Joy OkoroYou want to activate shopify payments for non us citizen in other to start accepting payments?
But you’re unsure how you can get started, you searched on google and now you’re here.
If you’re new to Shopify and want to activate shopify payments without SSN on Shopify, you have to first open your Shopify store with a US Address or change the address to US to get started.
To do that, on your dashboard, click on Settings.
Under Store Details, you can update the Store Address.
If you go to “Payments“, you will see the option to activate Shopify payment gateway.
How To Activate Shopify Payments For Non-US Citizens – Step 1
Don’t worry, this is actually easy to accomplish, you just have to follow 5 simple steps.
1. Form an LLC US Company
2. Apply For an EIN Number
3. Get a US Phone Number
4. Get a US Address
5. Get a US Bank Account
Getting Started: Register a US Company
At the time of making this post, Stripe currently accepts over 54 countries and as someone that’s NOT from any of the supported countries, to have access to Stripe you need to form a company in any of 54 Countries.
Since you’re not from any of those countries based on citizenship, you can have access to the countries based on “Business Mode“, and this is legally accepted by stripe.
While signing up on Stripe, they will ask if you’re signing up as an Individual (Citizenship) or as a Company (Business).
United States, been one of the most popular and most sorted after by many businesses and having been accompanied by loads of benefits, it’s recommended to Form a US Company, in other to setup your US Business stripe account successfully.
The US Company can be your store, website or business name, or any generic and unique name you’ve come up with.
The most exciting part of this is, you don’t need to change your IP ADDRESS by using a VPN.
Forming a US Company is the ONLY option as a non-us citizen if you want to have access to Stripe LEGALLY.
Forming a US Company can be expensive depending on the formation company you used, and can spend over $600 – $1,400 to form your US Company and acquire your EIN Number.
However, you don’t need to spend that FORTUNE, as it’s a bit ridiculous especially for a beginner.
You will discover how you will be able to get all the requirements from A-Z with less than $100, you don’t need to break the bank or sell your soul or go over your budget.
To form your US Company, you have to choose a state among the 54 states in United States of America and we recommend the following:
- Missouri ($51 one-time filing fee and $0 annual/yearly fee)
- Kentucky ($40 one-time filing fee and $15 annual/yearly fee)
An example of an expensive state is California that charges $70 filing fee and $800 annual/yearly fee and you wouldn’t like to go through that route.
If you formed your LLC in Delaware, you’ll pay $300 annual tax fee with an expensive filling state fee to form the LLC?
As a non-us citizen, you should probably go for the affordable state for peace of mind.
However, to form your LLC and get your EIN Number to setup shopify payments with less than $100, we will be using IncAuthority, they’re the best in the industry, and with them, you will get the most affordable services.
We’re going to recommend an affordable way to form your LLC and EIN to setup your Shopify Payments with less than $100. and you can’t find this offer anywhere except here.
How To Use Shopify Payments Outside US
If you’ve decided to start your LLC and most especially with less than $100, then you can go ahead and form your LLC as soon as you can before it’s too late.
At Inc Authority, you’re going to form your LLC and get your EIN/TAX ID. Follow the simple guidelines below to complete the signup. It’s easy and takes just a few minutes. All you have to do is choose your state, enter your business name, and form your LLC!
Step 1: Go to IncAuthority.com
When you arrive at IncAuthority.com, click on the “start now for free” tab.
Step 2: Select Entity Type and Filling State.
In your entity type, select Limited Liability Company (LLC) and in the Formation State, select Kentucky or Missouri.
Click on Save & Continue.
Step 3: Enter Your Personal Details
In this step, enter your First and last name, email, and contact phone number.
You’ll need a US Phone number, download DingTone from the play store or app store and buy a US Phone Number.
Also, below the form, you can add extra partners if you’re more than 1 person who owns the business.
Click on save and continue.
In the next section, they will ask you little questions about your business, you can select Yes or No in all of them, and they will ask the type of business you do, then you can select your category from the dropdown.
Step 4: Enter Your Business Details
Enter your choice or Business Name and business description (if you have a clothing online store, say you have an online and you sell clothing and apparel).
A brief description of your company, a sentence or two describing your business.
Select your business benefit and click save & continue.
Step 5: Business Address
You need a US Address to continue in this step, go to Shipito.com.
You’ll get a US address instantly, use it, and continue your signup. Takes just 1 minute.
In the next section, you can continue as a guest or create an account with them.
Step 6: Registered Agent Service
Select the registered agent service and proceed to the next step. This option will give you a registered address which you can use for your business and online applications.
Step 7: EIN/Federal TAX ID
As a non-us citizen, your EIN (Employer Identification Number) will serve as your SSN (Social Security Number).
If you form a US Company, your EIN Number will basically serve as your SSN. Even without being a US Citizen, you’re enjoying the benefits. EIN is one of the requirements Stripe will request for when signing up. This is more like your IDENTIFICATION!
The interesting part about Inc Authority is they get an EIN for you at $49, which is considered as the cheapest place to get one. Others charge from $95 and above.
You need to include the EIN/Federal Tax ID which is very important!
Click save and continue.
Step 8: Addons
The next pages contain Addons and they include the following:
- Operating Agreement – $89
- Legal Document Package – $89
- Minutes and Resolution – $89
- 24 Hour-Express Processing/Express Delivery –
$49FREE (you can select this option if it’s free at the time of forming your company, but if it’s not free, you don’t have to add it because, it’s not cost effective and you need your LLC + EIN to be available before you setup Stripe or Shopify Payments) Normally, your LLC will take 4-5 days to be formed. - Online Business Presence – $9
- INC Success Advisor – $177
- US Business Bank Account – FREE (you can add this or not, but they always require a deposit before using the bank account) there are other free options you can use e.g Mercury.com
So you can skip the PAID ones, until you get to the payment stage.
Step 9: Make Final Payments
In the end, you’ll only be paying for State Filing Fee (fee paid to the state government to form your LLC) and EIN.
Other formation companies charge a lot for offering this service but IncAuthority Charges $0 Service fee.
Now you need to make payment using either Debit/Credit Card or PayPal.
For the Delivery Option, you can select $0 free delivery (Electronic Delivery) and they will be delivered to your email.
How to Get a US Business Bank Account Using Your LLC
You need a US Bank account where Shopify will deposit your earnings to, and you can also withdraw these funds from your US bank to your local bank account.
Luckily, in this post, you will discover how to do this at the comfort of your home and without living your country, and you don’t need to pay someone to do it for you.
You can sign-up for an Individual US Bank Account Right Now at Payoneer.com and you can sign-up for a Business US bank account at Mercury.com (when you have your LLC + EIN ready).
How To Activate Shopify Payments For Non-US Citizens – Step 2
After forming your US company, whether you’re a US Citizen or Non-us citizen, the second step is to activate your Shopify payment gateway using the information you’ve gotten from your LLC Formation.
Before you start, make sure to change your store address to the US address you got after forming your LLC. In your LLC document, you will get a US address which you can use for your business’s or online applications.
When activating the Shopify payments, the place they asked for last four (4) digits of SSN, you can replace it with the last four (4) digits of your EIN.
Fill out other personal details and submit and you’re good to go.
I tried to make payment for the last step on Inc Authority but there was no way to get it done as they require a US billing address. Even after providing the address, the card is still declined since it is most likely not a US credit card.
Paypal keeps giving me an error as well, did you face any issue?
It’s not possible. This blog misleading. They ask for full SSN (9 digits)