SEPA for US LLC: WISE banned. What now?

[saturnix]

I reside in the UAE as a EU citizen and need a quick, easy and cheap solution to receive SEPA payments in EUR from 3 different businesses.

So far, I solved this with a Delaware LLC, sole owner, with a WISE account, but I made a mistake and got it permabanned.

Here are the options I'm already considering:

> Airwallex: refused my US LLC with no explanation.

> Wallex: personal account with SEPA works fine, but the corporate one is a pain in the a*s to KYC. Their verification partner keeps rejecting the documents, with vague explanations and no support.

> VertoFX: pain in the a*s KYC and, once passed, there's even more KYC if you want the EUR account. Work in progress...

> Trulyfinancial: waiting for the KYC result since more than a week.

Discarded because of high fees: Bankera, Satchel, 3S Money, Finom, Payoneer.

Airwallex and Currenxie would be a perfect solution, and I'm considering opening a Hong Kong or Belize ltd just for one of them (Currenxie in particular). Has anyone ever done so successfully? Are the documents provided by the registered agent enough to open an account? Or are they also a KYC pain in the a*s making it impossible to work?

My question: what is the cheapest and easiest solution for a sole trader, UAE resident and EU citizen to have access to SEPA? What combination of EMI+Company have you tested as good/cheap as Wise+US LLC?

Many thanks for any input!

 

[jafo]

Not a question because it could be sensitive for you to disclose...

Is your business‌ in direct competition with a public company where institutional investors have an interest?

I'll give‍ you MY example... One of my businesses is IT/technology hardware sales around the world from⁠ Asian manufacturers with NO brand, no TM violation, NO patent violation, etc.
Most Western banks⁤ won't accept me or others who are engaged in the same business *AND* competing with⁣ their major shareholders, e.g., SNX (NYSE) and other public companies that do the same.
I can spoon-feed you all this info, but the only way you will learn is by⁢ DYOR. You may also learn a way to circumvent this while deep-diving into this.

I would email them directly and ask them or ask the︃ service provider you intend to use.

 

[saturnix]

Absolutely not. It's just a very simple and straightforward‍ online business. Think about an affiliate blog selling ad space, or a youtube channel, or⁠ a freelancer doing marketing services for 3 customers on retainer. Not *exactly* that but very⁤ similar.

The KYC pain comes from not being a EU resident, and not wanting to⁣ pay taxes or ridicolous fees anywhere. Wise was perfect, but I had to ruin it⁢ by being an idiot with cryptos. Totally my fault.

Seems to me you're dealing with a︆ much complicated issue, involving real banks and a real business. I have none of it:︇ I don't touch any physical good, and use real banks just to pay myself dividends.︈

The business side is completely immaterial and surprisingly simple: I get money from 2 businesses︉ via SEPA, and send that money to myself via SWIFT. Easy peasy. No one knows︊ I even exist.

I could just ask these 2 businesses to pay me via SWIFT︋ directly (which is my contingency plan), but I'm butthurt about being cutoff from SEPA *and*︌ having to use the name of my physical person with them.

I did, but their answers are elusive. I was hoping to find someone who️ did it recently, and willing to share their setup.

 

[jafo]

Hmmmm..... Could⁠ Google, Microsoft, FaceBook, or a similarly-positioned public company do the same as you? 🙄

Let's forget⁤ the price for now. If an airplane drops on your home today and you don't⁣ make it, can your clients hire a public company to do the same thing you⁢ do? 🙄

rof/% smi(&% I get so tired of telling︁ people this, but here we go...

(1) FIAT is your 50-year-old wife you have been︂ married to since your early 20s.

(2) CRYPTO are the two open-minded 20-year-old college cheerleaders︃ who are also roommates you are banging for fun on the side because they have︄ a LOT of energy because you are on TRT (Testosterone Replacement Therapy) with Alprostadil 10mcg︅ (intracavernosal route) and NO chance in HELL your wife is interested in banging it out︆ with you for the next 6 hours! 😉

Please, do NOT mix #1 and #2! EVER!︇ Please, make a note of this. 😎

Get rid of them! They have NO idea what they are doing, and they are︉ dishonest! Keep searching for new providers on this forum until you get the right one!︊ ***BUT STOP mixing FIAT and CRYPTO on the "same" platform*** (regardless of the fairy tales︋ told). ca#"! It may work for a few times...but eventually, the mask will come off.

