I'm a freelancer living in Asia and keep getting clients who only want to pay a US entity. I don't have any US address, SSN, or visa. Can I actually form an LLC remotely? What's the minimum I need to not screw this up? I'm not trying to dodge taxes, just want to invoice in USD without a mess.
LLC registration
I live abroad and want to register a US LLC
Yes, non-residents form US LLCs all the time. You need a registered agent in the formation state and usually an EIN. The EIN part is where people get get stuck without an SSN/ITIN.
What taco said. Also decide state carefully. Wyoming and New Mexico are popular for privacy/low fees, Delaware is not automatically better for a one-person freelancer.
“Just want to invoice in USD” is how it starts. Then come the annual reports, franchise tax, registered agent renewals, and a fun little IRS form called 5472. Budget for admin, not just the $100 formation fee.
5472 + pro forma 1120 for foreign-owned single-member LLCs. Miss it and penalties start around $25k. Not a joke.
Do you actually need a US LLC, though? Some clients just want a W-8BEN and a USD account. An LLC doesn’t magically make you a US person for tax purposes.
Formation services love to sell the dream. You can often DIY the state filing, but the registered agent + EIN process is where a cheap service can save yu weeks.
I used a service for my Wyoming LLC while living in Vietnam. Took about two weeks total including EIN. Cost more than DIY but I didn’t have to fax anything, which felt like a win in 2024.
Banking is the real boss fight. Mercury, Relay, Wise Business — check what accepts non-resident founders and what countries they block. Don’t form first and then discover you can’t open an account.
And don’t lie on the bank application about your address. “I used a virtual mailbox and now they froze my funds” is a weekly post on every expat forum.
Honestly if you’re the only member and no US source income,many people just keep it simple: foreign disregarded entity, file 5472/1120 pro forma, pay yourself from the business account. But get a cross-border accountant for year one.
Also check your local country’s rules. Some places tax worldwide income and a US LLC is transparent or opaque depending on the treaty. The US side is only half the story.
This is already more than I expected. So the sequence is basically: pick state, get registered agent, file, get EIN, open bank, then annual filings. And don’t skip the 5472 thing. Appreciate the warnings tbh.
One more: the EIN application by fax/phone is annoying but doable. Some services charge $200+ just for that. Try calling the IRS international line early in the morning US time.
Or pay a CPA to handle EIN + first-year filing. Cheaper than a penalty and you get someone to ask dumb questions. I switched to a cross-border accountant after year one and wish I’d done it sooner.
Also franchise tax in Wyoming is like $60/year minimum, not zero. Delaware gets expensive fast. Don’t pick a state because a YouTube thumbnail tood you to.