Delaware LLC from Belarus: Ownership Is Legal 2026

Forming the company is the easy part. For a Belarusian founder, the question that matters is banking, and the straight answer needs a distinction that is rarely made: US sanctions on Belarus are targeted, not a ban on you as a person, but the fintechs that bank Delaware LLCs exclude Belarus by policy anyway.

There is also genuinely good news that the Russia-focused guides never separate out: as of August 2026 there is no US prohibition on serving people located in Belarus comparable to the Russia services determination, and Belarus has no CFC regime taxing your LLC's retained profits at home. Here is the full picture, all three layers.

This is general information, not legal or tax advice, and it is a high-stakes, sanctions-sensitive topic covering sanctions and cross-border tax. Sanctions designations and Belarusian rules change. Confirm the current position with qualified advisors on both sides before acting. Nothing here assists any activity a sanction prohibits.

The short answer: legal to own, filtered at the platform

As of August 2026, per ofac.treasury.gov, no US law bars a Belarusian citizen, as such, from owning a Delaware LLC: screening runs against the SDN list, not your passport cover. Delaware itself asks for no citizenship, visa or US trip, as our guide to a Delaware LLC for non-US residents explains. The filter that will actually decide your case is banking platform policy, and it turns on where you live.

First, which are you: still in Belarus, or relocated to Poland, Lithuania or Georgia?

This is the most decision-changing question, and for the large relocated Belarusian tech diaspora it is the whole story. Banking platforms screen on country of residence first, and Belarus sits on their restricted lists; a Belarusian passport with legal residence in a supported country is a different file entirely.

The takeaway: formation is open to both profiles, banking is realistic mainly for relocants. A founder still in Belarus can lawfully own the LLC but should expect platform refusals, not case-by-case review. Read the rest with your own status in mind.

1. 1
   US law: targeted, not a banSanctions attach to designated persons and specific sectors, not to Belarusian nationality.
2. 2
   Platform policy: where it bitesBanks and fintechs run country lists that are broader than the law requires.
3. 3
   Relocation resets the pictureResidence in Poland, Lithuania or Georgia changes which lists you land on.

Layer 1: the law (OFAC), targeted programs, not an embargo

Precision matters, so here is the accurate scope as of August 2026, per ofac.treasury.gov:

• Belarus is not under a comprehensive embargo. Those programs cover Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Syria and the Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine. Belarus is not in that tier.
• Belarus is under targeted, list-based sanctions, under Executive Orders 13405 and 14038 and related authorities: designated officials, state-owned enterprises and banks on the SDN list, plus export controls. Prohibitions attach to listed persons and specific dealings, not to every Belarusian citizen.
• No services determination. Unlike Russia, there is no OFAC determination prohibiting US persons from providing corporate formation services to people located in Belarus, as of August 2026. A US registered agent can lawfully serve a non-SDN Belarusian, wherever resident.

Two conclusions follow. There is no list of banned nationalities for owning a US LLC, and a non-SDN Belarusian is not prohibited by OFAC rules from owning a Delaware LLC as of August 2026. Do not confuse the Belarus program with Russia's: the legal position is materially lighter, even though banks often lump the two together.

Layer 2: platform policy, where the actual filter sits

Now the layer that decides your experience. Banking fintechs maintain restricted-country lists that are stricter than what OFAC requires, applied by residence and sometimes citizenship, and changed without notice:

• Mercury's restricted list includes Belarus per captures of its policy as of 2026; its official page was not directly verifiable at the time of writing.
• Relay reportedly excludes Belarusian and Russian citizens under its 2026 policy and now expects a US operational presence.
• A relocant is a different case. With legal residence in Poland or Lithuania, both inside the EU, or another country the platforms support, applications are generally assessed on the merits of the file: source of funds, a live website, a real business. Georgia-based founders should verify each provider's current list first, because coverage there is unconfirmed.

Be clear-eyed: these are private commercial rules, one refusal at a fintech is usually final for that LLC, and nobody can promise a Belarusian founder a bank account, whatever their residence. Preparation moves you from automatic refusal to genuine review, no further. Provider fiches, fees and the anti-refusal checklist are in opening a US business bank account.

Layer 3: the Belarus side, no CFC, a treaty that barely helps, currency rules

This is where Belarus differs sharply from Russia, mostly in your favour. Do not assume Russia's rules apply.

• No CFC regime. Belarus has no controlled-foreign-company rules as of August 2026, so your LLC's retained profits are not deemed your income at home. Belarus taxes you when you actually take the money out, not before.
• Worldwide taxation if resident. Spend more than 183 days a year in Belarus and you are taxed there on worldwide income, so distributions and the LLC's pass-through profits belong in your Belarusian return. A relocant answers to the new country of residence instead.
• Currency control is registration, not prohibition. Funding a foreign company from Belarus is a capital operation that can require registration or notification on the National Bank portal, per nbrb.by: a compliance step to do properly, not a ban.
• The treaty barely helps. The 1973 US-USSR convention still formally applies between the US and Belarus per IRS treaty tables, but Belarus suspended the dividend and interest articles of its treaties with "unfriendly" states, including the US, in 2024. A transparent LLC would not claim entity-level treaty benefits anyway. Plan on the full 30% US withholding on US-source passive income, per irs.gov.

On the state side, Delaware itself stays simple for either profile: a $110 filing, a registered agent, no resident director and no minimum capital, per corp.delaware.gov, plus the flat annual tax. When your LLC owes US federal tax at all, what 0% really requires, and the Form 5472 filing with its $25,000 penalty that applies even at zero revenue, are all covered in Delaware LLC taxes for non-residents.

Related reading: Delaware LLC for non-US residents, opening a US business bank account and Delaware LLC taxes for non-residents.