PS. I have had Wise since the beginning. I was one of their first clients. I︌ even bought their stocks and still have them. I never had a problem...until I did.︍ And it wasn't crypto or large sums of money. It was simply regular expenses at︎ publicly traded companies (groceries, pharmacy, etc.) to the tune of about 6K per month. One️ day, I got an email requesting all kinds of KYC paperwork. I had 90 days‌ to comply. I transferred out my money and sent them the following video





I never‍ heard of them again! Actually, when I sent out that video, I never heard from⁠ anyone again. smi(&% rof/%

 

[linusAG]

Have you ever tried PingPong, Panpay, Sunrate, or LianLian?

 

[BerlusconiSchmidt]

Your set up is too common, they cracking down hard.

What did you expect? welcome‌ to the club. You will find it almost impossible to open EMIs and bank accounts‍ for your US LLC while living in the UAE. You either have millions or you⁠ will have to be lucky to operate this way as a startup.

 

[mud]

Try Levro

Not sure︉ why you don't register using your EU residency too. You don't usually have to provide︊ tax file numbers but do have to prove addresses.

 

[saturnix]

I had Levro: my bad for not including‌ it in the OP. Yes, it was amazing.

Unfortunately, banned because I mistakenly told‍ them I don't have US customers after a routine control. Yes, this is stupid but⁠ no: this was before the Mercury/Brex/... banwave for LLCs with no US customers. Now even⁤ rocks know you have to pretend to have US presence when they ask: back then⁣ it wasn't as obvious. They gave you a list of countries to select where are⁢ your customers, and I didn't think answering truthfully, for a low risk business, would be︀ a mistake... fun fact is: I interact with people who have similar setups. So I︁ do have, technically speaking, some US customers doh948""

Tried re-appling and they don't even reply anymore:︂ I don't think they even open new accounts at all.

I don't have an EU residency.︅ And even I had: Common Reporting Standard - Wikipedia

Great suggestions, thanks! I have solved the problem, but︇ I will study these too as backups.

 

[mud]

Í'm not sure how an EU citizens loses their EU residency but it sounds like‌ you've got bigger problems to worry about.

If you don't have US customers then why‍ did you want a US LLC? Why not setup an LLC or equivalent in another⁠ country where you can meet the banking requirements.

 

[jafo]

For example, which country and which bank?

 

[mud]

hap¤#" There's a whole‌ forum here with years of experience for you to tap into. There's lot to choose‍ from. Maybe upgrade to get mentoring and personal guidance.

 

[jafo]

How would you know? 🙄
This is you:

vs...

This is me:

Furthermore, things change daily in⁣ world markets. What was possible yesterday, is NO longer possible today, and THAT is the⁢ reason to keep one's membership up-to-date 😉

 

[mud]

Huh?

I'm not in charge of the platform tech but can confirm⁤ I'm anything but a new member. And if you read I'm recommending the OP take⁣ advantage of the Mentoring Services that you and others offer.

 

[saturnix]

You renounce the residency (and all its tax implications) simply by moving abroad, staying‍ outside the country for more than 180 days per tax year, and respecting the local⁠ requirements to not be considered resident (in my country, one of these requisites is literally⁤ deleting yourself from the city registry of residents).

Your passport/citizenship is EU. Your residency is⁣ not, as long as you keep respecting those requirements.

Owning a bank account as a⁢ resident is usually a one-way ticket back to the residency registry, and all its consequent︀ tax liabilities.

That is the purpose of my post:

 

[mud]

Sounds like you're referring to tax residency, not residency. They're different.

I haven't see the‌ problems you're describing. I'm a resident of 3 countries, including an EU country but not‍ a tax resident in the EU. I've never been asked for EU tax file numbers⁠ to open EMI accounts with SEPA services (like Revolut, Levro, Airwallex, Wise, Paysera, Bunq etc.)⁤

Did you look at a UK Pty Ltd company for example - UK is native⁣ in the SEPA zone and allows foreign owned companies and directors. Its also quick and⁢ cheap to setup.

 

[saturnix]

[No content provided]

 

[mud]

Sure, that's Revolut but it doesn't need to be an EU tax number.

 

[jafo]

OK. That's what⁠ confused me...because you answered me instead of OP.

 

[mud]

Oh yeah - seems that way. When you (not the OP)‍ asked a question it looked like the OP was continuing the conversation.

 

[Forester]

Would you mind sharing what solution have you gone‍ for?

For further studies, you can add e.g. Verifo as well (IMO, perhaps the best⁠ solution if you want jsut SEPA).