Can a non-US resident own a US LLC?

Yes. There is no citizenship or residency requirement to own a US LLC or corporation. You do not need a visa, a green card, a US address or a Social Security Number. The only entity type with an ownership restriction is the S-Corporation, which requires shareholders to be US persons.

Do I need an ITIN before I can get an EIN?

No. This is the most damaging piece of misinformation in this category. A foreign owner with no SSN and no ITIN can obtain an EIN by submitting Form SS-4 directly to the IRS, entering "Foreign" in the responsible party's tax ID field. You may need an ITIN later for a personal tax filing, but not for the EIN.

Do I owe US tax on a US LLC if I live abroad?

It depends on whether the income is effectively connected with a US trade or business. A foreign owner with no US employees, no US office and no US dependent agent frequently has no US federal income tax liability on a disregarded LLC. That is a fact-specific determination, not a rule, and it does not remove the obligation to file Form 5472.

Will I have to visit the United States?

Not to form the company or to get an EIN. Banking is where physical presence still sometimes matters: several traditional US banks expect the beneficial owner in a branch. Fintech business accounts have largely removed that requirement, but approval varies by your country of residence.

What happens if I never file Form 5472?

The penalty starts at $25,000 per year, and it applies to a company with zero revenue and zero activity. It is an information return about transactions between you and your own company, not a tax return, and the IRS treats a missed filing seriously regardless of whether tax was owed.

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Form · 6 min read

Building a US business from outside the United States

You do not need a visa, a green card, a US address or an SSN to own a US company. You do need to know which three steps behave differently, because that is where everyone loses months.

The short answer

Non-US residents can own a US LLC with no visa, no green card and no Social Security Number. The process is the same as for US founders except in three places: the EIN must be applied for on paper rather than online, banking is harder and depends on your nationality, and a foreign-owned LLC must file Form 5472 annually or face a $25,000 penalty.

A US company is, for a great many founders outside the United States, not a tax strategy at all. It is a payments strategy. Stripe does not operate in your country, or it does but will not pay out to your bank, or your clients want to pay a US entity in USD, or the App Store will not onboard you locally. A US LLC solves an access problem.

The good news is that ownership is genuinely open — there is no visa requirement, no residency test, no minimum investment. The process is the same as for a US founder in every step but three. Those three are where people lose months, so this guide spends its time there.

What is the same, and what is not

Step	US founder	Non-US founder
Choose entity and state	Same	Same — but the state is a free choice with no US presence
File formation documents	Same	Same. No visa or address requirement
Registered agent	Same	Same, and always a paid service
Operating agreement	Same	Same
EIN	Online, minutes	Form SS-4 by fax or mail. Weeks.
Bank account	Straightforward	Depends on nationality and residence. The hard step.
Payment processing	Straightforward	Usually fine once the entity, EIN and account exist
Annual federal filing	Return if there's income	Form 5472 + pro forma 1120 every year, income or not

Difference one: the EIN

The IRS online EIN application requires the responsible party to have an SSN or ITIN. Without one, you file Form SS-4 by fax or post. On line 7b, where the form asks for the responsible party's tax identification number, you write "Foreign".

IRS processing times for international applicants move around and are not reliably published. Treat any specific figure you read — including any figure you read here — as an estimate, and start the application the day the entity exists, because banking and payments both wait on it.

Difference two: banking

This is the step that actually blocks people. A US LLC does not come with a bank account, and the account is what makes the company useful.

Traditional US banks generally want the beneficial owner to appear in a branch with US identification and a US address. Fintech business accounts have removed most of that friction, but approval is not universal — it depends on your nationality, your country of residence, and what the business does.

What to have ready before you apply

Formation certificate from the state.
EIN confirmation letter (CP 575) — or a 147C letter if you have lost the original.
Operating agreement, signed.
Passport for every beneficial owner.
Proof of your residential address, usually a recent utility bill or bank statement.
A clear, honest description of what the business does and where its customers are.

