You do not need to be a US citizen, a US resident, or even set foot in the United States to own a Delaware LLC. Delaware has no residency requirement for LLC members, and international founders use Delaware LLCs to sell to US customers, hold US assets, and plug into the US financial system.
That is the easy part. The hard parts are the ones nobody mentions until later: getting an EIN without a Social Security number, the $25,000 penalty attached to a form many foreign owners have never heard of, and opening a US bank account from abroad. This guide covers all of it, plus the case where a Delaware C corporation is the better vehicle entirely.
Non-US citizens and non-residents can own 100% of a Delaware LLC. You need a registered agent with a Delaware address; you do not need a US address, an SSN, or an ITIN to form the company.
Delaware charges $110 to file the Certificate of Formation and a flat $400 annual tax due June 1, per the Delaware Division of Corporations fee schedule revised August 1, 2026.
You can get an EIN without an SSN by submitting Form SS-4 to the IRS by fax or mail, or by phone for international applicants. The online EIN tool is the only route closed to you.
A foreign-owned single-member LLC must file Form 5472 with a pro-forma Form 1120 every year, even with zero US activity. The penalty for skipping it starts at $25,000.
Banking is the biggest practical hurdle. If you are raising US venture capital, a Delaware C corp solves several of these problems at once.
Can a non-US resident own a Delaware LLC?
Yes. Delaware places no citizenship or residency conditions on LLC members or managers, so a non-US resident can own 100% of a Delaware LLC and form it entirely from abroad. You need a Delaware registered agent, the $110 Certificate of Formation fee, and a flat $400 annual tax every year by June 1, according to the Delaware Division of Corporations fee schedule revised August 1, 2026 (figures as of October 17, 2026).
If you are forming a Delaware C-corp instead, Rho Incorporation supports international founders on the C-corp path: it forms Delaware C-corps for $400, and Rho requires at least one US-based owner or officer, a US operating address, and a business in a non-excluded industry. Rho also forms LLCs for $349 all in, state filing fee included.
Best for: founders forming a Delaware C-corp who want their company formed and a business account opened in the same flow, subject to approval. We assess formation options on price, what's included, and whether a business account can open in the same flow as formation.
What you need to form a Delaware LLC from abroad
Delaware's LLC Act places no citizenship or residency conditions on members or managers, and the Certificate of Formation does not even ask who the owners are. What you must have:
A Delaware registered agent. Every Delaware LLC needs an agent with a physical Delaware street address to receive legal and state mail. Commercial agents set their own annual fees, and this is the piece that makes remote formation possible.
The $110 state filing fee for the Certificate of Formation, plus Delaware's flat $400 annual tax every year after, due June 1. The full formation process is covered step by step in our Delaware LLC formation guide.
A mailing address somewhere. It does not have to be in the US. That said, a US mailing address (often via a virtual mailbox) makes banking, payment processors, and vendor onboarding noticeably smoother.
Delaware is a common choice for international founders, but it is not the only one. Wyoming costs less to maintain and keeps owner names off its formation filing; the tradeoffs are laid out in our Delaware vs Wyoming LLC comparison and our broader guide to the best state to form an LLC.
Getting an EIN without an SSN
An EIN, or Employer Identification Number, is your LLC's federal tax ID, and nothing works without it: no bank account, no payment processing, no required tax filings. Applying directly with the IRS is free.
The IRS online application requires the responsible party to have an SSN or ITIN, so it is off the table for most non-residents. Your routes instead:
Complete Form SS-4. Where the form asks for the responsible party's SSN or ITIN, foreign applicants without one write "Foreign" in that field. The responsible party is you, the owner, not your registered agent.
Submit it by fax or mail to the IRS office listed in the SS-4 instructions for applicants with no principal place of business in the US. Fax is meaningfully faster than mail.
Or apply by phone. The IRS operates a phone line for international EIN applicants.
Without an SSN, expect the EIN to take longer than the online route. You do not need an ITIN to form the LLC or to get the EIN. An ITIN only becomes relevant later if you personally must file a US tax return. For what an EIN is used for and how to retrieve one you have lost, see our EIN lookup guide.
US taxes: the rules that surprise foreign owners
A single-member LLC is a disregarded entity by default, and a multi-member LLC is a partnership, so the LLC itself generally pays no US federal income tax. Whether you owe US tax personally depends mostly on whether the LLC is "engaged in a US trade or business," a facts-based test that turns on things like having people, offices, or dependent agents working for you in the US. Plenty of foreign-owned LLCs selling remotely into the US owe little or no US income tax, and plenty of owners wrongly assume that. A cross-border tax advisor is not optional here, and a tax treaty between the US and your country can change the analysis significantly.
One obligation applies regardless of any of that: Form 5472. Every foreign-owned single-member US LLC must file Form 5472, attached to a pro-forma Form 1120, reporting transactions between the LLC and its foreign owner. Even funding your own LLC's bank account counts as a reportable transaction. The form is due annually even if the LLC had no activity, and the penalty for filing late or not at all starts at $25,000 per form, per year. This is one of the most expensive surprises for foreign-owned LLCs, so put it on your calendar the week your EIN arrives.
Multi-member LLCs file partnership returns instead (Form 1065) and may owe withholding on income allocated to foreign partners. Different forms, same message: engage an advisor before year one closes, not after.
Do not forget Delaware's own deadline: the $400 annual tax is due on or before June 1 every year, and a late payment adds a $200 penalty plus 1.5% interest per month.
Banking: the real bottleneck
Forming the LLC is quick. Getting it a US bank account is where international founders stall, because US banks must verify the identity of the humans behind every account, and their processes were built around SSNs, US addresses, and branch visits.
What helps:
Have the full document set ready: approved Certificate of Formation, EIN confirmation letter (CP 575), operating agreement, your passport, and proof of address. Applications fail most often on missing basics.
Favor fintech banking platforms over branch banks. Modern platforms onboard businesses online and are far more workable from abroad than banks that require you to walk into a branch.
A US mailing address and US phone number smooth almost every verification flow, even where not strictly required.
Expect enhanced review. Foreign-owned entities get more scrutiny under US anti-money-laundering rules. Slow is normal; it is not a rejection.
A card program helps too once the account exists. Some issuers will work with an EIN alone, which we cover in our guide to getting a business credit card with an EIN only.
Raising US venture capital? Consider a C corp instead
If your goal is not just selling into the US but raising money from US investors, the LLC is usually the wrong vehicle. US venture funds invest in Delaware C corporations almost exclusively: C corps issue preferred stock, support option pools and SAFEs, and avoid the pass-through complications that make many funds unable to invest in LLCs at all. Foreign founders get a bonus benefit: a C corp's income does not pass through to you personally, which simplifies your home-country tax picture compared with an LLC.
Where Rho fits
Rho Incorporation forms Delaware C-corps for $400, with every formation document reviewed by a licensed attorney, your EIN application filed for you, 83(b) election support, and registered agent service covered for the first year. Rho also forms LLCs for $349 all in, state filing fee included.
When you incorporate a Delaware C-corp with Rho, international founders are supported and your Rho business account application opens in the same flow, subject to approval. Rho requires at least one US-based owner or officer, a US operating address, and a business in a non-excluded industry. A US SSN is not required, but if no founder has one, getting the EIN takes longer.