Wyoming LLC for Non-Residents 2026: Who Can, Who Cannot

Any nationality can own a Wyoming LLC. The statute asks for no passport, no address in the United States and no visit.

That sentence is true, and it is where most guides stop. Three things it leaves out decide whether the company is a good idea for you: where you ordinarily live, who ultimately owns the company, and who learns your name along the way.

This page covers whether you can and on what conditions. The filing itself is in how to file the Articles of Organization from abroad.

0citizenship or residency conditions in Wyoming's LLC formation statute

6foreign adversaries on the federal list that Wyoming's 2025 dissolution ground points to

60 daysnotice period before the state treats a company as defunct

Can a non-resident form a Wyoming LLC?

Yes. W.S. 17-29-201 says that "one (1) or more persons may act as organizers" and requires the Articles of Organization to state two things only: the company's name, and its registered office and registered agent.

Nothing in that section, and nothing on the official form, asks about the owner.

• No citizenship condition. The form has no nationality field.
• No residency condition. Neither the organizer nor the members need a US or Wyoming address.
• No Social Security number. The state does not ask for a tax identifier at all.
• No visit. The filing is made online or by mail, and the agent signs a written consent.
• No local director or member. The only Wyoming presence required is the registered agent.

What the law does require is a registered agent with a physical Wyoming address. That agent is a US person, and that single fact matters more than it looks, as the next two sections show.

Who cannot, and who should stop and take advice

Wyoming company law excludes nobody by nationality. The exclusions come from federal sanctions law, and since 1 July 2025 from one ground of dissolution in the Wyoming statute itself.

Other OFAC programs restrict dealings with certain countries and regions more broadly. That list changes, so read it on the Treasury's website on the day you decide rather than in any guide, including this one.

1. 1
   Are you on an OFAC sanctions list?If yes, US persons are generally barred from dealing with you. The plan stops here.
2. 2
   Do you ordinarily live in Russia?If yes, a US registered agent or formation provider is barred from serving you, whatever your passport.
3. 3
   Is the owner a listed government, or controlled by one?If yes, the 2025 dissolution ground applies on its face.
4. 4
   Are you a private citizen or resident of a listed country?Unsettled. Two readings exist. Take Wyoming counsel before you file.
5. 5
   None of the aboveWyoming law sets no condition. Check the bank's country list next.

The OFAC limit if you live in Russia

This limit does not forbid anyone from owning a company. It forbids US persons from providing a defined set of services, and a Wyoming LLC cannot exist without one of them.

On 8 May 2022 OFAC issued a determination under Executive Order 14071, in force since 7 June 2022. It bars the supply, "directly or indirectly, from the United States, or by a United States person, wherever located", of trust and corporate formation services "to any person located in the Russian Federation".

OFAC's FAQ 1034 lists what those services include.

• Forming the company: "assisting persons in forming or structuring legal persons".
• The registered agent: "acting or arranging for other persons to act as" directors, secretaries or registered agents.
• The address: "providing a registered office, business address, correspondence address, or administrative address".
• Maintenance: FAQ 1063 says the ban covers "the administration or maintenance of an existing trust or company", not only new ones.
• Tax filing: FAQ 1068 says accounting services "would include tax preparation and filing services".

The test is where you live, not your passport. FAQ 1058 reads "person located in the Russian Federation" as persons in Russia, "individuals ordinarily resident in the Russian Federation", and entities organized under Russian law. Citizenship is not part of that definition.

Two cautions. FAQ 1058 treats supply as indirect "when the benefit of the services is ultimately received by" a person located in Russia, so a middleman does not cure it. And "ordinarily resident" is a question of fact that a provider will test with documents.

These FAQs were online and unamended on 5 October 2026, the most recent update being dated 12 September 2024. Sanctions move quickly, so reconfirm before relying on any of this. The country side is covered in setting up a Wyoming LLC from Russia.