Business banking

Account options matched to your nationality and country of residence, with the document pack prepared before you apply rather than after the first rejection.

Check your options

Difference three: the annual filing nobody mentions

A US LLC with a single foreign owner is treated as a disregarded entity for income tax, but it is still required to file Form 5472 together with a pro forma Form 1120 every year. It reports transactions between the company and its foreign owner — capital you put in, distributions you took out, loans either way.

It is not a tax return in any ordinary sense, and it is due whether or not the company earned anything. The penalty for failing to file is $25,000, which for most first-year companies is considerably more than the revenue.

Federal tax filing

Form 5472 and the pro forma 1120 prepared and filed for foreign-owned LLCs, with the deadline tracked so a dormant year doesn't become a $25,000 problem.

See what's included

Do you actually owe US tax?

Filing and owing are different questions. Whether a foreign owner owes US federal income tax on a disregarded LLC turns on whether the income is effectively connected income — ECI — with a US trade or business.

A founder living abroad, doing the work abroad, with no US employees, no US office and no dependent agent in the US, frequently has no ECI even with US customers. That is a common outcome, not a guaranteed one: it depends on your specific facts, and "my customers are American" is not by itself the deciding factor.

Choosing a state with no US presence

With no nexus in any state, no state has a claim on your income, so you are choosing on cost, privacy and how recognisable the name is to a bank.

State	To file	Each year	Notes
Wyoming	$100	$60 minimum annual report	The common default. Cheap, private, fast
New Mexico	$50	None	Cheapest to run; nothing reminds you it exists
Delaware	$90	$300 franchise tax	Costlier, but instantly recognised by banks and investors

Checked against state fee schedules, August 2026. Verify before filing.

The order that saves the most time

Form the entity. One to three business days in a fast state.
Apply for the EIN immediately. It gates everything after it.
Write and sign the operating agreement while you wait.
Assemble the banking document pack while you wait.
Open the bank account the week the EIN arrives.
Apply for payment processing once the account can receive payouts.
Put the 5472 deadline and the state annual report on a calendar before you do anything else.

Where to go next

The EIN guide covers the SS-4 in detail. Banking covers which accounts approve which founders. If you already have a company and something has gone wrong, compliance is the place to start.

Frequently asked questions

Can a non-US resident own a US LLC?: Yes. There is no citizenship or residency requirement to own a US LLC or corporation. You do not need a visa, a green card, a US address or a Social Security Number. The only entity type with an ownership restriction is the S-Corporation, which requires shareholders to be US persons.
Do I need an ITIN before I can get an EIN?: No. This is the most damaging piece of misinformation in this category. A foreign owner with no SSN and no ITIN can obtain an EIN by submitting Form SS-4 directly to the IRS, entering "Foreign" in the responsible party's tax ID field. You may need an ITIN later for a personal tax filing, but not for the EIN.
Do I owe US tax on a US LLC if I live abroad?: It depends on whether the income is effectively connected with a US trade or business. A foreign owner with no US employees, no US office and no US dependent agent frequently has no US federal income tax liability on a disregarded LLC. That is a fact-specific determination, not a rule, and it does not remove the obligation to file Form 5472.
Will I have to visit the United States?: Not to form the company or to get an EIN. Banking is where physical presence still sometimes matters: several traditional US banks expect the beneficial owner in a branch. Fintech business accounts have largely removed that requirement, but approval varies by your country of residence.
What happens if I never file Form 5472?: The penalty starts at $25,000 per year, and it applies to a company with zero revenue and zero activity. It is an information return about transactions between you and your own company, not a tax return, and the IRS treats a missed filing seriously regardless of whether tax was owed.

Topics in this guide

Sources

Last reviewed August 23, 2026. Fees, deadlines and government processing times change — verify against the primary source before acting.

Founders 8 does not provide tax advice. Tax residency depends on facts and rules specific to each jurisdiction — review your position with a qualified adviser.