I've also seen companies that want applicants to be in a location that has large overlap was the US timezones. So South America is fine, Europe/Asia is not. Presumably makes communication a lot easier.
Travel time/cost is another. Many remote positions are still “come to HQ every 2-4 months” and if that takes an extra 2 workdays plus an extra $3K every time, that can easily be a 5 figure loss for the company (or even low 6 inc opportunity cost).
I suspect though it’s mostly familiarity with laws/customs and that by being that remote is sufficient for them to achieve their hiring goals.
