I'd say if the $35 is a fair wage in your home country than use this job as a starting point. If it was me and that was at least a reasonable wage in Brazil, t

I'd say if the $35 is a fair wage in your home country than use this job as a starting point. If it was me and that was at least a reasonable wage in Brazil, then I would use this company to gain some credibility and negotiate with them not for more money, but for the opportunity to use them as a US based reference for more work. Doing this will help you secure additional work and let you increase yours rates as you go. I have this argument with a lot of people in the US, where I am at. They feel because San Francisco based contractors charge $225/hr or more sometimes, that it should be the same in their area. Generally they use the argument that the contractor out there is no smarter or better than they are. Frankly, it goes based off what the market will bare in the area you are working and the area the company is located combined. That is why you don't see large contracting firms with one standard rate, they tailor it based on location, service and perceived corporate value. Also, you asked about charging by the week instead. I am a huge fan of this, charge by the week, agree to a reasonable deliverable each week and then you control your hours significantly more. It also stops the extra scrutiny of your invoices where many times the accounting group will push projects to shave fractions of an hour to save themselves cash. A flat fixed weekly rate is easy for them to budget, pay and removes most of that extra scrutiny. Lastly, if you switch to weekly, just remember that if you make a promise for that week, you have to deliver no matter what the hours you work are; and if that isn't going to be possible, you need to communicate the issue as far in advance of that week as possible with specifics to realign expectations.