US LLC for Non-Residents: The Complete Setup Guide

Yes. A non-US resident can own a US LLC, and you do not need a green card, a US visa, a Social Security Number, or a US business partner to do it. Every US state allows foreign individuals and foreign companies to be LLC members.

The hard part is not permission. It is sequence. Do the six steps in the wrong order and you will sit for weeks with a company that cannot open a bank account.

Bottom line:

• A US LLC for non-residents is legal in all 50 states, and most solo founders pick Wyoming, Delaware, or New Mexico.
• Realistic year one: roughly $400 to $1,200 all-in, depending on whether you do the paperwork yourself or buy a bundle.
• The two things that trip people up are the EIN (no SSN, so no online application) and the annual Form 5472 filing.

Can a non-resident really own a US LLC?

There is no citizenship or residency requirement to be an LLC member in any US state. State statutes speak about “persons,” and that includes foreign individuals and foreign entities.

What an LLC does not give you is the right to live or work in the United States. It is a company, not immigration status. If you plan to move, that is a separate visa question for an immigration attorney.

The one structural limit worth knowing: a non-resident alien cannot be a shareholder of an S corporation. That rules out the S-corp election, which is one reason most non-residents stay with a plain LLC taxed as a disregarded entity or a partnership.

Step 1: Pick a state

You are choosing a jurisdiction, not a place to work. Since you have no US office, no US employees, and no US warehouse, you are usually free to pick on cost and privacy rather than geography.

The three that dominate the non-resident conversation:

Wyoming is the default for a reason: low fee, a cheap annual report, and members are not listed on the public filing. New Mexico is the cheapest to keep alive because there is no recurring state report for LLCs. Delaware costs the most to maintain but carries the most weight with US investors and sophisticated counterparties.

The catch: if you do have physical presence in a state — an office, staff, inventory sitting in a warehouse you control — you will likely need to register as a foreign LLC in that state too, and pay twice. See Wyoming vs Delaware and Wyoming vs New Mexico for the head-to-head.

Step 2: Appoint a registered agent

Every state requires an LLC to keep a registered agent with a physical street address inside the state of formation. The agent receives legal service of process and state mail on the company’s behalf. A PO box does not qualify, and you cannot be your own agent from abroad.

This is non-optional, and it is the one recurring line item you cannot skip. Expect roughly $100 to $200 a year from the established national providers. Northwest Registered Agent charges a flat $125 a year in any state and does not raise it at renewal, which makes budgeting simple. Check the current pricing page before you commit.

Miss your agent requirement and the state can administratively dissolve the company. Wyoming, for example, dissolves entities that fall behind. Reinstating after losing your agent in Wyoming costs $350 — more than three times the original filing fee.

Step 3: File the formation document

The filing itself is short. Wyoming calls it Articles of Organization, Delaware calls it a Certificate of Formation. You submit the company name, the registered agent and address, and an organizer signature. Most states approve online filings within a few business days.

You have two paths.

Do it yourself. You pay only the state fee plus the agent. Cheapest, but you handle the EIN yourself and you get no help when a bank asks for a document you have never heard of.

Use a formation service. doola and Firstbase both build specifically for founders outside the US and bundle the filing, the registered agent, a US business address, the operating agreement, and the EIN application into one purchase. doola’s entry plan starts around $297 a year with the state fee on top; Firstbase charges roughly $399 once with state fees included, then a separate annual registered agent fee. Pricing changes — confirm on their pages.

Write an operating agreement even as a single member. Banks ask for it, payment processors ask for it, and it is the document that proves who owns what.

Step 4: Get an EIN without an SSN

The EIN is your company’s federal tax ID. You need it to open a bank account, register with Stripe or PayPal, and file anything with the IRS.

The IRS online EIN tool requires a US taxpayer ID from the responsible party, so as a non-resident with no SSN or ITIN you cannot use it. You file Form SS-4 instead, and on line 7b you write “foreign” or “N/A” where the SSN would go.

Three routes, per the IRS instructions:

• Fax. Send SS-4 to 855-215-1627 from inside the US or 304-707-9471 from outside. The IRS says a fax reply generally arrives within four business days.
• Mail. Internal Revenue Service, Attn: EIN International Operation, Cincinnati, OH 45999. Roughly four weeks.
• Phone. International applicants can call 267-941-1099 (not toll-free), 6:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. Eastern, Monday to Friday.

In practice fax is the sane choice, and it is also what the formation services use on your behalf. Full walkthrough: how to get an EIN without an SSN.

