Important issue regarding the U.S. LLC

[hakanbayeroglu]

Hi everyone!

I want to have an LLC in the U.S., however I am not sure if it is the right thing to do or not!
Most of us register an LLC in the U.S. to gain access to U.S.-based services like PayPal or Stripe or to establish a legitimate presence on platforms like Amazon or Etsy, right? And As far as I know, we don’t owe anything to the U.S. government!

So why on earth do we need to use a proxy, VPN, or RDP just to access these services after legally forming a company? Isn’t it their own law that allows non-residents to open an LLC?


Would you please let me know if you are a non-resident, and use the mentioned services as an LLC, how do you do it? Have you had any experience of being flagged or blocked ? Was it because of your ip?

 

[SirLouen]

Would you please let me know if you are a non-resident, and use the mentioned services as an LLC, how do you do it? Have you had any experience of being flagged or blocked ? Was it because of your ip?

If you are doing legit business and have a well-formed LLC you should not have any issues with neither Paypal or Stripe, as long as you hold a legit bank account also with your credit cards activated.

Nowadays, main problem found is with banks and their CC which require a physical presence (you dont even need to live in the US but go physically to the bank to do the paperwork).

I've known some people even get a flight just to do these things. I'm not sure why this is happening, but all started like by the end of 2024.

 

[hakanbayeroglu]

If you are doing legit business and have a well-formed LLC you should not have any issues with neither Paypal or Stripe, as long as you hold a legit bank account also with your credit cards activated.

Nowadays, main problem found is with banks and their CC which require a physical presence (you dont even need to live in the US but go physically to the bank to do the paperwork).

I've known some people even get a flight just to do these things. I'm not sure why this is happening, but all started like by the end of 2024.

Bro,

It’s 100% legit! You can’t sell illegal stuff on Etsy or Amazon, and I’m planning to sell the exact same products on my own site too.

But here’s the thing—what’s the point of setting up an LLC if you’re from a country where you can easily travel to the U.S. without any visa or financial restrictions? If you can already handle everything in person, why bother playing cat and mouse with proxies, hiring foreign accountants, or dealing with all this unnecessary hassle just to do the same thing? U.S. companies might as well just say, "We don’t work with foreigners," instead of making things this damn complicated.

Can’t we just use Mercury or Wise without needing a physical U.S. bank account? All I need is to move the money to Payoneer, my local bank, Binance, or Coinbase—they all work fine. I don’t actually need a "real" U.S. bank account unless PayPal, Stripe, or Etsy force me to have one!

 

[Spicy Chromosomes]

Have you ever been banned from PayPal, Stripe, etc before opening a LLC ? If you are not a previoulsy banned member, it should work fine. But if you, as an individual, already abused their system and is now trying to create a company to circumvent their rules, I would say it's risky and it could not work

 

[hakanbayeroglu]

Have you ever been banned from PayPal, Stripe, etc before opening a LLC ? If you are not a previoulsy banned member, it should work fine. But if you, as an individual, already abused their system and is now trying to create a company to circumvent their rules, I would say it's risky and it could not work

No, it is my first time!


My main market is Etsy and unfortunately my country is not supported by it; so I have to go with an LLC!

 

[SirLouen]

Can’t we just use Mercury or Wise without needing a physical U.S. bank account? All I need is to move the money to Payoneer, my local bank, Binance, or Coinbase—they all work fine. I don’t actually need a "real" U.S. bank account unless PayPal, Stripe, or Etsy force me to have one!

I'm not sure just today, but not long ago, Mercury and Wise stopped issuing more cards.

I think that they, for obvious reasons, are being cautious about fishy businesses that are being quickly established to do a fast scam and then they end fast.

If you cannot travel easily and get a VISA, then you are from a non-wanted country: Yes they let you open the LLC, but you will have even more difficulties to scam anyone (and simultaneously, to operate as a legit business).

Generally, restrictions are made to be safe, but obviously always affect legit things as a collateral effect.

 

[Spicy Chromosomes]

No, it is my first time!


My main market is Etsy and unfortunately my country is not supported by it; so I have to go with an LLC!

Good luck
I'm also from a country not eligible for Etsy and unfortunately, due to my nationality, they don't accept me, even with a company established in an eligible country

 

[hakanbayeroglu]

Good luck
I'm also from a country not eligible for Etsy and unfortunately, due to my nationality, they don't accept me, even with a company established in an eligible country

Just because of your nationality?
would it have made a difference if your company were a US one?

If you are active on Etsy now would you please let me know how?

 

[Spicy Chromosomes]

Just because of your nationality?
would it have made a difference if your company were a US one?

If you are active on Etsy now would you please let me know how?

Yes, because of my passport. I don't think they would allow me to sell there even with an US LLC. Unfortunately I'm not selling on Etsy, it's something that I was dreamed to do, but for now, I didn't find a way to do that

 

[MRDon7]

If you have a valid US LLC, you do NOT need to use any VPN or RDP to access your US LLC Stripe account which is an example of a US based service that you mentioned.

Same thing for Amazon.

