A US LLC (limited liability company) is a business entity registered in one US state. It separates the owner’s personal assets from business liability and carries a federal Employer Identification Number. Non-residents may form one without a green card or a US bank account.
Many non-resident projects stall on state paperwork. A typical first-year LLC budget runs $400 to $1,500 depending on the state and the service you hire. Of that, $200 to $400 is avoidable: fees the wrong state choice or the wrong agent plan quietly adds.
Wyoming wins for single-member LLCs: $100 to file, $60 minimum per year, and about $650 total over five years. Delaware wins for founders planning a venture-funded C-corp: $90 to file, $300 per year. Forming in your home state wins for founders who operate in one state.
Key facts: Wyoming charges $100 to file and a $60 minimum annual report. Delaware charges $90 to file and $300 in annual LLC tax. New York charges $200 to file plus $300 to $1,500 in required newspaper publication. The IRS EIN application is free for every owner.
One number to remember: a Wyoming LLC costs $650 over five years. A Delaware LLC costs $2,090. Same liability protection, $1,440 saved.
Which state wins for non-resident LLC owners
Wyoming, Delaware, and your home state cover nearly every non-resident case. The choice comes down to annual fees, asset protection, and whether you expect outside investors before the LLC matures.
| State | Filing fee | Annual fee | 5-year total | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wyoming | $100 | $60 minimum | about $650 | Single-member LLCs, low cost, asset protection |
| Delaware | $90 | $300 (rising to $400 in 2026) | about $2,090 | Venture-funded C-corps, IPO paths |
| Home state (e.g. Texas, Florida, Colorado) | $50 to $150 | $25 to $50 | varies | Businesses operating in one state |
The table makes the pattern clear. Wyoming wins on price, Delaware wins on investor optics, and the home state wins on simplicity. Pick the state before you touch the paperwork, because every later line item follows the state you choose.
Asset protection matters more than it looks. Wyoming law gives a single-member LLC an exclusive charging order remedy, which is the strongest statutory shield among the major states. Delaware offers the same protection but with case-law exceptions that make it weaker for a one-owner business.
Privacy is a wash. Both states keep member names off public documents, so the LLC members stay out of online entity searches. The real difference shows up in courts and conversion paths, not in the registry.
The real costs of opening a US LLC
Three line items drive the total: state filing fees, a registered agent, and the recurring annual fee the state charges to keep you in good standing. Service packages add on top of all three, but they never change the state line items.
| Route | Filing | Agent | Publication | Annual fee | Year-one total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wyoming LLC | $100 | $50 to $150 | none | $60 | about $210 to $310 |
| Delaware LLC | $90 | $100 to $150 | none | $300 | about $490 to $540 |
| New York LLC | $200 | $50 to $150 | $300 to $1,500 | $25 | about $575 to $1,875 |
| Home-state LLC | $50 to $150 | $0 to $50 | none | $25 to $50 | about $75 to $250 |
Service pricing breaks into three tiers. A $200 to $300 tier files the formation and adds a basic agent plan. A $500 to $800 tier adds operating agreement review, expedited filing, and a dedicated account manager. A custom tier handles foreign qualification in a second state. Budget the tier, not the discount.
The state fee is the only line item that varies by state choice. Agent cost is a market price and service cost is optional. So the real math is state fee plus agent, and both tables above show the spread.
Delaware’s LLC tax rises from $300 to $400 for the 2026 tax year under HB 400, with the first raised payment due June 1, 2027. Wyoming’s $60 floor does not scale with revenue at all, which is why the gap compounds every single year.
Non-residents without a US SSN or ITIN still qualify for everything above. The IRS issues an EIN to any LLC owner, but the application path differs. That difference shows up in step six of the checklist below.
What non-residents actually need to form
Every non-resident LLC starts with the same five items: a state filing, a registered agent, an operating agreement, a federal EIN, and a business bank account. The first four are done in 30 days without US presence. The fifth is where most projects stall.
The registered agent is a person or service with a street address in the state of formation. The state sends service of process and annual fee bills there. Non-residents hire a commercial agent, and prices run $50 to $300 a year depending on the state and the plan.
The operating agreement stays private. It is not filed with the state, but a single-member LLC still needs one. It documents that you are the sole owner and keeps your personal and LLC assets cleanly separated when a bank or investor asks.
The EIN is a free nine-digit number from the IRS. Banks, card processors, and state tax agencies all ask for it. It is the piece that connects the LLC to actual money movement, and it takes about an hour to apply for.
