Opening a US LLC
from Argentina

First, the question everyone asks: yes, it is legal, and no visa is involved

An Argentine resident can be the sole owner of a US LLC with no visa, no residency and no Social Security number. The EIN — the company's tax number — is issued to a foreign owner and you never have to set foot in the United States.

What an LLC does not do is grant immigration status. Owning a US company is not a route to a visa or a green card. If someone sells it to you that way, walk away.

What the process actually requires

• Your passport. No other personal document is needed to form it.
• An address in the state. The registered agent covers it — it is mandatory and included for the first year.
• The EIN. Issued without an SSN, as a foreign owner.
• The operating agreement. The state does not ask for it; the bank does — and it is the document that decides what happens to the company if you are gone.

You do not need an ITIN to form the LLC or to open the account. It comes later, and only in some cases: if you end up filing a personal US return, or if a particular bank insists. That service is quoted separately.

The cost, year one and every year after

This is the part almost nobody puts in writing before charging you. The cost does not end when the company exists: an LLC has an annual floor you pay whether you invoice or not.

Wyoming charges no state income tax, so that annual floor is everything the state will ask of you.

Two tax systems, kept separate

This is where most people get confused, and where precision pays, because these are two countries with independent rules.

On the US side there is an obligation that does not depend on revenue: Form 5472 with the pro forma 1120, every year, starting with the first. The penalty for not filing starts at USD 25,000 and is automatic. Whether you also owe federal income tax depends on where the income is earned: if you work from Argentina with no US office or staff, the usual answer is no federal tax and only the informational filings. If your operation touches US soil — warehouse inventory, an office, people on payroll — Form 1040-NR comes into play.

On the Argentine side, your position is defined by your Argentine return, and your local accountant is the one who resolves it. What we do is hand them what they will need, in writing: formation documents, EIN, your ownership share and the results for the year. When both ends are coordinated there are no surprises; when they run separately, there are.

Opening the bank account without traveling

With the EIN and your passport you can open an account remotely at digital banks such as Mercury or Relay. It is not automatic: they review what the business does and sometimes decline, especially when the business is described vaguely. That is why the banking guide is included and, if you are declined, we give you the fallback plan in writing at no extra cost.

The three mistakes I see most often

1. Forming it cheap and filing nothing. The USD 99 formation in the ads does not include Form 5472. Year one is cheap; year three arrives with a USD 25,000 penalty.
2. Choosing the state by reputation. Delaware makes sense if you are raising venture capital. For services invoiced from Argentina, Wyoming is cheaper and more private. We compare them on the Wyoming page.
3. Mixing personal and company money. It is what makes the LLC's protection worthless the day someone actually comes after you.

Based somewhere else? There are country guides for Chile, Colombia, Spain, Mexico, Panama and Peru.

Frequently asked