Mercor onboarding step by step: documents to sign, ID verification, background check, time tracking app and weekly pay.
Mercor onboarding is the stage where the questions change from whether you will get the work to how the work is checked, tracked and paid. An offer arrives with a checklist of a dozen or so items, several of them run by outside companies, and it is not obvious which ones can hold up your start date.
We wrote this for people who have received a Mercor offer, or expect one, and want to know what happens between accepting it and being paid. It covers the documents you sign, identity verification, the background check, payment setup, the time tracking app, the devices you need and the weekly pay cycle. We make Verve AI, an interview copilot, and what we say about Mercor comes from its own documentation as it stood in October 2026.
What does Mercor onboarding involve?
Onboarding begins when an offer appears in the Offers tab of your Home page and ends when you are cleared to log time on the project. Mercor's project onboarding guide describes a checklist with a progress bar, grouped into documentation, verification, tool setup, payment setup and a final step that completes onboarding.
The offer letter is the first thing you sign and the only gate, because signing it opens everything else. After that the remaining items can be completed in any order from the onboarding checklist. Every offer has an expiry deadline, and Mercor's policy is that an expired offer cannot be reactivated.
What do you sign?
The offer page lists the signatures your project requires, and most contractors see the following four documents.
- The Offer Letter sets out the terms of the engagement, including the start date, the rate and the payment structure.
- The Worker Agreement, which the checklist calls the Terms of Work, contains the contractor terms and conditions.
- The CIIAA is the Confidential Information and Inventions Assignment Agreement, which protects the client's confidential information and intellectual property.
- The tax form is a W-9 for US persons or a W-8BEN for everyone else.
Before the first signature you tick a box confirming that your profile is up to date, and Mercor treats signing as a statement that the profile is accurate. Your full legal name is taken from your profile and cannot be edited in the signing window. Some projects add further items, such as a safety waiver or a confidentiality reminder.
How does identity verification work?
Mercor verifies identity through Persona, a third-party provider, and the step is mandatory. You photograph a valid government-issued ID, such as a passport, a national ID card or a driver's licence, and then record a short selfie video in which you turn your head left and right. Persona has to capture the physical document through your camera, so a photo of an ID displayed on a screen is rejected.
You can finish the check on a phone by scanning a QR code, and Mercor's ID verification guide says that route is fully supported and needs no app on the device you started from. The guide also tells you to switch off any VPN or similar privacy tool first, because Persona fills in the address form from the country your connection appears to come from.
Most verifications complete within a few moments, and some need a review that can take up to one business day. Mercor says that in most cases you complete the check again each time you accept a new offer. Its project FAQ warns that a failed verification can stop a contract from going ahead, so have the physical ID ready and finish the session in one go.
What does the background check cover?
The background check is a separate process from identity verification, run by a screening provider called Certn or Zinc. Mercor's policy page says it can include criminal record checks, global watchlist screening, civil litigation checks and, for roles in finance and legal services, regulatory checks against sanctions lists and disciplinary databases.
The invitation comes by email from the provider, and Mercor asks you to complete the form within 48 hours. You are asked for a seven-year history of verifiable addresses, which Mercor says cannot be waived or shortened. Most Certn checks are completed within five to seven business days, while Zinc's times vary by country, and Mercor cannot speed up a check once the provider has it.
Your dashboard shows the check as Action needed, In progress, Under review, Passed or Failed. You must be cleared before you start work or log hours, although Mercor notes that you may be able to finish the rest of onboarding while the check is still running. A cleared check stays valid for five years and is reused for new projects that need the same type.
How do you set up payments?
Payment setup starts with the country where you live and work, and Mercor assigns the provider from that answer. Stripe is the default, and Wise is used where Stripe Connect does not operate, which on Mercor's list of supported countries means Brazil, Nepal, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates. Mercor cannot onboard anyone in a country that is missing from that list.
With Stripe you create a new Stripe Connect account inside Mercor's flow, since an existing Stripe account cannot be linked. Stripe runs its own identity check and asks for bank and tax details. The bank account has to be in your own legal name, and Mercor asks for the same legal name on the offer, the payment account and the bank account.
