Get a fully operational US LLC — with EIN, bank account, and payment processing — without visiting America. 95%+ of our clients receive banking approval (subject to provider criteria).
500+ companies formed • 95%+ banking approval • 24-48h filing
We handle the complexity. You focus on your business.
Fill a simple form with your passport details and preferred company name. No documents needed at this stage.
Our team files with the state, sets up your registered agent, drafts your Operating Agreement, and applies for your EIN.
Get your Articles of Organization, EIN confirmation, and Operating Agreement — all reviewed by our experts.
We introduce you to Mercury, Wise, or Relay with a banking-ready document pack. 95%+ approval rate.
One package. No upsells. No surprise fees. Government and third-party annual fees apply separately.
Wyoming or Delaware — filed in 24–48h, typically operational in 10–15 business days
Expedited IRS processing in 3–5 business days
1 full year included — your legal compliance shield
Virtual address for banking, Stripe, and mail forwarding
Customizable legal template — required for bank applications
Warm intro to Mercury, Wise, or Relay — 95%+ approval (subject to provider criteria)
Email reminders for annual reports, renewals, and tax deadlines
Unlimited questions, forever — no hourly fees, no upsells
For most non-resident founders running a digital or service business, the best state is the one with the lowest ongoing cost and the strongest privacy — not necessarily the most famous one. Delaware gets the headlines, but those headlines are written for venture-backed corporations, not for a one-person LLC selling software abroad. Here is an honest, factual comparison of the three states we form in most often.
| Factor | Wyoming | Delaware | New Mexico |
|---|---|---|---|
| Annual state fee | ~$60/yr annual report (license tax) | ~$300/yr franchise tax | $0 — no annual report required |
| Owner privacy | High — members are not listed on the public record | Moderate — members are not public, but the registered agent is | High — no member disclosure and no annual report |
| Best for | Most non-resident founders: low cost, strong privacy, business-friendly courts | Startups planning to raise venture capital or issue stock (via a C-Corp, not an LLC) | Founders prioritising the lowest possible recurring cost |
Our default recommendation for non-resident founders is Wyoming: it balances a low annual fee, strong member privacy, and a long track record of business-friendly statutes. Delaware genuinely earns its higher franchise tax only if you plan to raise venture capital through a C-Corporation — for a single-member LLC selling services or software, you are usually paying extra for a brand name you do not need. New Mexico is the cheapest to maintain but offers a thinner ecosystem of banking relationships and legal precedent. We will recommend the right fit for your situation — not the one that pays us more. And if your plans change later — say you raise funding and need to convert to a C-Corporation — we can guide that transition too, so choosing Wyoming today does not lock you out of Delaware forever.
The single biggest myth that stops international founders is the belief that you need a US Social Security Number to get a federal tax ID. You do not.
An EIN (Employer Identification Number) is your company's federal tax ID — the rough equivalent of a business registration number. You need it to open a US bank account, apply for Stripe or PayPal, and file your annual IRS forms. The good news: the IRS issues EINs to foreign-owned companies whose owners hold no SSN and no ITIN.
The mechanism is IRS Form SS-4. On the line that asks for the responsible party's SSN or ITIN, a non-resident owner simply writes "Foreign". Because the IRS online EIN tool requires an SSN, foreign applicants instead submit the SS-4 by fax or by mail directly to the IRS — there is no requirement to set foot in the United States and no requirement to ever hold an SSN.
The real catch is speed. By default the IRS processes a mailed or faxed SS-4 in roughly 4 to 8 weeks, and a single lost or mis-keyed form can reset that clock entirely. We prepare and submit the SS-4 correctly the first time and use the expedited path, so our clients typically receive their EIN confirmation (the CP 575 letter) in 3 to 5 business days rather than waiting two months.
That single difference is often what lets you open a bank account this month instead of next quarter — because every bank, Stripe account, and payment processor will ask for the EIN before they let you transact. Getting it right and fast is the difference between launching now and stalling in an IRS mail queue.
