Forming a US company from abroad sounds heavier than it is. There is no visa requirement, no residency test, and no need to set foot in the United States. What trips people up is not the filing itself — it is doing the steps in the wrong order and then waiting weeks for something that could have been running in parallel.
Who can actually own a US LLC
Almost anyone. There is no citizenship or residency requirement to be a member of a limited liability company in any US state. You do not need a Social Security Number, a US address of your own, or a US partner.
The real restrictions are narrower than people assume:
- Sanctioned jurisdictions. If you are resident in a country under comprehensive US sanctions, banks and payment processors will decline you even if the state accepts the filing.
- Regulated activities. Finance, insurance, healthcare and a handful of other sectors need licences on top of the company.
- S-corporation status. This one genuinely excludes non-residents — but it is a tax election most foreign founders would not want anyway.
Owning the company is not the same as working in it. An LLC does not grant you the right to live or be employed in the United States.
The order that saves you weeks
Each step below unlocks the next. Run them out of order and you will sit idle waiting for a document you could already have had.
- Pick the state — decides your fees and annual obligations.
- Appoint a registered agent — required before you can file.
- File the formation documents — you receive a stamped certificate.
- Apply for the EIN — needs the approved company, and gates everything after it.
- Sign the operating agreement — banks ask for it.
- Open banking — needs the EIN and usually the operating agreement.
- Connect payments — needs the bank account.
Steps 1 to 3 are quick. Step 4 is the bottleneck for non-residents, so start it the moment the state approves you.
Step 1: choosing a state
For a founder abroad running an online business, the choice usually comes down to Wyoming, New Mexico or Delaware. They differ on annual cost, how much of your name appears in public records, and how much paperwork you will do every year.
| State | Filing fee | Annual | Owner named publicly |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wyoming | ~$100 | ~$60 minimum | No |
| New Mexico | ~$50 | None | No |
| Delaware | ~$90 | $300 franchise tax | No |
Delaware is the default answer people repeat, and for a venture-backed startup planning US investors it is the right one. For a solo founder selling software or services online it mostly buys a $300 annual bill you did not need. We go through the trade-offs properly in Wyoming vs Delaware vs New Mexico.
One thing to be clear about: the state you form in does not change your US federal tax position. It changes your fees and your filing calendar.
Step 2: the registered agent
Every state requires a registered agent with a physical street address in that state, available during business hours, to receive legal and state mail on the company’s behalf. Living abroad, you cannot be your own.
Expect $50 to $150 a year. Cheaper is fine — what matters is that they actually forward your mail quickly, because the notices they receive have deadlines attached. What a registered agent does covers what to look for.
Step 3: filing the company
The filing itself is a short form: company name, state, registered agent, and an organiser. Most states approve online filings in one to five business days; several offer same-day processing for an extra fee.
Before you file, check the name is available on the state’s business search. Two details catch people out:
- The name must include an entity marker — LLC, L.L.C. or Limited Liability Company.
- Availability in the state register is not a trademark clearance. If you plan to build a brand, search the USPTO database as well before you commit.
When it is approved you receive a stamped Certificate of Formation or Articles of Organization. Keep the PDF — every later step asks for it.
Step 4: the EIN, and why it is the slow part
The EIN is your company’s federal tax ID. Nothing financial happens without it: no bank account, no Stripe, no PayPal Business.
US residents get one online in minutes. Without an SSN or ITIN, that online route is closed to you and you file Form SS-4 by fax or post instead. Fax is the faster of the two — commonly a few weeks, sometimes longer at busy times of year.
The single most common mistake is line 7b. With no SSN or ITIN, write Foreign. Leaving it blank or inventing a number gets the application rejected, and you start the wait again. The full walkthrough is in getting an EIN with no SSN.
Step 5: the operating agreement
Most states do not require one. Write it anyway, even as the only owner.
It is the document that states who owns the company, who may sign for it, and how profits are distributed. Banks and processors ask for it during onboarding, and if the separation between you and the company is ever questioned, an absent operating agreement is the first thing pointed at.
Step 6: banking
This is where the process gets genuinely selective. Traditional US banks usually want you physically present. The realistic options for a founder abroad are the fintech business accounts — Mercury and Wise among them — which onboard remotely.
Have ready: the formation certificate, the EIN letter, the operating agreement, your passport, and a clear description of what the business does and who pays you. Vague answers are the most common reason for rejection. Opening a US business bank account goes through each requirement.
Step 7: getting paid
With banking in place, Stripe and similar processors become available. Approval is not automatic: they review your website, your policies, and whether your described business matches what the site actually sells. Thin or placeholder sites get declined. Getting approved by Stripe from abroad covers what reviewers look for.
What happens after the company exists
Forming it is the short part. Keeping it in good standing is an annual habit:
- State report and fee, on your state’s schedule. Miss it repeatedly and the company is dissolved.
- Form 5472 with a pro-forma 1120, if the LLC is foreign-owned and has reportable transactions — which, in practice, most do. The penalty for missing it starts at $25,000. See Form 5472.
- Registered agent renewal, yearly.
- Bookkeeping — separate business money from personal money from day one.
Whether you owe US income tax is a separate question from whether you must file. Many foreign-owned single-member LLCs owe nothing and still have filing obligations. Do non-resident LLC owners owe US tax explains the distinction.
A realistic timeline
| Step | Typical time |
|---|---|
| State filing | 1–5 business days |
| EIN by fax | 2–6 weeks |
| Operating agreement | Same day |
| Bank account | 2–10 business days after the EIN |
| Payment processor | 1–5 business days after banking |
Call it four to eight weeks end to end, with the EIN accounting for most of it. Anyone promising a fully operational company with banking in 48 hours is describing the filing only.
Five mistakes worth avoiding
- Choosing Delaware by reflex. Unless you are raising from US investors, you are paying $300 a year for prestige.
- Filling line 7b of the SS-4 wrongly. Weeks lost to a single field.
- Mixing personal and business money. It undermines the liability protection the company exists to give you.
- Applying to Stripe with a placeholder website. Reviewers open it. Finish it first.
- Assuming no tax owed means no filing. Form 5472 penalties do not care that your profit was zero.
If you would rather not run this yourself, our LLC formation service handles the filing, the registered agent, the EIN application and the banking preparation as one process.