Yes, residents of Jordan can form a Wyoming LLC entirely online without ever visiting the United States. The all-inclusive cost through WyomingLLC is $397 (the Wyoming state filing fee is already included), formation completes in about 24 hours, and your EIN and US business bank account follow over the next few weeks.
For a founder in Amman, Irbid, or Zarqa, a Wyoming LLC is the cleanest legal vehicle for billing US and international clients, accepting Stripe or PayPal payments, and holding a real US-dollar bank balance — all without a US visa, US residency, or a Jordanian company registration. This guide walks through exactly why it works for Jordanian residents, what it costs, how banking approval actually plays out, and the US and Jordanian tax obligations you need to plan for.
Why a Wyoming LLC for Jordan founders
Jordan is a small, open economy where a large share of professional income comes from outside the country — software work, design, consulting, and e-commerce sold to clients in the Gulf, Europe, and the United States. The practical problem most Jordanian founders hit is not forming a company; it is getting paid in dollars through infrastructure that US and global platforms trust. A Wyoming LLC solves that directly.
Pass-through taxation with no US tax on non-US activity. A single-member Wyoming LLC owned by a non-US person is, by default, a "disregarded entity" for US federal tax. The LLC itself pays no US income tax. As the owner, you only owe US tax if your LLC earns income that is effectively connected to a US trade or business (ECI). For most Jordanian founders doing remote services or selling to customers from Jordan, there is no US ECI, so there is no US federal income tax — only an information filing (covered below).
No US physical presence required. You do not need to travel to the US, hold a green card, or rent a US office. Wyoming law requires a registered agent with a physical Wyoming address — that service is included in your $397, so your filing has a compliant US address from day one.
Banking that actually works. Mercury, Relay, and Wise Business all onboard US LLCs owned by Jordanian residents. Jordan is not on Mercury's prohibited-countries list, and Wise Business is widely used by Jordanian founders as a reliable primary or backup account.
Wyoming privacy. Wyoming does not publish member or manager names in the public formation record. Your ownership stays off the public-facing Secretary of State filing, which matters to founders who do not want their name indexed against a US company.
Best-in-class asset protection. Wyoming's charging-order protection is the strongest in the United States and, for a single-member LLC, is explicitly extended by statute — a meaningful advantage over states like California or New York.
No state income tax and low maintenance. Wyoming levies no state corporate or personal income tax and no franchise tax. Ongoing upkeep is a single low annual report, which keeps year-two costs minimal and predictable — there are no surprise state filings or quarterly state returns to manage from Jordan.
A jurisdiction US partners recognize. Wyoming and Delaware are the two states US payment processors, marketplaces, and banks see most often from non-resident founders. Choosing Wyoming signals a conventional, low-risk setup, which quietly smooths every downstream approval — Stripe, the bank, and any US client running vendor due diligence.
Cost from Jordan
The headline number is simple: $397, all-inclusive, with the Wyoming state fee already inside it. There is no separate state charge bolted on at checkout. Here is the breakdown and what year two looks like.
| Item | Included in $397? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Wyoming Secretary of State filing fee | Yes | State's mandatory formation fee, included |
| Wyoming registered agent (year 1) | Yes | Physical WY address required by statute |
| LLC formation & Articles of Organization | Yes | Filed in ~24 hours |
| EIN from the IRS (Form SS-4) | Yes | No SSN/ITIN required for the owner |
| Operating agreement | Yes | Single-member template |
| US bank account setup guidance | Yes | Mercury / Relay / Wise |
| Total today | $397 | One-time, all-in |
| ITIN (optional add-on) | No — +$297 | Only if you personally need a US tax ID |
Year two and beyond (~$160/year). Recurring cost is the Wyoming annual report plus continued registered agent service. The Wyoming annual report minimum is $60 for most small LLCs (per the Wyoming Secretary of State), and registered agent renewal makes up the rest — roughly $160/year total. There is no Wyoming state income tax to add on top.
Most Jordanian founders do not need the $297 ITIN. You only need an ITIN if you personally have a US tax-filing obligation (for example, certain ECI situations or a treaty claim) — and since the US and Jordan have no tax treaty, there is rarely a treaty reason to get one. The EIN that comes with formation is what you actually use to open the bank account and run the business.
Banking after formation from Jordan
This is where Jordanian founders most often get stuck, so here is the honest picture. Your EIN must be issued before any US bank will open an account — banking is the last step, not the first.
