The Full Legal Checklist for Moving Your Business to the US
Moving a business to the United States is mainly a sequencing exercise, not a filing exercise. The legal work starts before you form the company: you need to line up the visa strategy if you plan to live in the US, decide whether an LLC or corporation fits the business, choose the right state, and understand how the move affects tax on both sides of the Atlantic. Only then should you form the entity, apply for the EIN, open the bank account, and build the payroll, licensing, and insurance layer around it. After launch, the work shifts again into annual reports, tax returns, foreign-account reporting, and transfer-pricing discipline. This matters because the wrong order creates expensive rework. Founders often form the US entity first, then discover that the visa pathway requires different ownership, the tax treaty position changes the structure, or hiring triggers state registrations they did not budget for. The cleanest move is strategy first, formation second, operations third, and ongoing compliance after that.
The sequence matters. Most rework comes from filing the entity before the visa, tax position, or ownership structure are settled.
- 1
Resolve the visa strategy
If you plan to live and work in the US, confirm the right visa before you form the entity.
- 2
Choose the entity and state
Decide between an LLC and a corporation, then pick the formation state and registered agent.
- 3
Form and fund the business
File the entity, obtain the Employer Identification Number (EIN), open the bank account, and document governance.
- 4
Set up operational compliance
Add licenses, payroll, insurance, and state registrations before hiring or opening offices.
- 5
Keep the annual calendar running
Track annual reports, tax filings, Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR), Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), and transfer pricing documentation from day one.
What should you settle before you form the entity?
Before you file anything, align your work authorization, ownership model, operating state, and cross-border tax position so the structure does not unravel later.
This phase is where most expensive mistakes are prevented. You are not only deciding what to file. You are deciding whether the legal, immigration, and tax logic of the move fits together.
“The expensive mistakes are almost always sequencing mistakes, not filing mistakes. Founders can fix paperwork; restructuring after the move is where the real cost appears,” says Kari Foss-Persson, Esq., Managing Partner at Vinland Immigration.
“Too many founders treat entity formation, tax planning, and immigration as separate tracks. In practice, the ownership structure, the operating agreement, and the visa strategy all need to point in the same direction,” says Kari Foss-Persson, Esq., Managing Partner at Vinland Immigration.
Visa strategy
Your right to work in the US is separate from the company’s right to exist there. You can form a US company from Europe without relocating, but if you plan to live and work in the US, the visa strategy should be settled before the move.
For European founders, the usual options are:
- E-2 Treaty Investor visa for founders from treaty countries who will invest in and direct the US business. See our company visa overview for the main eligibility rules.
- L-1 Intracompany Transfer visa if you are moving from an existing foreign company into a qualifying US affiliate or subsidiary.
- O-1 Extraordinary Ability visa for founders with unusually strong evidence of achievement in their field.
The visa choice can affect ownership, control language, and management structure. That is why it belongs at the beginning.
Entity structure decision
LLC or corporation is rarely a purely tax question. It also depends on whether you expect outside investment, whether employee equity matters, and how much formality the business needs from day one.
Most founder-led operating businesses start with an LLC because it is simpler. Businesses that are clearly being built for venture financing usually need a Delaware C-corporation instead. Our tax and corporate team can help work through that trade-off in context.
State selection
The state decision should reflect where the business will actually operate. Delaware and Wyoming are common for holding or remote structures, but if the company will quickly hire, lease space, or open operations in a specific state, the operating state often deserves to be the default answer.
Tax treaty review and exit tax assessment
Before the move, review the tax treaty between the US and your current country of residence. If you are a US citizen or long-term green card holder changing tax residency, also assess potential exit tax exposure before any irreversible step is taken.
Key decision points
These filters help founders decide whether they should prioritise visa timing, simple LLC formation, or early multi-state compliance planning first.
Formation: getting the entity right
Formation is where you convert strategy into filings, tax registrations, governance documents, and banking access, so consistency matters more than speed.
LLC or corporation filing
Once the structure is settled, file the entity with the chosen state. The filing itself is often the simplest part of the project. What matters is that the state, ownership details, and future operating reality all match the larger plan.
Employer Identification Number (EIN)
Apply for the EIN immediately after formation. It is needed for banking, hiring, and tax filing. The IRS explains that online EIN applications require the principal business, office, or legal residence to be in the United States or a US territory; international applicants can still apply by phone, fax, or mail, and fax applications are generally answered within about four business days.
