How to register a company in the USA from India: A 2026 guide

Can you register a company in the USA from India?

Yes. US statute does not require citizenship, permanent residency, or a visa to form or own a US LLC or corporation. A founder sitting in Mumbai can be the sole owner and sole officer of a Wyoming LLC or a Delaware C-Corporation.

But three conditions do apply, and they are practical rather than legal:

1. You need a registered agent with a physical street address in your state of incorporation. Your own address in India does not satisfy this.
2. You cannot use the IRS online EIN tool. Foreign applicants without a US legal residence must apply by phone, fax, or mail instead.
3. Owning the company is not the same as working in it. Registering a US entity gives you no right to live or work in the United States. That is a separate immigration question, covered further down.

The India side adds one more layer. If you're an Indian resident investing equity into the US company, the remittance counts toward your Liberalised Remittance Scheme limit of USD $250,000 per financial year.

It's also subject to the RBI's Overseas Investment framework, which sets separate rules for how that equity investment is structured and reported. LRS covers the ceiling on the money leaving India; it does not by itself satisfy the ODI compliance.

Which business structure should you choose?

Pick based on what the business does and whether you plan to raise money. Here's how the main US structures stack up for someone living in India.

Note: Sole proprietorships and general partnerships don't offer the same entity-level liability separation and aren't the main structures considered in this guide.

LLC

The LLC is the usual answer. You get liability protection with almost no ongoing formality: no board, no annual minutes, no stock ledger in most states. Three details that trip founders up:

• One owner or two changes everything. The IRS treats a single-owner LLC as a "disregarded entity," and an LLC with two or more owners as a partnership by default.
• A partnership with foreign partners may have section 1446 withholding obligations, but only on effectively connected taxable income allocable to those partners, generally 37% for individual partners and 21% for corporate partners. It isn't automatic withholding on all income the moment a second owner joins.
• A foreign-owned single-member LLC can have separate IRS information-reporting obligations even though it's disregarded for federal income-tax purposes. That's Form 5472, filed with a pro forma Form 1120, and it's triggered by reportable transactions with the owner, things like contributions into the company or distributions out of it, not by revenue.

Either LLC can elect to be taxed as a corporation instead, by filing Form 8832. Worth discussing with a CPA if the withholding math above applies to you.

C-Corporation

The C-Corporation is what US venture funds expect, because their fund structures and financing documents are built around it. The company pays 21% on its profits. Distributions to an Indian shareholder can create a second layer of tax and withholding, potentially reduced under the US-India tax treaty. Get entity-specific advice before you count on any particular rate.

S-Corporation

The S-Corporation isn't an option. IRS rules say an S-Corp's shareholders "may not be partnerships, corporations or non-resident alien shareholders". No structure gets around it.

Limited partnerships and LLPs exist too, but they carry the same withholding as a general partnership plus more paperwork than an LLC. Rare choice for a first US company.

Did you know: the S-Corp restriction applies to the shareholder, not the company.

How to register a company in the USA From India

Step 1: Choose your state of incorporation

Every state sets its own filing fees and its own annual obligations, so this is the choice founders get wrong most often when they register a company in the USA from India. Most people pick whichever state appears most often in search results, which is not the same as picking the one that fits the business.

Two questions settle it quickly.

Are you raising money from US investors? If you are, incorporate in Delaware. Investment funds default to Delaware because its corporate case law is well established, and arguing for a different state only slows down a term sheet.

Will the company have an office, employees, or property in a particular state? If it will, register in that state. When you form a company in one state and operate it in another, you have to register a second time in the state where you actually operate, pay a second set of fees, and keep a second registered agent. Founders who choose a state on reputation and then hire someone in California usually discover this when the second invoice arrives.

If neither question applies to you, and you're serving clients remotely from India, compare what each state costs over 3 years rather than what it costs on day one.

Note: Delaware's LLC annual tax rose from $300 to $400 for the 2026 tax year under House Bill 400, signed May 21, 2026. It's first billed in 2027, corporate franchise tax is unaffected by this bill.

These are the fees the states charge, current as of publication and confirmed directly against each state's own filing office. Filing services and registered agents bill their own charges on top, so budget for both.

Step 2: Choose and clear your business name

Each state runs its own business entity database. Search your chosen state's registry before committing to a business name, because a name in use by another entity in that state will get your filing rejected.

Naming rules vary by state, but most require an entity designator: LLC or L.L.C. for an LLC, Inc., Incorporated, Corp., or Corporation for a corporation. Check the specific naming rules for your chosen state before you file.