Mercury (primary recommendation). Mercury is a fintech (banking services via partner banks) built for startups and remote founders. Jordan is not on Mercury's prohibited-countries list, so Jordanian residents can apply. Approval is handled case-by-case, not guaranteed. Mercury reviews your formation documents (Articles + EIN letter), the owner's passport, and increasingly wants to understand your business model and a real residential address. Be aware of a recent compliance shift: Mercury has tightened onboarding and in many cases no longer accepts a registered-agent address as your business address — give your actual Jordanian residential address and a clear description of what the company does. A clean, specific business description ("software consulting for EU clients," not "general trading") materially improves approval odds.
Relay (strong alternative). Relay is another US business banking platform that onboards non-resident LLC owners and accepts most Jordanian founders. It checks the same core items: EIN, formation documents, and owner ID. Relay is a good second application if Mercury stalls.
Wise Business (the reliable fallback — and often a primary). Wise Business is widely used by Jordanian founders and tends to be the most dependable to get approved. It gives you US ACH/wire details plus local receiving details in multiple currencies, which is excellent if you invoice clients across the Gulf, Europe, and the US and want to hold and convert balances cheaply. Many founders run Wise as their main account and treat Mercury/Relay as the "US-feeling" account for Stripe and US clients.
Recommended fallback order: apply to Mercury first, then Relay, and keep Wise Business as the reliable backstop (or open it in parallel). What every option checks is consistent: a valid EIN, your formation paperwork, your passport, and a coherent story about the business. Have your EIN confirmation letter, Articles of Organization, and a short business description ready before you apply. Never use a fake US address — mismatched or fabricated address data is a leading cause of rejection.
Tax: US and Jordan
US tax treaty status — verified: there is NO treaty. The United States and Jordan do not have an income tax treaty in force. Jordan does not appear on the IRS list of treaty countries (IRS, United States income tax treaties — A to Z; IRS Tax Treaty Tables). The practical consequence: there is no reduced treaty rate for Jordanian residents. Any US-source FDAP income (fixed, determinable, annual, or periodical income — such as US dividends, US-source royalties, or certain US-source interest) is subject to the statutory 30% US withholding tax. Do not assume any treaty relief — none exists.
The good news is that most Jordanian founders earn no US-source FDAP at all. If you provide remote services or sell products to customers and operate from Jordan, your income is generally foreign-source and not subject to that 30% withholding.
Form 5472 + pro-forma 1120 — mandatory, with a $25,000 penalty. A foreign-owned single-member US LLC is treated as a disregarded entity but must file IRS Form 5472 attached to a pro-forma Form 1120 every year, reporting reportable transactions between you and the LLC (capital contributions, distributions, loans). This is an information return, not an income-tax return — filing it does not by itself create a US tax bill. But missing it is expensive: the penalty for failure to file Form 5472 is $25,000 (IRS, About Form 5472). The return is due by the 15th day of the fourth month after year-end (typically April 15), and it is filed by mail/fax, not e-filed. This is the one US filing nearly every Jordanian owner must do.
ECI vs. no-ECI. If your LLC has no US trade or business and no ECI — the typical case for a Jordan-based remote founder — you owe no US federal income tax, only the Form 5472 information filing. If you do have ECI (a US-based dependent agent, US inventory/employees, or a US office), that net income becomes US-taxable and you would file Form 1040-NR and likely need an ITIN. Most service and remote e-commerce founders in Jordan fall in the no-ECI bucket. Confirm your facts with a US CPA experienced in non-resident filings.
FinCEN BOI — you are exempt. Under FinCEN's Interim Final Rule of March 26, 2025, entities created in the US — including your Wyoming LLC — and their owners are exempt from Beneficial Ownership Information reporting. Only entities formed abroad and registered to do business in a US state remain reporting companies. A US-formed Wyoming LLC owned by a Jordanian resident has no BOI filing obligation.
Jordan-side obligations. Jordan operates a broadly territorial tax system and, importantly, has no Controlled Foreign Corporation (CFC) rules (PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries — Jordan) — so your US LLC's retained profits are not automatically attributed to you. However, once you are a Jordanian tax resident (generally 183+ days in Jordan in a tax year), income you actually receive — distributions/profits you draw from the LLC into Jordan — can fall within Jordanian personal income tax, where rates run from 5% up to 30% plus a 1% national contribution on very high incomes. Because the rules around foreign-source income brought into Jordan are nuanced, confirm your personal position with a licensed Jordanian tax advisor. This page is general information, not US or Jordanian tax advice.