 

[indianmojojojo]

I'm not sure just today, but not long ago, Mercury and Wise stopped issuing more cards.

I think that they, for obvious reasons, are being cautious about fishy businesses that are being quickly established to do a fast scam and then they end fast.

If you cannot travel easily and get a VISA, then you are from a non-wanted country: Yes they let you open the LLC, but you will have even more difficulties to scam anyone (and simultaneously, to operate as a legit business).

Generally, restrictions are made to be safe, but obviously always affect legit things as a collateral effect.

Mercury still issues card. I have VCCs from mercury bank and used to also have their physical card. They will send the physical card to your PO box in USA and you can have them courier to your country of residence.

Additionally US LLCs in locations like Wyoming or Delaware is good if one is an alien non-resident residing in a country with DTAA(double tax treaty with USA and your country). You technically don't have to have any sales tax, income tax etc. Talk to a CA/CPA to understand things better.

 

[hakanbayeroglu]

If you have a valid US LLC, you do NOT need to use any VPN or RDP to access your US LLC Stripe account which is an example of a US based service that you mentioned.

Same thing for Amazon.

Thank you for your response.


My home country is not supported by Etsy; and I wanted to form an LLC in order to sell on the platform. But someone mentioned that regardless of having an LLC, I would still need a valid ID card and a physical address to registr which I don’t have.

 

[growyourbrand]

Mercury still issues card. I have VCCs from mercury bank and used to also have their physical card. They will send the physical card to your PO box in USA and you can have them courier to your country of residence.

Additionally US LLCs in locations like Wyoming or Delaware is good if one is an alien non-resident residing in a country with DTAA(double tax treaty with USA and your country). You technically don't have to have any sales tax, income tax etc. Talk to a CA/CPA to understand things better.

can we register our LLC on our own?

Money which we withdrawn from USA LLC to our Indian bank account, then do we have to pay taxes to indian government?

 

[hakanbayeroglu]

can we register our LLC on our own?

Money which we withdrawn from USA LLC to our Indian bank account, then do we have to pay taxes to indian government?

You can absolutely form a US based LLC on your own without haveing to travel to the states. By having an LLC you can have a Mercury bank account which is 100% online banking and after forming the firm and getting an EIN(it is free) number you can apply for the bank account. You just need to form a BOI report which should be done within 90 calender days after forming your LLC(it is also free and you can do it yourself). Then once a year you need to do file tax form which you can do yourself or by a reasonble fee you can have a Fiverr guy do it for you headache free(I prefer this)!


New Mexico was my top choise since you just need to have a 52$ one time payment as state fee without having to pay a yearly fee for the state which is the case for other states. The only recurring fee is registered agent fee which you should pay once a year. Among Registered Agents I inquired, the NorthWest was the best since they allow you to use their address and you don't need to pay an extra monthly fees if you need your registered agent to scan some letters and at the same time your business dosen't receive any kind of phiycal mail(if this is the case you can go with other Registered Agent companies like Bizee)! Bizee dose not charge for filing(wihc NorthWest dose and the price is 40$) Bizee's downside is: unlike NorthWest they don't allow you to use their address for cases like Amazon and you have to pay at least 29$ per month for a virtual mail to scan some unofficial letters that you may have from companies you are working with. Up until 3 letters, I think, northwest allows you to have scanned for free.

These were results for one month of my back and force email contacting experience with these two major registered agents companies for regisgering an LLC in the US. If you have any question feel free to ask

 

[AllonaIBOSLLC]

Hi everyone!

I want to have an LLC in the U.S., however I am not sure if it is the right thing to do or not!
Most of us register an LLC in the U.S. to gain access to U.S.-based services like PayPal or Stripe or to establish a legitimate presence on platforms like Amazon or Etsy, right? And As far as I know, we don’t owe anything to the U.S. government!

So why on earth do we need to use a proxy, VPN, or RDP just to access these services after legally forming a company? Isn’t it their own law that allows non-residents to open an LLC?


Would you please let me know if you are a non-resident, and use the mentioned services as an LLC, how do you do it? Have you had any experience of being flagged or blocked ? Was it because of your ip?

You’re 100% right on the law, but you're forgetting that Stripe and PayPal aren't the government. Legally, you can own a US LLC. But for a payment processor, a login from a high-risk IP is a 'fraud signal.' They don't care about your LLC papers if their AI thinks your account was hacked or is being run by a proxy farm.
The Reality:
IP Consistency: Log in from your home country one day and a VPN the next, and you'll trigger a 'security hold.' A dedicated residential US IP makes you look like a stable, domestic business.
The 25k Trap: You mentioned 'owing nothing,' but even if you owe $0 in tax, you still have to file Form 5472. Missing that is a $25,000 penalty starting in 2026.
KYC is King: If you hide your location and they catch you (and they usually do), it’s an instant permanent ban for 'inconsistent business details.'
Most successful non-residents don't hide; they use a VPS in their LLC’s state to keep their digital footprint consistent. It’s not about breaking the law—it’s about not tripping the processor's paranoid bots.