Somewhere along the way, Indian founders were handed a list of requirements for starting a US company: a visa, an American partner, lakhs in capital, maybe a relative in New Jersey. The list is wrong. All of it.
Thousands of Indian freelancers, SaaS founders, and e-commerce sellers form and run US companies remotely every year. What follows is what the process actually looks like, and what it never required in the first place.
You are forming a company, not migrating. The paperwork knows the difference, even when the advice you got did not.
Myth one: “You need a visa”
Formation is a filing, not a visit. The Articles of Organization go to the Secretary of State online, with no in-person appearance, no notarization, and no travel. Processing takes anywhere from a few hours to a few weeks depending on the state. At no point does anyone ask for your immigration status, because a company is not a work permit.
Myth two: “You need a US partner or an SSN”
A single-member LLC owned 100% by a non-US resident is completely legal. You do not need an American co-owner, and you do not need a Social Security Number. The EIN, your company’s tax ID from the IRS, can be obtained by non-residents without an SSN by filing Form SS-4. It takes longer than the online route Americans use, but it works, and it is routine.
Myth three: “You need lakhs”
The government-side costs are modest: state filing fees and a registered agent service, which every LLC must have as its official address in the formation state. The real money question is not the setup cost. It is choosing the right state and doing the compliance correctly, which is where cheap shortcuts become expensive.
The process, start to finish
Choose a state. Wyoming offers the lowest running costs, strong privacy, and no state income tax. Delaware makes sense if venture funding is on your roadmap. The right answer depends on your situation, not on what a listicle says.
Appoint a registered agent. A mandatory service with a physical address in your formation state that receives your official and legal mail. This is how you have a US presence without a US address.
File the formation. Get the EIN. The state registers your LLC; the IRS issues your tax ID. With those two documents, the doors open.
Open banking and payments. Fintech platforms built for non-resident founders let you open a US business account fully online once the EIN exists, and Stripe follows from there. Dollar invoicing becomes a Tuesday.
So what is the catch?
Compliance. A foreign-owned single-member LLC generally owes no US federal income tax on foreign-sourced income with no US operations, but it must still file Form 5472 with a pro forma Form 1120 every year, even at zero income, plus the state’s annual report. Filed on time, this costs nothing. Ignored, penalties start at $25,000. This is the part that justifies doing it properly, and it is exactly the part most founders should not do alone.
What we actually handle for you
Incorp Genius does the formation work end to end. You share your details once; here’s what happens on our side:
We form your US entity
Your LLC is registered in the right state for your situation, owned 100% by you, on your Indian passport.
We get your EIN, your US tax ID
Filed directly with the IRS. No SSN needed. This is the number that unlocks everything else.
We set up your registered agent and US address
The legal requirement handled, official mail received and forwarded to you.
We guide your US bank account and Stripe setup
So you can invoice in dollars and accept card payments from day one.
We keep you compliant
Annual filings and the IRS forms that carry real penalties when missed. Tracked and filed on time.
You never fly anywhere. You never chase a government office. You build the business; we build the infrastructure under it.
Your job is the clients. Ours is everything underneath.
You focus on the work and the customers. We form the entity, secure the tax ID, set up the accounts, and keep the compliance clean.
The bottom line
Forming a US LLC from India is a paperwork and compliance exercise, not an immigration one. With a registered agent, an EIN, and a compliant bank account, an Indian founder runs a fully US-registered business entirely remotely, on an Indian passport.
The myths survive because they sound cautious. The facts are simpler: the door was never locked. It just needed the right forms.
Common doubts, answered straight
Do I need a visa or a US partner to own a US LLC?
No. Any Indian citizen can own 100% of a US LLC alone, on an Indian passport. No visa, no SSN, no US partner, no relative in America.
Is funding it from my Indian savings legal?
Yes, through the RBI’s Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS), which lets resident Indians invest abroad every year. The paperwork simply has to be done correctly.
Will I be taxed twice on the same income?
India and the US have a tax treaty (DTAA) designed so the same income isn’t taxed two times. What matters is disclosing correctly on both sides, which is part of what we handle.
What happens if I ignore the compliance?
The same form that costs nothing filed on time can trigger penalties starting at $25,000 when ignored. That is exactly why filings are tracked and done on schedule as part of the service.
Your passport is enough.
We form your LLC, get your EIN, and set up your banking, end to end, while you keep building the business.
Ask your doubt on WhatsApp Prefer email? info@incorpgenius.com