A practical note on sequence: the EIN should be applied for only after your LLC is approved by the state, because Form SS-4 asks for the exact legal name and formation date. We coordinate this for you automatically — the moment your Articles of Organization are stamped, your SS-4 goes out the same day, so no time is lost between the two steps and you are not left chasing the IRS yourself in a language and format you have never dealt with before.
Two documents prove your EIN once it is issued: the CP 575 confirmation letter (the IRS issues it only once, so keep it somewhere safe) and, if you ever misplace it, a 147C verification letter you can request from the IRS by phone. Banks and payment processors accept either one as proof of your tax ID. We keep a copy of your CP 575 on file, so if a bank ever asks you to re-verify months later, you are not stuck trying to reach an IRS phone line from a different time zone — we simply resend the document you already have.
You can open a real US business account 100% remotely. Each provider has a different sweet spot — here is what each one actually suits, and the approval caveats nobody tells you about upfront.
Best for tech, SaaS, and startup founders who want a modern dashboard, virtual cards, and easy Stripe/PayPal connectivity. Free to open, with no minimum balance. It is the account most of our SaaS clients settle into day to day, largely because its Stripe and accounting integrations need almost no manual reconciliation.
Approval note: Remote and non-resident friendly, but Mercury declines certain higher-risk countries and business types. A clean Operating Agreement, a confirmed EIN, and a matching US address all materially improve your approval odds.
Best for founders who want multiple sub-accounts for budgeting (the "Profit First" method), team debit cards, and straightforward bookkeeping integrations. It also issues a generous number of virtual cards, which suits founders who like to keep subscriptions and ad spend cleanly separated from operating cash.
Approval note: Also remote and non-resident friendly. Slightly more conservative on certain industries; expect to describe your business activity clearly during onboarding.
Best if you invoice and get paid in multiple currencies and want local receiving details (USD, EUR, GBP and more) with low FX fees. Excellent as a secondary account. If most of your customers pay in euros or pounds, holding those balances in Wise and converting on your own schedule can save meaningfully on every invoice.
Approval note: Wise is a money-services platform rather than a chartered bank, so balances are safeguarded rather than FDIC-insured. Some Stripe payout setups prefer a true bank account — many founders pair Wise with Mercury or Relay.
We make a warm introduction to the provider that best matches your country and business model, and we prepare a banking-ready document pack so your application lands clean. Our approval rate is 95%+, but final approval always rests with each provider's own compliance team — no honest service can guarantee that a specific bank will say yes. If a first application is declined, we debrief with you, fix whatever the provider flagged, and re-apply with a second provider — a decline is a setback, not a dead end.
This is where the "$49 robots" leave you exposed. Here is the honest version of how a non-resident single-member LLC is treated by the IRS — including the filing obligation that, if missed, carries a $25,000 penalty.
By default, a single-member LLC is a "disregarded entity" for US federal tax purposes — the IRS looks through the company to its owner. If you are a non-resident with no US-source income and no US "trade or business", your LLC's profits are generally not subject to US federal income tax. In that specific situation many founders legitimately pay 0% US federal income tax; the income is taxed (if at all) in your country of residence, not by the IRS.
That 0% is neither a loophole nor automatic — it depends entirely on the nature of your income. The key concept is ETBUS: being "Engaged in a Trade or Business in the United States". If your activity rises to that level, your income can become ECI ("Effectively Connected Income") that the US can tax. Selling digital services to global customers from your laptop abroad usually is not ETBUS, but having US-based dependent agents, staff, or inventory can change that answer quickly.
Crucially, "no tax due" does not mean "no filing required". A foreign-owned single-member LLC must file IRS Form 5472 together with a pro forma Form 1120 every year, reporting transactions between you and your company. This is an information return, not a tax bill — but the penalty for failing to file, or filing late or incomplete, starts at $25,000. This is precisely the obligation cheap filing services never mention, and the reason our compliance calendar flags it for you every year.
