Wyoming Business Registration For Non-Residents

If you are ready to start an American business from outside the US, Wyoming is a great state to register your company.

You don’t need to be a US citizen or be a US resident to form a Wyoming LLC or Wyoming corporation, and the process to file your company articles is the same whether you live here in town or oceans away.

At Best Wyoming Registered Agent, we work with international clients daily to make sure they start their new Wyoming business successfully. While it’s absolutely possible for international entrepreneurs to incorporate a Wyoming business from outside the US, most of our international clients decide our $50 service fee to file for them is well worth the small investment. With our Wyoming incorporation service, our experienced team can form your business in as little as one business day, all while you never even have to look up the right website or form.

In addition to having experienced professionals prepare and submit your business incorporation filing, our service includes free internal documents like an operating agreement or corporate bylaws, AND we include free use of our business address, and complimentary mail forwarding for all of our customers, as well as larger scale, virtual office services so you have convenient options to manage your business from afar.

Differences between Wyoming LLCs & Corporations

Wyoming LLCs For Non Residents

Filing to start a Wyoming LLC as a non-resident or citizen is the same as it is for Wyoming and US citizens. Ownership of a Wyoming LLC is in the form of membership interests and the members are the owners of the Wyoming LLC.

Some international clients opt to start an LLC because in Wyoming, LLCs do not require membership (ownership) information to be listed on public record.

Wyoming Corporations For Non-Residents

Unlike LLCs, Wyoming Corporations do require individual information to be listed on public record..

If you form a Wyoming corporation, ownership is divided into shareholder stocks. Stock certificates do not need to be physically made (we will provide you with some if you hire us). Corporation shareholders elect the directors of the corporation. The directors elect the officers such as president, treasurer, and secretary of the corporation. Officers are the people who oversee the day-to-day operations of the business.

Non-US citizens do have some restrictions at the federal level. Foreign people cannot be shareholders in an S corp. Non-US resident business owners are basically faced with the choice of being taxed in the US as a partnership (LLC) or as a C-corp.

How To Form a Business as a Non-Resident

In Wyoming, an LLC or Corporation is formed with the Wyoming Secretary of State. That will be referred to as your home or domestic state. Your business will be considered a foreign entity in states outside your home state (America has 50 different states and a couple extra jurisdictions).

The process for starting a business in Wyoming is the same process that a US citizen would go through:

1. Name the Company
2. Hire a Wyoming Registered Agent
3. File the Articles with the Wyoming Secretary of State
4. Obtain a Federal EIN
5. File the Beneficial Ownership Information Report

1. Name the Company

Decide on a business name and then perform a business name search on the Wyoming Secretary of State’s website. Once you’ve found an available name, you do not need to reserve the name. The business name will automatically belong to your business entity once the Wyoming Secretary of State has has activated your company’s filing.

2. Hire a Wyoming Registered Agent

Wyoming registered agents receive all official mail and service of process on behalf of your Wyoming company. You must maintain a Wyoming registered agent, which is what we do for $50 a year, to keep the Wyoming company in good standing. Registered agents are required by state law and must be located in Wyoming. If you don’t live in the US, you can’t meet these requirements so most people in this situation hire registered agent services as a necessary expense. You could try to list a relative or friend as your registered agent if they live in Wyoming, but doing would give that person access to your personal business information and they would be responsible for legally accepting your official documents.

3. File Articles of Incorporation or Articles of Organization

The name of the formation document depends on which entity you are forming. Corporations file Articles of Incorporation. LLCs file Articles of Organization. You can file these documents online and form your Wyoming company instantly, or you can hire us and we’ll do it for you.

Note: Many non-US citizens start corporations because it often is more inline with their own country’s rules and regulations. Also it is defaulted as a C corp for tax purposes. Corporations owned by foreign citizens are required to file as C corps when paying taxes to the IRS should income be gained from doing business the US.

4. Obtain an EIN

To do business and pay taxes in the U.S., your Wyoming company will need to obtain Employer Identification Number (EIN). After our state activates your Wyoming LLC or Wyoming corporation, you can apply for an EIN by filing Form SS-4 with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) by mail or fax (Non-US citizens cannot apply online or by phone). This can be a hassle for foreign clients, so we recommend hiring us to get your EIN for an additional $200. Customers can even use our Wyoming business address on their EIN applications, free of charge, and helpful for those business owners who want to keep their personal information private.

5. File a Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI) Report

Effective January 1, 2024, unless exempt, all LLCs and corporations must file a federal Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI) report within 30 days of formation about your company’s beneficial owners, whether the company is owned domestically or internationally. Beneficial owners own more than 25% of the business or have substantial control over the company. Besides general company information, you’ll need copies of the photo IDs of all beneficial owners, as well company applicants—the person who directed the incorporation of your company and (if different) the person who actually filed.

Corporations formed prior to 2024 have a little more leeway but must file their report by the end of 2024 and don’t need to provide company applicant information. All companies must file an update within 30 day if any report information changes.

BOI reports are free to file, not public, and must be filed online to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).

Hire Our Team to Start Your Wyoming Business for Only $204

Our $204 Price Includes:

• $104 State Filing Fee for a Wyoming LLC or Corporation
• $50 Full Year of BEST Registered Agent Service
• $50 for Our Experts to Prepare and Submit Your Business Incorporation and Provide Courtesy Internal Documents

Wyoming Business Maintenance

Annual Report

In order to keep your business entity active, you will need to file an annual report with the Wyoming Secretary of State every year. Annual reports cost $60 no matter if you’re a U.S. citizen or not. The annual reports are due each on the first day of the month in which your business was formed. If you don’t file your annual report, the secretary of state will administratively dissolve your business entity.

Opening a Business Bank Account

The question we get most often about Non-US businesses is how to open a bank account. Opening a US bank account is difficult if you are not here. Most people usually have to fly to the US and walk into a bank to open an account, although some clients have effectively opted to use banks that are exclusively online.

You may also have difficulty opening an account in your own country for a foreign business. If your country belongs to the Hague Convention, you will need an apostille (official certification) on our formation documents for verification purposes.

Wyoming Taxation for Non-US Residents

Non-US citizens do have some federal restrictions. Foreign people cannot be shareholders in an S-corp. Non-US resident business owners are basically faced with the choice of being taxed in the US as a partnership (LLC) or as a C-corp.

LLC Taxation For Non-Residents

Foreigners with a Wyoming LLC are only taxed in the US on income from US sources, which means that income from other countries won’t be taxed by the US. But non-US owners of Wyoming LLCs are taxed initially on any US-sourced income at a rate of 30%. This 30% is paid to the IRS. These Wyoming LLCs will file US taxes on Form 1040-NR with the actual amount of tax due. If the amount due is less than the 30% initially taxed, the IRS will issue a refund in the amount overpaid. To ensure the LLC is paying the proper amount in tax the non-U.S. owned LLC must appoint a tax withholding agent to calculate the proper amount that must be paid in tax before the IRS will issue any refund. Because of this hassle, many foreigners just choose to form a corporation, unless they’re forming an LLC to do business strictly outside of the US, in which case they wouldn’t owe any tax to the IRS.

Corporation Taxation For Non-Residents

If you form a corporation in Wyoming, your business is taxed like any other Wyoming corporation on all US-sourced income. In accordance with US Treasury regulations, however, your Wyoming corporation will also be taxed on all foreign earnings . When paying taxes, your corporation will likely file Form 1120.