On this page · 6 sections
| From abroad | In the United States | |
|---|---|---|
| Form the company | Yes, no visa or visit | Not needed |
| Get the EIN | Yes, by fax or post | Not needed |
| Open a US bank account | Yes, online | Not needed |
| Sign contracts and run the business | Yes | Meetings and negotiations only, as a business visitor |
| Be paid by the company | Yes, for work you do abroad | Needs work authorisation |
| Meet clients or attend a conference | Video calls | An ESTA or a B-1 visa |
| Work for the company day to day | Yes | A work visa, even though the company is yours |
| Live in the United States | Not applicable | An immigration status of its own |
No state asks about immigration status when it forms a company, and the IRS issues EINs to companies with foreign owners. Owners in most countries can apply to Mercury, which decides each application, and Payoneer covers many of the rest. Stripe and PayPal accept US companies with foreign owners, after their own review. How to start a US LLC as a non-resident walks through every step.
Owning a US company doesn't give you any right to enter, live or work in the United States. It isn't a route to residency, and on its own it's no reason for a consulate to grant you a visa. Be wary of anyone who suggests otherwise.
If you're a citizen of one of the 42 Visa Waiver Program countries, you can visit for business for up to 90 days with an ESTA, applied for online before you fly. Everyone else needs a B-1 visa from a US consulate. Either way, you're a business visitor. USCIS lists what that covers:
- Consulting with business associates.
- Attending a business, professional or scientific conference.
- Negotiating a contract.
- Short-term training.
What a business visitor can't do is work: perform paid services while in the US. Running your company's day-to-day operations from inside the country for weeks at a time can cross that line, even unpaid. Keep trips short and about meetings.
| Visa | Who it's for | What the company has to do with it |
|---|---|---|
| E-2 treaty investor | Citizens of treaty countries who invest a substantial amount of capital in a US business they'll run | The US business is the investment. A new LLC with little in it won't qualify |
| L-1 intracompany transferee | Someone who worked a continuous year, in the last three, at a company abroad with a related US company | The US company must be related to the one abroad |
| O-1 extraordinary ability | People who can show extraordinary ability in their field | A US employer or agent files it, which can be your own company |
| H-1B | Specialty workers sponsored by a US employer | Your company can sponsor you, with a real employer-employee relationship, through the yearly lottery |
| EB-5 investor green card | Investors in a US enterprise that creates or preserves 10 full-time jobs | Permanent residence, at a much larger investment |
Pakistan, Bangladesh, Egypt, Türkiye, the Philippines and the United Kingdom are on the E-2 treaty list; India, Nigeria and Brazil aren't. Each visa has its own requirements, timeline and lawyer. Forming a company is sometimes one step in the process, never all of it, and we don't advise on any of them.
Doing paid work while you're physically in the United States requires work authorisation, even when the employer is your own company. It can also give the company a US trade or business and make part of your income US-source, which changes the tax picture. Do non-resident LLC owners pay US tax? explains how. If you plan to move to the US, sort out the visa first and the company second.
Sources
Checked by Saais Patel against these official pages.
Next in Starting out:How to name your LLC: suffixes, restricted words and checking the register