Guides
One clear answer per week to the questions non-US founders actually ask about US companies, EINs and IRS filing.
Do you need a US LLC to sell on Whop?
Usually not — Whop pays sellers in over 200 countries into a local account, and neither its payout pages nor its seller terms ask for a US company or an EIN. The four situations where an LLC does earn its keep, and the checks to run first.
26 September 2026
Starting a US LLC from Nigeria or Pakistan
You can own the company and get the EIN, but Mercury banking is not currently available to residents of either country; this page starts with that disclosure.
23 September 2026
Non-US Founder EIN Turnaround Report 2026
How long it takes a founder outside the US to get a US LLC with its EIN: median 16.4 hours, 98% within one US business day, measured on our own orders — with the method, Wyoming vs Colorado, and the US holidays that move delivery.
18 September 2026
Starting a US LLC from Morocco
A Moroccan founder can own a Wyoming or Colorado LLC, get an EIN without an SSN, and apply for Mercury banking where Morocco does not appear on the prohibited list — steps and failure modes.
18 September 2026
The single-member LLC compliance year, in full
Everything a foreign-owned single-member LLC has to keep up with in an ordinary year — registered agent, the state report, the conditional federal filing and the records that feed it — as one calendar, with each deadline and its source.
16 September 2026
Form 5472: what it is, who it applies to, and what happens if it is missed
An information return with a $25,000 penalty and a paper-only filing route — who is actually in scope, what counts as a reportable transaction, and the multi-member case that is not this form at all. Every figure from the IRS instructions.
16 September 2026
What happens when an LLC falls out of good standing
Missing an annual filing or losing a registered agent starts a documented slide — status change, penalties, delinquent on the public record, and in Wyoming dissolution on a sixty-day clock. Every consequence linked to the states' own rules.
16 September 2026
How to change your registered agent
Switching is a small filing measured in tens of dollars; the real risk is a coverage gap, so engage the new agent, file the change, then cancel the old one.
16 September 2026
Wyoming or Colorado for a non-resident LLC
Two states, one price — the states' own filing fees, public-record requirements and dissolution rules side by side, every figure linked and dated, and the honest version of how to choose.
16 September 2026
What a registered agent does, and what you are actually paying for
What a registered agent actually does under Wyoming and Colorado law, what the market charges for the same statutory role, and what is bundled into the price.
16 September 2026
The real cost of a US LLC in year two
What a US LLC actually costs a non-US resident after formation - registered agent, state annual report, and Form 5472 where it is due - against five providers on one worked example.
11 September 2026
Can a non-resident open a US business bank account?
What Mercury actually requires, the address mistake that fails most applications, and the seven reasons applications get rejected — every rule quoted, linked and dated.
8 September 2026
Best US LLC formation services for non-US residents, 2026
Seven services compared on EIN turnaround without an SSN, year-two cost and Form 5472 filing — written by one of the seven, with every figure linked and dated.
8 September 2026
How to get an EIN without an SSN or ITIN
Why the IRS online application refuses non-residents, what actually varies, and how to tell an EIN from an ITIN.
1 September 2026