

Ask HN: opening a company in US (for non US citizen) - middayc

Hi. I am porting one of my products to US market. If possible and no too expensive I will open a company in US for it. I am not from US and I am from a country where flying to US is quite an expense so I would have to think trice about it, if that would be the requirement. Can I ask the following:<p>- Can a non US citizen open a company in US without physically going there (I heard you have to go to sign for a bank account)<p>- Are services like this a legit and smart way to open a company in this case, if not what can you recommend http://www.myuscompany.com/<p>- By reading about this I now understand LLC or C corp is a form of company most appropriate for startups?<p>- Any other thoughts on this subject?<p>thanks, I love Hacker News community, Janko
======
algul
You don't have to be a U.S. citizen or resident to form a corporation in the
United States. You could do so yourself, but it might be easier to use an
attorney. Take form Articles of Incorporation, send with a check to the
Secretary of State in most states along with 3 name choices (in case yours is
taken by the time you send the paperwork in). You need to nominate a
registered agent for service of process, there are companies that will do
this. Your initial address can be a Regus ($200 per month or so, and they will
forward mail). You can get a tax id number over the telephone. Whether you can
open a bank account depends on your relationship with the bank. Normally, this
will be very, very difficult unless the bank is a branch of a bank where you
already have a relationship. For now, just use paypal. You want to file an
election as a Subchapter S corporation, at least initially, so you don't get
taxed twice. LLC and C are apples and oranges, the first is a type of
corporation, the second is the tax treatment. An LLC can be a C or an S. I
should post the forms, it's not rocket science.

~~~
rach
So can a non- US citizen / non-Green card holder start a company in US? Or are
you only referring to opening a branch / US office of a foreign company?

------
hga
It's a pity that Slovenia doesn't have a well established "brand" as a nation
in the US; if so, you wouldn't necessarily have to set up an US subsidiarity
(since those who know about Slovenia by and large think well of it).

Anyway, however you get set up, I wish you luck!

~~~
middayc
Slovenia is a small country. Even some people much closer than US aren't that
aware of us. Zemanta is one of the few startups from here, that is making some
news.

I have many projects and I plan to split them to multiple companies. So I
would open additional companies anyway. If US option will be accessible, I see
it more as another interesting experience than anything else.

Thanks for good wishes, and kudos for knowing where/what Slovenia is :)

