How to Open a US Bank Account for Your LLC as a Non-Resident

Which bank should you use for a non-resident LLC?

We use Mercury, which we have had for more than three years. There are other options we have not tried:

• Wise Business, Relay, Payoneer or Global66.
• Chase and Bank of America: they usually ask you to visit a branch.
• Stripe Treasury: it works for the account, but not for the card if you live outside the US: the cardholder needs a US address. With our Colombian address we got the error "Cardholder cannot have a billing address country of CO".

How long does it take to open a Mercury account?

In our case, 5 days from the moment we paid to form the LLC:

Our EIN arrived within days because we have a Social Security number (SSN). Without an SSN, the EIN usually takes 10 to 45 business days. You don't have to wait for it to fill in the rest of the application: Mercury saves your application for up to 90 days, and you enter the EIN at the end, right before you submit.

What documents does Mercury ask for to open an LLC account?

Have these four ready:

1. Your passport and a selfie.
2. Proof of address: a utility bill or a bank statement for your home.
3. The certificate of formation of your LLC.
4. The IRS CP 575 letter, which confirms your EIN.

Don't upload Form SS-4 instead of the CP 575 letter. It happened to us, and afterward it couldn't be changed.

What address do you enter in the Mercury application?

Enter two different addresses:

• Formation address (Legal address): your registered agent's address. In Stripe Atlas, it is in the Company tab.
• Where you work: your home, in your country. Virtual mailboxes don't work for this one.

Do you select "Self" or "Revenue" as the source of funds?

If your company is new, select only "Self" (your own money). We also selected "Revenue" (sales), and Mercury asked us for invoices that didn't exist. We solved it with a letter and a personal bank statement covering the last 90 days.

What happens after approval?

Mercury did not ask us for a fixed amount for the first deposit. A customer paid through Stripe on October 24, and on the 28th, 249.50 dollars arrived in the checking account.

Your account has three parts:

• Checking: the checking account, where payments arrive.
• Savings: the savings account.
• IO card: it started with a limit of 0 and rose to 250 dollars. The limit follows your balance, the card pays itself off daily and earns 1.5% cashback. With a 15,000 dollar balance, the limit goes up and payment becomes monthly.

Check the fees, FDIC insurance and card details on Mercury's page.

Is there a bonus if you open the account with our link?

Yes, and it's worth knowing before you open the account. If you use our referral link and, within your first 90 days, you hold a 10,000 dollar balance for one full day, Mercury gives 250 dollars to you and 250 to us. The balance counts, not the sum of deposits: leave the money there for 2 or 3 days. It only applies to new customers; read the conditions.

This is a referral link: if you open the account with it, CBT Labs receives the bonus. The video is not sponsored.

What comes after you have the bank account?

With your LLC, EIN and bank account ready, the next step is your Mercado Libre Global Selling account. We explain it in the requirements guide. If you don't have an LLC yet, start with how to form a US LLC.

This is not legal, tax or financial advice: review your case with your accountant.