Looking for USA nominee director / Stripe representative

[davodsonlib]

Hello,

I hope everyone is doing well.

I run a SaaS website, and payments are processed through Stripe using my U.S based (Wyoming) LLC.

I recently launched the platform.

About a week ago, I received a notification from Stripe requesting that I add a U.S based account representative, as my company is registered in the United States.

Does anyone have an IDEA or RECOMMENDATION on where I can get a Stripe account representative or nominee director based in the USA? Has to be legit because I don't want to ruin my company since stripe verifies the ID and address of the representative.

Thanks in advance.

 

[fgtv123]

Is the company registered w/ an EIN in the US?

A US rep isn't required‌ for foreign owned LLCs.

 

[daniels27]

I think they really changed it recently. No wonder from how much scam LLCs there‌ were recently. Literally anybody from Europe opened such LLCs for tax evasion and for shady‍ businesses.

You can apply for a US visa and then handle it yourself or you⁠ travel there and get a guy on the ground.

 

[davodsonlib]

I have an EIN.

Stripe says‍ I need an account representative in US.

 

[fgtv123]

I would double check you have‌ it setup as a LLC that is treated as a corp/partnership, and not a sole‍ prop.

 

[daniels27]

No need to‍ check. I think @disagree had the same issue few hours ago and he knows how⁠ to set up accounts.

I already offered him to buy a cheap church for $1000⁤ and then we can apply for E-4 visas for all the priests around the planet⁣. Until the church falls apart.

 

[fgtv123]

To set it up properly:

Tell stripe you've elected to become an entity separate from‌ its owner.

Single Member LLCs are by default Sole Prop Companies in stripe, so you‍ must change it.

 

[davodsonlib]

I see.

I'll inform them.

Thank you⁠ very much.

 

[davodsonlib]

Hello, sorry I had to quote multiple⁠ times.

I just checked and I am already on a Single-member LLC, do you mean⁤ I should tell stripe to change from that to sole proprietor?

Though, I can actually⁣ change it myself.

 

[fgtv123]

a single-member LLC that has‌ elected to be treated as a corporation for tax purposes is a "private corporation", no‍ longer a single mmbr llc.

Changing it there should be fine

 

[EliasIT]

That's how it works, did they approve your business ?

 

[davodsonlib]

Yes my business is approved on stripe, but unfortunately, stripe still asks for account representative‍ even after following the procedures given in the thread.

 

[CEOz]

Private business virtual address doesn't work in this case? LLC agent address as well?

 

[davodsonlib]

No, virtual/agent won't work because they need the representative to be‍ verified using their ID and address

 

[fgtv123]

Could you share exactly what they are saying?

Just went through the new account process w/‍ foreign owned & they accepted it just fine.

They should still require a representative, but⁠ as long as you upload a passport it can be anyone, not just US.

 

[Xshore]

However this is‍ a big decision to make, a corp needs to deliver tax returns and pay taxes⁠ to the US. And still not certain that Stripe will accept it without a local⁤ person in the US.

Same thing happened to me 5-6 years ago, it worked for a︂ few weeks then I got the message that they required: "At least one employee or︃ account/business owner physically based in the US".

 

[daniels27]

I would advise⁠ against changing anyting just because some payment service "wants" it.

Thanks. I think we are still waiting for @davodsonlib to tell︀ us what it says and then also what it requires. Like this the whole discussion︁ here is utterly pointless and just unnecessary noise in the sense of scaring people with︂ ungrounded scares. Please bring actual facts on the table!

 

[disagree]

Hi guys. Just some quick points about the LLC + Stripe situation.

- I never‌ had such issue with Stripe, nor the people I work with that have a foreign‍ owned US LLC (we're talking hundreds of people).

- An issue I'm seeing a lot⁠ lately is that some Stripe accounts get approved, and then after 2 weeks/1 month they⁤ just get an automated email saying "after further analysis for your risk profile, we decided⁣ we can't support you" -> generic and looks super automated. If you appeal, your account⁢ gets reinstated. Sometimes they revert this on the first attempt, sometimes you need to work︀ harder, getting in touch multiple times with the support team.

- You getting this request︁ from Stripe is completely unusual. They support foreign owned US LLCs. This looks like a︂ mistake in your stripe application and/or company formation. They clearly offer the payment processing services,︃ and asking for a US representative means that maybe you requested to access some service︄ that they are a middle man for, that they offer ONLY to companies that are︅ managed from the US soil or something like that.

It would be good to know︆ if you did something specific that triggered this request.

 

[davodsonlib]

Yes, I’m still quite new to this company setup and to stripe. I believe I triggered︆ this while exploring stripe's dashboard, specifically when I looked into the "Global Payout" option.

I did find a workaround, although I'm not sure how long this will last.

I used︇ myself as the representative and verified my identity (they accept identity verifications from outside the︈ US) but used my company’s address as my address (they won't accept another address other︉ than a US address).

 

[disagree]

Yes this is how you⁢ should have set this up since the beginning. But it's not a workaround. It's just︀ how it should be.