To receive pass-through profit distributions, a foreign citizen may form a limited liability company. In contrast, all profit distributions (called dividends) made by a C corporation are subject to double taxation. (Under US tax law, a nonresident alien may own shares in a C corporation, but may not own any shares in an S corporation.) For this reason, many foreign citizens form a limited liability company (LLC) instead of a corporation.

A foreign citizen may be a corporate officer and/or director, but may not work in the United States or receive a salary or compensation for services provided in the United States unless the foreign citizen has a work permit (either a green card or a special visa) issued by the United States. Some work permits allow a foreign citizen to work only for a sponsoring employer. Such work permits generally do not enable a foreign citizen to also work for a new, unrelated company formed by the foreign citizen. The foreign citizen would need to obtain a separate work permit to work for the new company. You can own a business but unless you have a work visa, you are not allowed to work for your company in the US (You can work for your company in your country).

Processing times for incorporating a company vary among the different states and change constantly depending on the workload at the state office. You can check state processing times to have an estimation of how long is going to take your business incorporation. Foreign persons will have to wait 30 days in order for us to obtain their EIN (if you order this service from us). The procedure to obtain a Tax ID, when directors or owners are not US Citizens (non Social Security Number or ITIN applicants) has to be filed with an special IRS unit and that’s the reason of the extra delay. This process has to be started once the documents has been approved by the state.

No, Active Filings cannot assist you with the opening of a checking accounts or other banking related issues. In order to open a checking account you will be required to walk in to the bank of your choice and provide proof of ID (your drivers license or passport), a copy of your articles of incorporation or organization and the company’s tax ID (EIN). If you don’t live in the US, but you want to start a business here, you will have to plan a trip after we have incorporated your business and obtained the EIN. Be careful: nobody can do this for you and if you find a company offering this service, be aware that you could be victim of fraud.

No, you cannot use the RA address as your legal address or the mailing address of the company. The RA address (and service) is just to receive official documents, generally related to taxes and lawsuits. The legal address of your company has to be the real one (i.e. your home or office in your country or a mail forwarding service that authorizes you to use their address as yours).

No you don’t. We provide Registered Agent services that is the only state requirement related to physical address. Our Registered Agents service allow you to incorporate or form a LLC in the US. However, in order to open a bank account or to obtain an EIN (Tax ID), you are going to need an US mailing address (not necessarily in the state of formation). In this case we recommend you to look for a “mail forwarding” service provider.