Pick what you're setting up and answer five quick questions. You get one list for formation, the EIN, mail and the providers you apply to, with what everyone needs kept apart from what depends on your situation.
Nothing is uploaded or sent anywhere. Every line cites its source; providers' own pages are the final word. See all tools.
For: LLC · state not decided · living outside the US · no SSN or ITIN · one owner. Change answers
The state forms ask about the company, not its owners: no passport, nationality or SSN goes on them.
Source: Registate company formation
Source: Registate pricing
Source: Wyoming Articles of Organization
Source: Wyoming Articles of Organization
The IRS doesn't charge for an EIN. Form SS-4 asks for information, not uploads.
Source: IRS: Get an EIN
Source: IRS: Responsible parties
Source: IRS Form SS-4 instructions
Source: IRS Form SS-4 instructions
Source: IRS Form SS-4 instructions
Source: IRS Form SS-4 instructions
Source: IRS Form SS-4 instructions
Source: IRS: Understanding your CP575
Source: IRS Form SS-4 instructions
Source: IRS Form SS-4 instructions
Source: IRS business phone lines
Sources checked September 2026. Rules change; the IRS, USPS, the state and each provider have the final word. Processing times vary, and they set them.
It reuses the rules from our guides and provider pages, sorts them by step and shows only what applies to your answers.
The IRS asks you to form the company before applying for the EIN. A mailbox or lease-backed address uses the formation document and EIN letter, and providers look at all of it. So the list runs in that order. Formation timeline
Required means everyone on that step needs it. Depends means it only applies in some cases, such as faxing the IRS, or the provider asks case by case. Your answers move items between the two or hide them.
The checklist runs in your browser. Your answers and ticks are saved only on this device, so you can come back to them. It never asks for a document or an ID number.
Each item links the IRS, USPS, state or provider page it comes from, checked September 2026. Where a provider's own pages disagree, the item says so and marks it as depending on your situation.
The lists 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.
Copy it from the formation document to Form SS-4 and every application after it, including “LLC” or “Inc.”
The registered agent's address, the company's mailing address and your home address do different jobs. Registered agent vs business address
Use the same short description at formation, on SS-4 lines 16–17 and with providers.
The responsible party on the SS-4 and the applicant on Form 1583 should match your ID exactly.
Save the filed formation document and the IRS EIN letter as PDFs. You'll be asked for both more than once.
Want it done for you? Registate forms LLCs and C-Corps online with a registered agent included, helps with the EIN, and offers a virtual mailbox and a lease-backed business address. See how it works
Uploads, what Required and Depends mean, passports, SSNs and what a checklist can't promise.
No. The checklist runs in your browser and never asks for a document, an ID scan or an ID number. Your answers and ticks are saved only on this device. When a service does need a document, such as a mailbox provider or Registate's lease-backed address, you share it with that service directly, never by email.
Required means everyone doing that step needs the item. Depends means it only applies in some cases, such as applying for the EIN by fax, or the provider asks for it case by case. Where a provider's own pages disagree, the item is marked as depending on your situation and says so.
Not for the state filing. Wyoming's and Delaware's forms don't ask for owners' ID, nationality or an SSN, and Registate's onboarding doesn't ask for a passport upload. A photo ID comes in later, for a mailbox (USPS Form 1583), a lease-backed business address or a bank or payment account.
Yes. On Form SS-4 you write "foreign" on line 7b, and the IRS says foreign individuals don't need an ITIN to receive an EIN. Without an SSN or ITIN the online application isn't available, so you apply by fax or mail. The IRS doesn't charge for an EIN.
No one can promise that. Each bank and payment provider sets its own rules and makes its own decision, and those rules change. The provider lists here come from their own help pages, checked September 2026; check them again before you apply.
Because each one decides what it asks for. Mercury wants an IRS EIN document and a physical US legal address, Relay runs a live identity check, Stripe and Shopify want the physical address where the business operates, and Payoneer asks for company proof of address under 3 months old. Our banking pages cover each in detail.
The state and the IRS set their own processing times.