All Mercor contracts are denominated in US dollars. Contractors outside the United States receive their local currency, converted by the provider at the time of each payout.
How does time tracking work?
Hourly contracts are paid from the time recorded in Insightful, a desktop app that installs under the name Workpuls. You choose the project, press Play when you begin and stop the timer when you pause or finish. Mercor says the project can take 12 to 24 hours to appear in the app after you have been assigned.
While the timer is running, Insightful takes periodic screenshots and records activity signals, and Mercor reviews logs for idle time and unrelated work. Its conduct policy says the tool does not access files, applications or personal data that you keep closed during working sessions. The same policy says Mercor reviews sign-ins made through VPNs or proxies and expects a regular residential or mobile connection.
A few rules in this area affect your pay directly. Time cannot be added by hand, every contract has a weekly cap on hours, and hours beyond the approved cap are not paid. You can install the app on more than one computer, but you can be clocked in on only one device at a time.
What device do you need?
You need a computer that can run the Insightful desktop app, which Mercor requires on nearly every contract. The supported systems are Windows 10 or later and macOS 11 or later, with macOS 12 or later recommended. Linux works only through Insightful's beta app, and Chromebooks, iPads and phones are not supported for project work. Tracking also needs a stable internet connection, because hours logged offline are not synced.
How and when are contractors paid?
Mercor pays hourly contractors every Wednesday at around midday Pacific time, for the work week that ended the previous Friday. The pay week runs from Saturday at 12:00 AM to Friday at 11:59 PM in India Standard Time. Hours logged late on a Thursday in the Americas can therefore fall into the following week, because it is already Friday in India.
The first payout is different, since Stripe holds it for seven days before the weekly rhythm begins. After that, a standard payout is free and reaches the bank within up to five business days. An instant payout costs a 1.0% fee and arrives in about 30 minutes where the bank supports it. Contractors paid through Wise receive an email after each release and must accept the transfer before the money moves.
The Earnings tab shows each payment as Pending, In Transit, Paid or Failed. Deliverable-based contracts work differently, because they pay a fixed amount once every assigned deliverable has been submitted and approved.
Mercor does not withhold tax, because its contractors are independent and responsible for their own tax obligations. Those who complete a W-9 and earn over $600 in a year receive a 1099-NEC. Mercor also states that it never charges contractors a fee to apply, interview or start work.
When can you start working?
Work starts once the background check has cleared and the project appears in Insightful. Mercor says the project's onboarding document, with instructions, contacts and tool links, appears under the contract in the Contracts tab within seven days. Some projects also set up Okta for single sign-on, a contractor email address and access to Slack.
How does Verve AI help once you are onboarded?
Onboarding itself calls for documents and patience and not for interview help. Later projects on Mercor can require a new interview, and Verve AI's mock interviews and Mercor interview mode are built for preparing those in your own words. You can start on Verve AI's free plan when the next one comes up, and our overview of what happens after the Mercor AI interview shows where onboarding sits in the full sequence.
FAQ
How long does Mercor onboarding take?
Mercor onboarding has no single published duration, because the background check sets the pace. Identity verification usually completes within a business day, and Certn background checks usually take five to seven business days. Mercor's project FAQ puts the typical wait for clearance at one to two weeks.
Does Mercor run a background check on contractors?
Mercor runs a background check through Certn or Zinc before a contractor is onboarded to a project. The check can cover criminal records, watchlists and civil litigation, and a cleared result stays valid for five years.
Who handles Mercor ID verification?
Mercor ID verification is handled by Persona, a third-party identity verification provider. You submit a government-issued ID and a short selfie video to Persona, which processes them on its own infrastructure.
When does Mercor pay contractors?
Mercor pays hourly contractors every Wednesday for the work week that ended the previous Friday in India Standard Time. Stripe holds the first payout for seven days, and later payouts follow the weekly schedule.
Can you do Mercor work on a Chromebook or a phone?
Mercor does not support Chromebooks, iPads or phones for project work. Nearly every contract requires the Insightful desktop app, which runs on Windows 10 or later and macOS 11 or later.
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