed me to their company link, asked me some questions, the only personal information asked is ID proof. Payment will be made through Upwork, too. They asked me to fill out W8 tax form because I'm a non-US citizen. That's it. This makes more sense to me.

[wlyonsatl]

That sounds promising, Lina Sukma H.

But Upwork will pay you, not the company. The company will pay Upwork.

So I don't think they need a W8 for you... Upwork will issue you whatever tax forms you need and the company will receive receipts for payments made to Upwork.

[tlsanders]

How do you know she doesn't need these things without knowing anything about the client or their clients? For example, contractors for the DOJ and other agencies are often required to conduct background checks on employees/contractors who will be working on the government projects. 

[tlsanders · Accepted solution]

If the work is for a government contractor or some other regulated industry, this information may be required by the client's contract with their client. 

[55c0f26e]

This is the reason why my first client I talked about earlier asked me to provide those five documents. Because the documents they will assign me to translate are related to the government. But still, I don't know whether my personal information will be safe or not.

[honeyv]

I'll never ever give such information, if that's NDA that'll be fine - but the documents besides that are non of their business. They're not recommended to be float over the wire internet.

[alice_schluger]

A potential client is asking me to provide proof of my education and certificates. It is not a government agency, and they keep saying it's for their legal department. I don't feel comfortable sharing this type of personal information, particularly for a freelance job. Please advise. Thank you.

[shanementor]

Go with your Gut feeling, Your Gut feeling is usually correct 😁. Personally, I get irritated when someone asks me for a resume. To me, resumes are used by employees. I'm an independent contractor and besides my Upwork Profile is my resume, it's better than a resume. If a client is willing to pay me all of the extra benefits that employees get, well then maybe just maybe I'll send a resume.