One more practical point: the Form 5472 requirement has nothing to do with whether you owe tax — it is triggered simply by being a foreign-owned LLC with reportable transactions, and that includes the capital you contribute to the company and any money you draw out of it. Even a dormant LLC with a single owner contribution can trigger the obligation, so the safe working assumption is that you will file this return for every year the company stays open, profitable or not.
It is also worth separating two ideas that founders often blur: US federal income tax and your home-country tax. A 0% US federal result says nothing about what you owe where you actually live. Most countries tax their residents on worldwide income, and some treat a foreign company you control as if its profits were your own personal income. Whether a US LLC saves you tax overall — or simply changes where you report it — depends entirely on your residency rules and any tax treaty in force, which is exactly why the cross-border advisor step below is not optional for anyone taking this seriously.
Important: tax outcomes depend on your personal residency, your specific income sources, and any treaty between your country and the US. Nothing here is tax advice — before you rely on any of it, consult a qualified cross-border tax advisor about your own profile.
No $49 hook, no surprise renewals. Here is exactly what you pay in year one and every year after, using the same figures we list in "What's not included" above.
| Item | When | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| OpenEntity formation package (LLC, EIN, registered agent year 1, US address, operating agreement, banking introduction, lifetime support) | One-time | $499 |
| Wyoming annual state fee (annual report / license tax) | Every year | ~$60/yr |
| Registered agent renewal | From year 2 onward | $149/yr |
So your year-1 outlay is $499 plus the ~$60 state fee. From year 2 onward you budget roughly $149 (registered agent) + ~$60 (state fee) per year to keep the company in good standing — about $209/yr. Delaware would substitute its ~$300 franchise tax for the ~$60 Wyoming fee. Accounting, tax preparation, and apostille/notarization are not included and are billed only if you choose to add them. We quote every optional add-on in writing before you pay, so the figures in this table are the only ones you are committing to today — there is no $49 teaser price that quietly becomes $400 at checkout.
Entrepreneurs from UAE, Saudi Arabia, Europe, and beyond trust us since 2024.
Every application manually reviewed. No AI-generated filings, no errors.
The IRS takes 4–8 weeks by mail. We get it in 3–5 business days.
Compliance questions, annual reports, address changes — we handle it all.
The $499 covers everything: formation, EIN, registered agent (1 year), address, operating agreement, banking introduction, and lifetime support. The only additional costs are government fees: Wyoming annual report (~$60/year) or Delaware franchise tax (~$300/year), and registered agent renewal ($149/year after Year 1). We list these transparently above — no surprises.
Yes. We introduce you to Mercury, Wise Business, and Relay — all accept non-resident LLC owners 100% remotely. We prepare a banking-ready document pack that maximizes approval chances. Our approval rate is 95%+ (subject to each provider's own compliance criteria). No US visit, no SSN required.
0% US federal tax may apply for qualifying single-member LLCs owned by non-residents with no US-source income — classified as a "disregarded entity" by the IRS. You must file an annual Form 5472 + pro forma 1120 (we provide guidance). Tax outcomes depend on your specific profile and residency — always verify with a qualified tax advisor.
We offer a 100% money-back guarantee on formation services. If we cannot successfully form your LLC for any reason, you receive a full refund — no questions asked. In practice, rejections are extremely rare because we verify name availability and review all details before filing.
Cheap services file paperwork — that is all. You will not get expedited EIN processing (they send you to the IRS 4–8 week mail queue), no banking introduction, no compliance support, and no human review. Our clients come to us after failed attempts with these services, having lost weeks and still not having a bank account.
Typical timeline: LLC filed in 24–48h, EIN in 3–5 business days, bank account approved in 5–10 business days. Total: approximately 10–15 business days from application to accepting payments via Stripe, PayPal, or your bank account. This is the fastest reliable path for non-residents.
Join 500+ international entrepreneurs who launched their US company with OpenEntity. From $499, all-inclusive formation. No surprises.
US LLC — $499 · All-inclusive. 48h formation.