Starting a US LLC from Nigeria or Pakistan

Ownership. A resident of Nigeria or Pakistan can be the sole owner of a Wyoming or Colorado LLC. No US partner, no visa, no travel. Neither state's formation filing asks for members' names, and nothing in the formation process treats your passport differently from any other.

The EIN. The company's federal tax number does not require an SSN, an ITIN, or US residence. The how — and the wildly different timelines providers publish for it — is in how to get an EIN without an SSN or ITIN. With the company and the EIN, you can sign contracts, invoice as a US entity, and register with platforms that require a US company and tax ID.

Mercury — the default US banking choice for non-resident founders, and the account most "form a US company" content assumes — publishes a list of countries whose residents it will not onboard. The restriction is, in Mercury's words, "based on your country of residence, not your citizenship or nationality." Nigeria and Pakistan both appear on that list — Mercury's prohibited-countries page, read 23 September 2026.

Be precise about what that does and does not mean. It is residence, not passport: a Nigerian citizen resident in, say, the UK is not within that restriction; a founder living in Lagos is, whatever their citizenship. It is one bank's published policy, not a US government rule about you or your country. And it is Mercury's list to change — they publish no revision date, so check the linked page yourself the week you plan to apply, because this paragraph is only as current as the date on it.

What it does mean, practically: the default route — form the company, get the EIN, open Mercury — does not complete from Lagos or Karachi today. Any provider selling you that exact sequence either does not know that or is not saying it.

Other routes exist — fintech platforms with different country policies, and multi-currency accounts that can receive US-dollar payments for a US entity. Which of them fits depends on your business model, your documents and each provider's own current policy, and their policies move just as Mercury's does. We keep that survey in one place rather than duplicating it here: can a non-resident open a US business bank account? covers the requirements, the address rules that sink applications, and the routes founders in listed countries actually use.

What we will not do is name a provider here and promise their decision. Any page that guarantees a founder in a listed country a specific account is describing either an outdated policy or someone else's risk appetite — and one thing this market does not need is another confident banking promise with no date on it.

A fair test: the LLC earns its keep from Nigeria or Pakistan when the company itself does work for you — US clients who require a US counterparty and a W-9, platforms that require a US entity and EIN, dollar invoicing with cross-border payment routes you have confirmed for your own case. If your entire reason was "easy US bank account", this page's honest summary is that the easy version is not currently on offer to you, and you should resolve the banking question — via the guide above — before paying anyone a formation fee, ours included.

The company also comes with a small annual calendar — agent, state report, and a federal information filing where it applies (whether your LLC has to file depends on its ownership and on the transactions it had during the year) — priced and sourced in the single-member LLC compliance year.