Words implying banking, insurance, or a regulated activity usually require additional approval.

A state name-availability check is not a trademark search. The two are separate systems, and clearing one tells you nothing about the other. If the brand matters, run a federal trademark search before you print anything.

Step 3: Appoint a registered agent

Every US entity must maintain a registered agent with a physical street address, not a PO box, in the state of incorporation. This agent receives service of process and official state correspondence on the company's behalf during business hours.

As a founder in India with no US address, you will hire a commercial registered agent service. Pricing varies by provider and state, so collect quotes from two or three before committing. The registered agent's address satisfies the state's requirement.

It isn't automatically your company's general business address for banking or licensing. Some providers sell that as a separate service, so confirm what each one covers before you sign up.

Step 4: File your formation documents

The formation document is called a Certificate of Formation or Articles of Organization for an LLC, and a Certificate of Incorporation or Articles of Incorporation for a corporation. It names the entity, its registered agent and address, and for corporations, the authorized share count.

A note on authorized shares for corporations: authorized share count can affect Delaware franchise-tax calculations. A large share count can raise your bill under the Authorized Shares Method, but Delaware permits alternative calculation methods, and which one applies to you isn't automatic. If you are incorporating a Delaware C-Corp, have the share structure reviewed before filing rather than after the first tax notice arrives.

Most states accept online filing. Processing times vary by state and by current volume, and several states sell expedited processing as a paid add-on. Check your specific state's published processing time at the point of filing rather than relying on a figure from a blog written last year.

Step 5: Get an EIN from the IRS

The Employer Identification Number is your company's federal tax ID. You need it before you can open a bank account, onboard to a payment processor, or file a return.

This is the step where non-resident founders lose the most time, because the IRS online EIN application is not available to you. Per the IRS Instructions for Form SS-4, an applicant without a legal residence or principal place of business in the United States cannot use the online tool.

Founder's tip: The single most common filing error: line 7b. This asks for the responsible party's SSN, ITIN, or EIN. If the responsible party has none of these and is not eligible to obtain one, the IRS instructions direct you to enter "Foreign." Leaving it blank earns a rejection, and a rejection means starting the clock again.

Step 6: Draft your operating agreement or bylaws

Most states do not require you to file this document, and precisely because it is not filed, founders skip it. That is a mistake for two reasons.

Some financial institutions and payment providers may request ownership and governance documentation during onboarding. It is also the document that governs what happens between owners when something goes wrong. Writing it while everyone agrees is materially easier than writing it while they do not.

An LLC uses an operating agreement. A corporation uses bylaws plus a stock ledger recording who owns what.

Step 7: Open a US business bank account

This is the real bottleneck, and it is the step every competing guide reduces to a single line.

US financial institutions must verify the identity of a business account's beneficial owners. For a non-resident founder, that verification is the hard part: many traditional banks still expect an in-person branch visit, and some will not open a business account for a non-resident owner at all regardless of documentation.

Account requirements vary by provider. Expect to need formation documents, your EIN, IDs for every beneficial owner, proof of the owner's address, information about business activity and source of funds, and evidence of a qualifying US business address or nexus. Confirm the exact list with your chosen provider before you apply.

Founders who can't clear a traditional bank's non-resident review often pair their US entity with a financial technology platform instead. Eligible US-incorporated companies can apply for Aspire¹, subject to its onboarding, verification, and US-nexus requirements.

Aspire also offers a US-nexus pathway for businesses that meet one of the qualifying connections. Approved accounts come with corporate cards² and spend controls.

Step 8: Register for licenses and state tax accounts

Formation and licensing are separate. Depending on your state, locality, business activities, and where you have nexus, you may also need:

• A general business license at the state, county, or city level
• An industry-specific license for regulated activities
• A state sales tax permit, if you have sales tax nexus in a state

On sales tax: physical presence is no longer the only trigger. States set their own economic nexus thresholds based on revenue or transaction counts from customers in that state, and those thresholds differ state by state.

If you sell goods or taxable digital services to US consumers, check the threshold in each state where you have customers rather than assuming a single national rule.

Documents you need to register a company in the USA from India

Nothing here requires notarization by a US authority or an apostille in most states, which surprises founders expecting the paperwork burden of an Indian incorporation.

What does it cost to register a company in the USA from India?

There is no single price for US company registration from India. The total depends on the state you pick, the structure you choose, and whether you file directly or pay a service.

