Ask HN: Setting up an LLC in America for a non-resident

Re:Ask HN: Setting up an LLC in America for a non-resident by yrashk on Wednesday February 04, 2009 @05:26AM (#465550)

Organizing LLC is not a problem for non-residents at all — you can do it either yourself (could be tricky if you don't know what to do) or use some incorporation service (there are plenty of them available).

Getting a bank account for it is way more tricky. First of all, you'll need a EIN for your LLC, which you can get with your own SSN or ITIN only. Since you're not a resident, you're not eligible for SSN, and getting ITIN is a little bit of "catch-22" problem.

And even if you'll get ITIN and, respectively, EIN, you might have hard times opening a bank account. I personally was able to do that by e-mail/mail, but I was introduced to financial specialist by a friend of mine.

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Re:Ask HN: Setting up an LLC in America for a non-resident by GiantCrayon on Wednesday February 04, 2009 @07:51AM (#465665)

I am not certain about LLCs, but IME, once you have formed a corporation, you can apply for an EIN (Employer Identification Number, also sometimes called Tax ID) as a corporation, in which case, your personal citizenship may not matter.

While I would probably agree with the advice given here about contacting a lawyer, you could start with BizFilings.com's 800#, and see if they can give you some good advice for free first. (I've used them in the past, and while I had a few minor complaints, they do a generally decent job for little money. In any case, they won't charge you anywhere near what a lawyer would.)

HTH

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Re:Ask HN: Setting up an LLC in America for a non-resident by c1sc0 on Wednesday February 04, 2009 @05:55AM (#465573)

Another thing you may want to consider is that with most incorporation services you can use the company address only for legal correspondence related to the LLC. A real address you can use for business correspondence will cost you more.

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Re:Ask HN: Setting up an LLC in America for a non-resident by yrashk on Wednesday February 04, 2009 @06:29AM (#465603)

however it is not that expensive. for $15/mo or so you can get some pretty awesome online mailbox with either po box or street address

also some incorporation services do offer mail services on top of their "registered agent" service; although it is not that cheap and not that competitive, I guess

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Re:Ask HN: Setting up an LLC in America for a non-resident by opeadeoye1 on Wednesday February 04, 2009 @05:37AM (#465559)

Thanks. Can I get urls, a phone number, a contact email, anything?

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Re:Ask HN: Setting up an LLC in America for a non-resident by terpua on Wednesday February 04, 2009 @10:12AM (#465820)

International applicants must call (215) 516-6999.

The specialist gives you an EIN over the phone. They then snail mail you a hardcopy in about a week.

From: http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=97860,00.h...

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Re:Ask HN: Setting up an LLC in America for a non-resident by yrashk on Wednesday February 04, 2009 @01:45PM (#466242)

just out of curiosity (since I already have an ITIN), does this allow getting EIN _without_ ITIN?

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Re:Ask HN: Setting up an LLC in America for a non-resident by yrashk on Wednesday February 04, 2009 @06:30AM (#465604)

first you have decide in which state you want to organize your LLC.

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