You don't need to be a US citizen or resident to own a US company, and you don't need to visit or have a Social Security Number. You do need to do things in the right order, because most steps depend on the one before. Here are the nine steps, what each one needs and how long it takes. They're the same whether you do them yourself or have us do them.
- Choose the structure An LLC suits almost everyone: one owner or several, no board, and taxed once. Choose a C-Corporation only if you'll raise from US investors in the next two years, because their paperwork assumes one. The three-question tool walks you through it.
- Choose the state For an LLC, Wyoming: $102.40 to file, $60 a year, no owners on the public record, and a state banks are used to seeing on a non-resident's application. For a corporation, or an LLC you expect to convert, Delaware. Choose another state only if the business will physically operate there. Wyoming or Delaware has the figures.
- Choose a name and check it It has to include LLC or an accepted variant, differ from every name already on the state's register, and avoid restricted words such as bank or insurance unless a regulator approves. A name that clashes gets the filing rejected, so search the register first. Naming rules.
- Appoint a registered agent Every LLC needs a registered agent: a person or company with a street address in the state who accepts legal papers during business hours. Your home address abroad can't be used, so it's a service you pay for, and every plan includes the first year. What an agent does.
- File the articles Wyoming calls them Articles of Organization and Delaware a Certificate of Formation. They give the company's name, its agent and the person filing, and they're filed online with the state fee. A Wyoming filing is approved the same day it is filed. Delaware takes two to three weeks, or the next business day with its expedited service.
- Get the EIN The IRS's online application needs an SSN or ITIN. Without one, Form SS-4 goes to the IRS by fax, or through its international phone line, with "Foreign" written where the number would go. By fax it normally takes twenty to thirty business days, and the expedited route one to two weeks. Nothing after this step can start until the number arrives. The full guide.
- Sign the operating agreement It's the private contract among the owners: who owns what, who manages, how profit is paid out and what happens when someone leaves. It isn't filed with the state, but banks ask to see it, and a company with one owner needs one too. What it covers.
- Open the bank account Mercury opens accounts remotely for founders in most countries, though not for those living in about 48, including Nigeria, Pakistan and the Philippines. Wise Business and Payoneer are the usual alternatives, depending on where you live. You'll need the EIN letter, the stamped articles, the operating agreement, your passport and a clear description of the business. Reviews usually take a few business days. Who opens accounts for whom.
- Put two dates on your calendar The state's yearly charge: Wyoming's annual report on the first day of the month you formed in, or Delaware's LLC tax on 1 June. And Form 5472 with a pro forma Form 1120, due 15 April for a calendar-year company, which every foreign-owned single-member LLC files even in a year with no income. Missing it can bring a $25,000 penalty. The year after formation.
What to have ready
- Your home address abroad, which goes on the operating agreement, the EIN application and the bank's form.
- A sentence on what the company will do.
- Two or three possible names.
- How ownership is split, if there's more than one of you.
How long it takes
Plan on six to eight weeks from order to a working bank account, or three to four with the expedited EIN. The state filing is quick. The IRS sets the pace for everything after it, so start well before you need the account.
Doing it yourself
Anyone patient with access to a fax service can do every step above. A filing agent keeps the steps in order, chases the IRS, prepares documents the way banks want them and keeps the calendar, so the yearly dates aren't missed. With us, the state fee is shown at cost, you're emailed before anything renews, and you'll hear which state and which bank suit you before you pay. The pricing page works through the first year.