Registered agent
Every US LLC and corporation needs a registered agent with a physical address in the formation state. Use a professional service instead of relying on an address that may not be monitored consistently.
Operating agreement or bylaws
The governance documents should not be treated as boilerplate. For an LLC, the operating agreement should define management authority, transfer rules, and ownership clearly. For a corporation, the bylaws and shareholder arrangements should do the same. If the business is tied to an E-2 plan, control language needs special care. Our company formation services cover that drafting work as part of the setup.
Business bank account
The bank account depends on the rest of the file being coherent: EIN, entity documents, ownership, and business story. This is why banking comes after the strategic entity decisions, not before them.
Core terms
These definitions anchor the rest of the checklist, because founders usually make better sequencing decisions once the core US compliance vocabulary is clear.
- EIN
- Employer Identification Number. You need it for banking, hiring, and tax filing.
- Foreign qualification
- Registration in a state where the business operates even though it was formed elsewhere.
- FBAR
- Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts. It applies to certain foreign accounts held or controlled by US persons.
- FATCA
- Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act. It adds reporting duties for certain foreign financial assets above the relevant thresholds.
What operational compliance has to be in place before launch?
Before you hire, sign leases, or start selling, confirm the licensing, payroll, I-9, insurance, and state registration layer is ready.
Business licenses and permits
Licensing requirements vary sharply by industry and location. A consulting business may need very little beyond formation. Food, healthcare, finance, and regulated services can require multiple approvals before launch.
I-9 compliance
If you hire US employees, federal employment verification rules apply immediately. That means the Form I-9 process needs to be built into your hiring workflow from day one. Our compliance services cover the US employment-law layer in more detail.
Payroll setup
US payroll brings federal withholding, Social Security, Medicare, federal unemployment tax, and often state-level equivalents. Most founders should use a payroll provider from the beginning rather than trying to manage that process manually.
Insurance
General liability insurance is the usual starting point. Once you have employees, workers’ compensation often becomes mandatory as well. Depending on the business, professional liability, product liability, or D&O coverage may also matter early.
State registrations
If you operate in states other than your formation state, you may need foreign qualification or other state registrations there. Hiring, office space, inventory, or regular in-state activity can all trigger additional filings.
Ongoing obligations: keeping the structure compliant
The annual workload is manageable if you calendar it early, but it becomes risky fast when tax and reporting deadlines are treated casually.
Annual reports and franchise taxes
Most states require annual or periodic filings and fees. Some states, especially Delaware for corporations, can become expensive if you ignore the tax method or miss deadlines. Put these dates on the calendar as soon as the entity is formed.
Federal and state tax filings
The US entity will generally file a federal return every year, and it may need returns in multiple states where it has nexus. See our tax compliance services if you need a coordinated filing plan across states and countries.
FBAR and FATCA
US persons with qualifying foreign accounts may have annual foreign-asset reporting duties even when the business itself is new. FinCEN states that an FBAR filing is required when the aggregate value of foreign financial accounts exceeds $10,000 at any point during the calendar year. Our cross-border tax services cover how that interacts with broader US filing obligations.
Transfer pricing documentation
If the US company transacts with a related foreign company, pricing and documentation should be planned before the transactions start. That is especially important for founders moving an existing European business into a US structure.
How do the pieces fit together?
The safest sequence is strategy, formation, operating setup, then recurring compliance, because each later step depends on earlier decisions being clean.
Trying to run these pieces in parallel without coordination is how founders end up rewriting operating agreements, reopening ownership questions, or discovering that the tax structure no longer matches the immigration plan.
European founders are managing two legal systems at once. The right advisers do not just answer isolated questions; they keep the US entity, the immigration strategy, and the cross-border tax position moving in the same direction.
The fastest way to create rework is to form the US entity before the visa, tax, and ownership questions are settled. The safest sequence is to lock the strategy first, then file the entity, then build the compliance layer around it.
If you are still at the planning stage, our tax and corporate practice offers an integrated approach covering entity formation, immigration strategy, and cross-border tax in one engagement.
Related articles
- Tax Implications of Owning a US LLC as a European Resident
- Opening a US Business Bank Account From Europe: A Step-by-Step Guide
- Choosing the Right US State for Your LLC: Delaware, Wyoming, or Where You Operate
- The US-Germany Tax Treaty: Key Provisions for Expats and Investors
- E-2 Visa and Your US LLC: How Entity Structure Affects Your Case