Wyoming LLCs are Stripe's favorite non-resident structure. The state itself is well-recognized by Stripe's automated underwriting (low fraud signal), Wyoming's privacy doesn't trigger the "shell company" red flag, and the EIN issuance speed (48h with LLCora) means you can apply to Stripe within a week of starting your business.
This is the exact 7-day plan we walk every LLCora Premium customer through. The 85% approval rate is real — when the prep work is done.
Day 0: Form your LLC
Wyoming LLC + EIN with LLCora Pro ($299) takes 48 hours. Do not pre-buy a domain or set up a Stripe account before this — Stripe will see a young account and downrank.
Day 1-2: Buy a domain (use real personal info)
- Use Cloudflare or Namecheap (well-recognized registrars)
- Register with your real name and your home country address
- DO NOT use whois privacy. Stripe runs a whois lookup. Hidden whois = fraud signal.
- Domain TLD: .com is best. .io and .co work. Avoid .xyz, .biz, .info.
Day 3: Build a real one-page business website
The minimum Stripe wants to see (and this is non-negotiable):
- Homepage explaining what you sell, who buys it, how much it costs
- Pricing page with specific numbers (not "contact us")
- Terms of Service (use Termly free tier — sign up takes 5 minutes)
- Privacy Policy (same generator)
- Contact email at your domain (NOT @gmail.com): use Cloudflare Email Routing or your domain registrar's free email forwarding
Stop reading. Start filing.
Your LLC could be live by tomorrow morning. From $149. 100% money-back if rejected.
Day 4: Open Mercury Bank or Wise Business
Your Stripe payouts have to land somewhere. The two non-resident-friendly options:
- Mercury Bank — better integration with Stripe, faster payouts. Requires Wyoming LLC + EIN. Approval ~75% in our data.
- Wise Business — accepts more countries, no minimum balance. Approval ~90%.
Apply to whichever fits your country. Get the routing number before the next step.
Day 5: Apply to Stripe — fill the form correctly
This is where 70% of rejections happen. Use these exact patterns:
Business name: Your LLC's exact legal name as on Articles of Organization.
Business website: Your real domain (NOT a temporary URL).
Business description: Specific. Bad: "We sell software." Good: "We sell a $29/month SaaS subscription to small e-commerce stores in the US, UK and Canada that helps them automate inventory restocking. Average customer has $50K-$500K annual revenue and pays for 8 months."
EIN: Your IRS-issued EIN (9 digits).
Bank routing + account: From Mercury or Wise Business. Routing 9 digits, account 8-12 digits.
Owner DOB + address: Your real home country address. Not the LLC's Registered Agent address.
SSN/ITIN: Leave blank — Stripe accepts non-residents without SSN if EIN is valid.
Application IP: Apply from your normal home Wi-Fi. Do NOT use a VPN. Stripe geo-locates IPs and a US VPN with a non-US owner address triggers the manual review queue (3-5 day delay).
Day 6-7: Verify and respond
Stripe usually decides within 24 hours. If approved: ✓ done. If "additional documents needed":
- Upload a clear photo of your government ID
- Upload your Articles of Organization
- Send a one-paragraph explanation of your business via support@stripe.com from your domain email
- Personal Gmail for the Stripe login → fraud signal
- VPN to US IP with foreign owner address → mismatch flag
- Vague business description ("services", "consulting") → can't verify the business
- Domain less than 14 days old → too new to verify
- No Terms of Service or Privacy on the website → consumer protection risk
- Bank account opened the same day as Stripe application → laundering risk
- Pakistan, Iran, Syria, North Korea, Cuba: even with a US LLC, Stripe will deny. Use PayPal Business or a local Stripe partner.
- Russia, Belarus: post-2022 sanctions, denied. Same workaround.
- Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Peru: high approval rate (~85%). Apply to Stripe US through your LLC, NOT Stripe Brasil/Mexico (they're separate products with worse fees).
- India: very high approval (~90%). Recommended path for Indian SaaS founders.
- Turkey, Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria, Vietnam, Indonesia: solid approval (~75-85%) with proper prep.
- doola alternative (cheaper LLC + same Stripe outcome)
- Wyoming vs Delaware LLC (Wyoming wins for Stripe)
- Open Mercury Bank guide
- Glossary: EIN
Manual review usually completes in 48-72 hours. Approval rate post-manual-review is ~92% for prepared applicants.
Why most non-residents get rejected
The patterns that trigger Stripe rejection:
Avoid these and your approval rate jumps from 30% to 85%+.
Country-specific notes
Related
If you want LLCora to walk you through this on a video call (we approve 95% of Premium customers in <7 days), grab the Premium plan.