Popular use cases for Jordan founders
Jordan has a deep pool of English-fluent engineers, designers, and digital entrepreneurs, and a Wyoming LLC fits the four workloads that dominate cross-border income from the country:
Freelancing and remote contracting. Developers, designers, writers, and marketers in Amman invoicing agencies and startups in the US, UK, and Gulf benefit enormously from a US LLC. A US entity plus a US/Wise account makes you look like a vendor a Western client already knows how to pay and contract with — it removes the friction of cross-border invoicing and currency.
Software and SaaS. A Wyoming LLC lets you sign up for Stripe (which requires a US entity + EIN for full US-dollar processing), bill subscriptions globally, and hold revenue in USD. For a bootstrapped Jordanian SaaS founder, this is the standard setup for accepting card payments at scale.
E-commerce. Selling on Amazon US, Shopify, Etsy, or via dropshipping is far smoother through a US LLC. Payment processors, supplier accounts, and marketplaces frequently expect a US business entity and EIN. The LLC also cleanly separates business and personal finances for inventory and ad spend.
Consulting and agencies. Management, marketing, and IT consultants serving US and international clients use the LLC to issue professional US invoices, sign master service agreements, and receive wire payments into a US-feeling account — projecting credibility that wins contracts.
Across all four, the recurring theme is the same: the LLC is the payment and credibility layer that lets Jordanian talent plug into the US financial system without relocating.
Step-by-step: forming from Jordan
- Choose your LLC name. Pick a distinctive name ending in "LLC" or "Limited Liability Company." We check availability against the Wyoming Secretary of State business database so your filing is not rejected for a name conflict.
- Registered agent (included). Wyoming law requires a registered agent with a physical Wyoming address. This is bundled into your $397 — no separate signup, and your filing has a compliant US address immediately.
- File the Articles of Organization. We prepare and submit your Articles to the Wyoming Secretary of State. Approval typically lands within about 24 hours. Wyoming does not list members publicly, so your name stays off the public record.
- Get your EIN (Form SS-4). We obtain your federal Employer Identification Number from the IRS via Form SS-4. As a non-US owner with no SSN or ITIN, the EIN is processed by fax/mail, which is why it takes roughly 8–10 business days. The EIN is what unlocks your bank account.
- Sign your operating agreement. Even a single-member LLC should have one — it documents ownership, management, and your disregarded-entity status. A template is included; you sign and keep it on file (banks sometimes ask to see it).
- Open your US bank account. With Articles + EIN + passport in hand, apply to Mercury first, then Relay, with Wise Business as the reliable fallback or parallel account. Expect another ~8–10 business days. Use your real Jordanian residential address and a clear business description.
End to end, plan for roughly 3–4 weeks from order to a fully operational, bankable US company: ~24 hours to form, ~8–10 business days for the EIN, and ~8–10 business days for banking after that.
Common mistakes Jordan founders make
Assuming a tax treaty exists. It does not. Because there is no US–Jordan tax treaty, you cannot claim reduced withholding on US-source income — the default 30% applies to US-source FDAP. Plan around the actual rules, not assumed treaty relief.
Skipping Form 5472. The single most expensive error. Even with zero US tax due, a foreign-owned single-member LLC must file Form 5472 + pro-forma 1120 annually. Forgetting it triggers a $25,000 penalty. Calendar it for April 15 every year.
Treating banking as instant. You cannot open a US account before your EIN exists, and approval takes days, not minutes. Founders who apply with a half-formed setup or a vague "general trading" description get declined. Have your EIN letter, Articles, and a specific business description ready.
Using a fake or registered-agent US address at the bank. Mercury has tightened compliance and often rejects registered-agent addresses for the business owner. Use your genuine Jordanian residential address — mismatched data is a top rejection cause.
Buying an ITIN you don't need. The $297 ITIN is optional. Unless you have a genuine US filing obligation (ECI) or a treaty claim — and Jordan has no treaty — you generally don't need it. The included EIN runs your business.
Ignoring the Jordan side. No US tax does not mean no Jordan tax. As a Jordanian resident, profits you draw into Jordan may be taxable locally. Confirm your position with a licensed Jordanian advisor.