Documents and Information Needed to Form a US Company

Four checklists, not one

Most "formation checklists" mix everything into one long list: passport, utility bill, EIN, bank statement. That makes forming a company look harder than it is. In practice there are four separate stages, each handled by a different organization, and each asks for different things.

The order matters. The IRS asks you to form the company with the state before applying for an EIN (IRS: Get an EIN). A mailbox or lease-backed address uses the company's formation document and EIN letter. A bank or payment provider looks at all of it. So you only need the first checklist to get started, and each later one reuses what the earlier ones produced.

Checklist 1: the state filing

The state filing creates the company. It's called Articles of Organization in Wyoming, a Certificate of Formation for a Delaware LLC and a Certificate of Incorporation for a Delaware corporation. These forms are short, and they ask about the company, not about its owners. Here is what each one actually contains.

What to have ready

• A name, plus a backup. Delaware tells filers to check the name's availability on its website first (Delaware). Pick the exact spelling you want, because it becomes the company's legal name everywhere else, starting with the EIN.
• The state and the company type. An LLC or a C-Corp, and which state. If you're still deciding, see LLC vs C-Corp and Delaware vs Wyoming LLC.
• A registered agent. Both states require an agent with a physical street address in the state (Delaware Division of Corporations). Wyoming's form adds that a drop box isn't accepted (Wyoming). A founder abroad can't be their own agent, so this is usually a service. What a registered agent does
• A mailing address and a principal office for Wyoming. The form asks for both, separately from the agent's address (Wyoming).
• An email address. Wyoming requires one and uses it for reminders, notices and filing evidence (Wyoming).

Extra items for a corporation

A Delaware stock corporation's certificate also states the total number of shares it may issue and their par value (or that they have none), plus the name and mailing address of the incorporator, who signs it (8 Del. C. §102 and §103). Delaware's template says the corporation itself can't be the incorporator (Delaware). The share count matters later too, because Delaware's franchise tax can be based on authorized shares; see Delaware C-Corp. Directors, bylaws and stock issuance come after the filing and are adopted by the company, not filed on this form.

What Registate asks at onboarding

Registate's online onboarding asks for the company type, state, name and a short description of what the company does, then the package, the filing speed, whether you need an EIN and the business address you want to use. It doesn't ask for a passport upload or an SSN at this stage, and a registered agent is included in every formation plan. How formation works

Checklist 2: the EIN

Once the state has accepted the filing, the company can apply for its Employer Identification Number on Form SS-4. The form asks for information, not uploads. Most of it comes straight from checklist 1; the new part is the responsible party.

The responsible party

The IRS says the responsible party is the person who "owns, controls or exercises effective control over" the entity, and it must be an individual, not a company. Nominees shouldn't be listed (IRS: Responsible parties and nominees). For a single-member LLC that's normally the owner. The application is signed by the owner or an authorized member or officer; a service helping you can be named as a third-party designee (SS-4 instructions).

Without an SSN or ITIN, the online application isn't available, so the same form goes by fax or mail. The full routes, fax numbers and timing are in How to apply for an EIN without an SSN.

What you keep from this stage: the EIN confirmation letter the IRS sends. It's the document the next two checklists ask for.

Checklist 3: a mailbox or business address

This is the first stage that asks for personal ID. It's optional for forming the company, but many founders add a US address for mail, documents and account applications. There are two separate things here, with separate lists.

A virtual mailbox: USPS Form 1583

Any mailbox at a commercial mail receiving agency (CMRA) needs a signed USPS Form 1583 (USPS DMM 508). For a company, the form asks for:

• Business details (item 7): the company name, type of business, business street address, phone and place of registration, which USPS defines as the county and state for a US company (PS Form 1583).
• The applicant's details (item 4): name, phone, email and street home address, which can be abroad.
• Two IDs (items 8 and 9): a government photo ID, such as a passport, and a document showing the same home address, such as a current lease, a home or vehicle insurance policy, a mortgage or deed of trust, a vehicle registration or a voter card. A driver's license can count as one of the two, not both.
• Other people receiving mail (item 12): each one listed must be able to show two IDs on request.
• A witnessed signature: for business use an officer signs and gives their title. The signature is made in front of the mail agent, in person or on live video, or acknowledged before a US notary, in person or online.

Source: PS Form 1583, June 2024. How the form works end to end is covered on the virtual mailbox page.

A lease-backed business address

Registate's real street business address comes with a commercial lease and a utility bill. For that, the panel asks for three uploads and one answer: the company's formation document, the IRS EIN letter, a photo ID such as a passport or driver's license, and the main shareholder's country. Proof of address

Checklist 4: bank and payment accounts

This is the one list we won't write out for you, because it isn't fixed. Each bank, fintech and payment platform decides what it asks for, which countries it accepts and which documents it trusts, and those rules change. A generic list would be out of date or simply wrong for the provider you pick.

What's common is the legal baseline. Under the FinCEN customer due diligence rule, US financial institutions identify and verify each person who owns 25% or more of a company, plus one person who controls it (FinCEN CDD rule). Everything else comes from the provider. Start from its own published requirements:

• US banking and payments: the types of provider and what each is for.
• Payoneer, Mercury, Stripe and Amazon seller verification: each provider's own rules, with sources.
• Why US banks say no: the common reasons applications are declined.

Registate is a Payoneer Affiliate Partner and can guide a Payoneer application; Payoneer decides. No one can promise a bank or payment account.

Keep every detail consistent

The four checklists are separate, but the details on them get compared. A bank reads your formation document next to your EIN letter; a mail agent compares your ID with your form. Small differences cause most of the back-and-forth.

1. 1
   One legal name, spelled one wayCopy it from the formation document to the SS-4 and every application after it, including “LLC” or “Inc.”
2. 2
   Know which address is whichThe registered agent's address, the company's mailing address and the owner's home address do different jobs. Registered agent vs business address
3. 3
   One description of the businessUse the same short description at formation, on SS-4 lines 16–17 and with providers.
4. 4
   Names as on your passportThe responsible party on the SS-4 and the applicant on Form 1583 should match your ID exactly.
5. 5
   Keep the originalsSave the filed formation document and the IRS EIN letter as PDFs. You'll be asked for both more than once.

To see what Registate handles at each step, read how it works. For the full cost of the first year, see what a US LLC costs.

Sources, checked September 2026: Wyoming Articles of Organization, Delaware entity forms, 6 Del. C. §18-201, 8 Del. C. §102, IRS SS-4 instructions, IRS responsible parties, USPS PS Form 1583, USPS DMM 508, FinCEN CDD rule.