Bank accounts accept non-resident LLCs on paper. Mercury and Relay both serve LLC owners without a green card, and Wise accepts US entities from many countries. Expect two weeks of identity and EIN verification before the first account clears.
The honest traps: what services do not put on the quote
New York publication, Delaware LLC tax, agent renewal fees, and foreign qualification are the four items that show up in the state fee schedule but not on a service quote. Each one is documented below, not invented by the vendor.
New York publication is the biggest surprise. A new LLC must print a formation notice in two local newspapers for six consecutive weeks. The county sets the price, and it runs $300 to $1,500. Most service quotes call it an “additional charge” after you have already paid.
Delaware charges tax instead of a report. The LLC tax is $300 a year, due June 1. Miss it and a $200 penalty plus 1.5% monthly interest stacks on top. Services often bury it under “annual maintenance” so the sticker price looks smaller.
“Free” agents are not free. A free agent plan means a renewal upsell at $100 to $300 a year. In Delaware, commercial agents cost $100 to $150 a year anyway, so the free plan rarely saves anything on paper.
Foreign qualification stacks when you operate elsewhere. Form in Wyoming, take Texas clients, and Texas asks for a foreign LLC registration: $70 to $750 to file, plus its own annual fees. The home-state option avoids this trap entirely.
The “annual report” that is not one. Wyoming calls its fee an annual report license tax and Delaware calls it an LLC tax. Both come due every year. A service that says “no annual filing needed” is misreading the fee schedule, not the law.
How to open the US LLC in eight steps
The eight steps below cover the full US LLC formation sequence: state choice, registered agent appointment, filing, operating agreement, EIN application, and the business bank account. The sequence matters, because each step feeds the next.
Filing before the agent is appointed delays approval. Chasing the EIN before the certificate posts wastes a week. Work the list top to bottom.
None of the steps require US presence. Everything is done from abroad with a passport, a short business description, and a phone number for verification calls.
- Choose the state. Wyoming for a single-member LLC, Delaware for a funding path, home state for single-state operations. This choice locks in every cost that follows.
- Confirm the name. Run it in the state’s entity search first. A name already taken in that state kills the filing, while the same name being free elsewhere means nothing.
- Appoint the registered agent first. The filing references the agent’s address, so the agent must exist before you submit. Most commercial agents set this up the same day.
- File the formation document. Wyoming accepts it online the same day. Delaware takes 3 to 10 business days online. New York takes about 3 business days after the notice is ready.
- Adopt the operating agreement. A single-member LLC signs it once and keeps it private. It is your main liability shield, and it costs nothing to draft carefully.
- Apply for the EIN with Form SS-4. It is free. The online application requires an SSN or ITIN; non-residents without one fax or mail the form with a signed W-9.
- Wait for the certificate. Keep the certificate with the state’s exact entity number. Banks and processors ask for both the certificate and the EIN before they open anything.
- Open the business account. Mercury, Relay, and Wise all accept non-resident LLCs. The linked guide below compares them for your use case.
Keep two records from day one: the certificate with the state entity number, and the EIN confirmation letter. Every bank, processor, and state agency that comes next asks for both, and the certificate comes out only once.
Budget two to three weeks for the whole path. Wyoming is the fastest because the filing posts the same day. Delaware adds a week or two of office time, and New York adds the six-week publication clock.
The final decision path by founder profile
If you are a single-member LLC with no funding plans, form in Wyoming. It is the cheapest compliant route: $650 over five years against $2,090 for Delaware. You give up nothing that matters to your use case.
If investors are on the roadmap, form in Delaware. Most US venture funds expect a Delaware C-corp, and converting later costs more than the $240 annual gap. You pay the tax for the conversion path.
If you operate in one state, form there. You skip out-of-state complexity and the foreign qualification trap entirely. Your home state’s $50 to $150 filing fee is the simplest total cost on paper.
Whichever state you choose, one rule holds: never let the LLC go dark. An entity that skips two annual fees gets administratively dissolved, and the liability shield dies with it.
Once you have the LLC and the EIN, the next step is a US business bank account. See the Wise vs Mercury vs Relay comparison and the business bank account setup guide for non-resident-friendly options.
State fees and service pricing are based on the Delaware Division of Corporations fee schedule, the Wyoming Secretary of State fee schedule, the New York Department of State fee schedule, and the IRS Form SS-4 page (accessed October 2026).
We assessed this public data; we did not personally form an LLC to verify it. Verify current fees with your state before filing. Last updated: October 2026.