State fees are the only fixed, published component. Those figures are in the Step 1 table above: USD $110 for a Delaware LLC, USD $100 for a Wyoming LLC, USD $300 for a Texas LLC, with recurring annual costs of USD $300 for a Delaware LLC, a USD $60 minimum for Wyoming, and a filing obligation with no tax below USD $2.65 million in revenue for Texas.

Registered agent fees are recurring and set by the provider, not the state. Collect quotes rather than budgeting against a figure from a comparison blog.

Formation service fees, if you use one, sit on top of the state's charges. A service bundles the state filing, registered agent, and sometimes the EIN application. Filing directly with the state costs less; a service costs more and removes the deadline tracking from your plate.

Accounting is the line item founders systematically underestimate. Foreign ownership can create US federal information-return and income-tax filing requirements even in low- or no-revenue years, depending on entity type and transactions, and the penalties for missing a required filing are fixed rather than proportional to your revenue. Budget for a US accountant from year one, not year two.

The honest framing: the incorporation is the cheapest part of owning a US company. The recurring compliance is what you are actually signing up for.

BOI reporting in 2026: US-created companies are exempt

FinCEN removed the beneficial ownership reporting requirement for domestic US companies and US persons through an interim final rule in March 2025. A final rule effective August 14, 2026 made that exemption permanent. FinCEN's own page states plainly: "U.S. companies are exempt from the Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI) reporting requirements."

Reporting companies are now defined as entities formed under the law of a foreign country that have registered to do business in a US state or tribal jurisdiction. Those entities can still have a filing requirement if no exemption applies, but they no longer report information on US-person beneficial owners or company applicants.

What this means for you: if you form a new Delaware, Wyoming, or Texas LLC or corporation as an Indian founder, that entity is a domestic US company and is exempt. If instead you register your existing Indian private limited company to do business in a US state, that entity is foreign-formed and may still be in scope for reporting.

Common mistakes Indian founders make when registering a company in the USA

Most of these cost money rather than time, and every one of them is avoidable if you know it's coming.

Sending money from India before filing with the RBI. Don't remit equity into the US entity before confirming the applicable ODI route, the designated AD bank, UIN and reporting requirements, and your LRS availability. Founders who wire first and sort this out later are out of compliance from the moment the money lands.

Assuming a company with no revenue owes nothing. No revenue doesn't automatically mean no reporting. A foreign-owned single-member LLC can have a Form 5472 obligation, filed with a pro forma Form 1120, when it has reportable transactions with its owner or a related party. Funding the company or taking a distribution out can count as one. The penalty for missing a required filing is USD $25,000, and it doesn't scale down because the company was dormant.

Adding a co-founder to an LLC without checking what it changes. Bring in a second owner and the IRS default classification for the LLC shifts from disregarded entity to partnership. That can create partnership-level filings and foreign-partner withholding if the partnership has effectively connected taxable income, generally 37% for individual partners and 21% for corporate ones. It isn't automatic just because a second owner joined.

Authorizing 10 million shares because the form allows it. Delaware's default franchise tax calculation runs on your authorized share count, so a large number chosen carelessly at formation shows up as a larger tax bill every year after.

Forming in one state and operating in another. Registering in Wyoming and then signing an office lease or hiring staff in California means registering again in California as a foreign entity, with a second fee and a second registered agent. The low-cost state stops being low-cost.

Filing a BOI report you no longer owe. Guides published before March 2025 still tell you to report beneficial ownership to FinCEN. Filing generally isn't required for a US-created entity under the current rule.

Confusing ownership with the right to work. Owning a US company gives you no immigration status. You can own it, direct it, and collect from it while living in India, but working inside the US is a separate question with a separate process.

What happens after your US company registration

Filing the entity is the fast part. What takes ongoing attention is the compliance that follows it:

• Annual state payments and reports, on the schedule set by your state of incorporation
• Federal tax and information-return filings, which can apply even in low- or no-revenue years depending on your entity type and transactions
• India-side overseas-investment reporting, where applicable to your remittance and ownership structure
• Keeping banking and financial operations running cleanly between the two countries

Build a compliance calendar around these on day one, with a US accountant and a chartered accountant who knows FEMA, rather than reconstructing it after a notice arrives.

For the banking side of a US-incorporated business, Aspire¹ offers a business account, corporate cards², and multi-currency accounts³, subject to current US product eligibility. Aspire is a financial technology company, not a bank; the Aspire Checking Account is provided by Column N.A., Member FDIC.