Step 5: Open a US bank account

This is where the process stalls for most people, because banks apply their own rules on top of the law. There is no federal prohibition on a non-resident opening a business account, but many traditional banks want the signer physically present at a branch.

What the account provider will ask for: the state-stamped formation document, the EIN confirmation letter, the operating agreement, your passport, and a real business description with a website. Assemble that folder before you apply rather than during.

Fintech platforms built for startups are usually the practical answer for a founder who cannot fly in, and formation services often hand you a pre-filled application as part of the bundle. The detail is in US business bank accounts for non-residents.

Step 6: Set up annual compliance

An LLC is cheap to start and easy to lose. Three calendars to keep.

State. Wyoming’s annual report is due the first day of your anniversary month, at $60 or two-tenths of a mill on Wyoming-located assets, whichever is greater. Delaware’s $300 LLC tax is due June 1 every year, with a $200 penalty plus 1.5% monthly interest if you are late. New Mexico has no LLC report at all.

Federal information return. A US LLC wholly owned by a foreign person is treated as a separate corporation for one narrow purpose: reporting. You must file Form 5472 attached to a pro forma Form 1120 by the Form 1120 due date, including extensions. It cannot be filed electronically — you mail it to the IRS PIN Unit at 1973 Rulon White Blvd, M/S 6112, Ogden, UT 84201, or fax 855-887-7737. The penalty for not filing is $25,000, with another $25,000 if the failure continues more than 90 days after IRS notice.

This applies even if the LLC made no money. A dormant foreign-owned single-member LLC still files. It is the single most expensive mistake in this whole article.

Income tax. Whether you owe US income tax is a separate question that turns on whether you have US-source income effectively connected to a US trade or business. Many non-resident owners of service businesses with no US presence owe nothing and still have to file the 5472 package. See US LLC taxes for non-residents.

On beneficial ownership: FinCEN removed the BOI reporting requirement for companies formed in the United States, so a US-formed LLC is no longer a reporting company. A foreign entity that registers to do business in a US state can still be one. Confirm current status at fincen.gov/boi.

Five mistakes that cost real money

1. Skipping Form 5472. $25,000, no revenue required. Diarize it the day you form.
2. Forming in a state where you actually operate, then ignoring it. A Wyoming LLC with a California warehouse is a California problem.
3. Using a home address abroad on bank applications. Providers want a coherent US business presence — the agent address plus a mail-forwarding address is what the bundles give you.
4. Letting the registered agent lapse. Dissolution is quiet, and reinstatement costs more than formation.
5. Assuming the LLC is tax-free. “No US tax” is a conclusion a CPA reaches after looking at your facts, not a feature of the entity.

Who should DIY, who should buy a bundle

DIY if you have done company paperwork before, you are comfortable faxing an SS-4, and you want the lowest possible cash cost. New Mexico plus Northwest is the lean version: $50 in state fees and $125 a year for the agent.

Buy a bundle if the EIN and the bank account are the parts you actually want removed from your plate, or if you want bookkeeping and the annual filings handled in the same subscription. doola leans toward founders who want compliance and books bundled; Firstbase leans toward a one-time formation charge with operations add-ons. The comparison is in doola vs Firstbase.

Do I need a US address to form an LLC?

You need a registered agent address in the state of formation, which the agent provides. For banking and payment processors you will also want a real US business mailing address — most non-resident bundles include mail forwarding.

How long does the whole process take?

State approval is usually a few business days. The EIN by fax is the long pole, generally around four business days after the IRS receives it, sometimes longer. Banking adds one to three weeks. Plan on three to six weeks end to end.

Can I form an LLC with a partner who lives elsewhere?

Yes. A multi-member LLC can have members in any country. Note that a multi-member LLC is taxed as a partnership by default and files Form 1065 with K-1s, which is a different and heavier filing than the single-member 5472 package.

Does an LLC help me get a US visa?

No. Owning a company creates no immigration right. Ask an immigration attorney before you build a plan around it.

Where to start

If you want the cheapest legitimate path, file in Wyoming or New Mexico yourself and put Northwest Registered Agent behind it at a flat $125 a year. If you would rather hand the state filing, EIN, US address, and annual compliance to one provider, doola is built for exactly this reader, and Firstbase is the alternative if you prefer a one-time formation fee. Country-specific walkthroughs: from Japan, from India, from the UK.

This is general information, not tax or legal advice. Confirm your own filing obligations with a CPA or attorney who works with non-resident owners.