The foreign adversary dissolution ground

Since 1 July 2025, Wyoming's Secretary of State has a ground of dissolution that turns on who owns the company, not on what it filed or failed to file.

• Source: 2025 House Bill 69, Enrolled Act No. 9, Chapter 7 of the 2025 session laws.
• Votes: House 61 to 0, Senate 31 to 0.
• Dates: signed on 24 February 2025, in force on 1 July 2025.

Under W.S. 17-29-705(c)(iii)(D), an LLC forfeits its articles where "it is in the public interest and the limited liability company or any of its members":

"Is owned or controlled by a foreign government or foreign nongovernment person determined to be a foreign adversary by the United States secretary of commerce and specified in 15 C.F.R. 791.4(a) or a successor regulation, except if the ownership or control has been approved by the committee on foreign investment in the United States"

The same wording was added for corporations, nonprofit corporations and statutory foundations. The federal list it points to has six entries.

• China: "The People's Republic of China, including the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the Macau Special Administrative Region".
• Cuba: the Republic of Cuba.
• Iran: the Islamic Republic of Iran.
• North Korea: the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
• Russia: the Russian Federation.
• Venezuela: "Venezuelan politician Nicolás Maduro (Maduro Regime)", not the country.

Two readings, and no ruling between them

What the provision means for an LLC owned by an ordinary individual from one of those places has not been settled. We found no guidance from the Secretary of State and no decision. Both readings below are defensible, and this page does not choose.

Four features of the text matter whichever reading is right.

• "Or any of its members." The ground reaches a member that is itself owned or controlled, so a holding company in the chain counts.
• "In the public interest." This is a second condition, and the statute does not define it.
• The federal list is self-limiting. Section 791.4(a) says its entries are adversaries "solely for the purposes of the Executive Order, this rule, and any subsequent rule". Wyoming borrowed it for another purpose.
• The exception is hard to use. The statute does not say how a newly formed company would obtain approval from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States.

The procedure is the ordinary one: written notice, then 60 days, after which the company is deemed defunct. The state's own page describes those 60 days as time "to correct any false information", which does not say what an owner could correct when the ground is ownership itself.

If you hold a passport from, live in, or own through a company formed in a listed place, get an opinion from a Wyoming attorney before you file. A formation provider's reassurance is not an opinion, and neither is this page.

Anonymous Wyoming LLC: who sees what

"Anonymous" describes the public register and nothing else. Five different parties learn different things about you, and only one of them publishes.

Three practical points follow.

• The organizer is public. The form "shall be executed by an organizer" whose name is printed. If you sign it yourself, your name is on the filing.
• Members and managers are not filed. The annual report of an LLC states its Wyoming assets and its principal office address, nothing about owners.
• A corporation is different. Its annual report names officers and directors, as the comparison of company types explains.

One federal layer has gone. Since the FinCEN final rule that took effect on 14 August 2026, a company formed in the United States files no beneficial ownership report, whoever owns it.

What the registered agent holds, and who can ask for it

The agent is where the privacy promise meets its limit. W.S. 17-28-107(a)(v) obliges every registered agent to keep the following for each company, current within 60 days of any change until the first annual report is accepted, and after that each time the annual report is due.

• The people who run it: "names and addresses of each entity's directors, officers, limited liability company managers, managing partners, trustees or persons serving in a similar capacity".
• A human contact: "the name, physical address and business telephone number of a natural person" authorized to receive communications.
• The agency contract covering service of process.

Members are not on that list. But in a single-member LLC that you manage yourself, the person "serving in a similar capacity" is you. Many agents also collect identity documents under their own policies, which is market practice, not statute.

W.S. 17-28-108 then sets out who can reach those records.

• The Secretary of State may examine them and "compel production".
• They stay confidential in the state's hands, with two exceptions.
• A court-ordered subpoena can release them.
• A "bona fide law enforcement agency" can obtain them "for use in a criminal investigation".
• Giving the agent false records is punishable by a fine of up to $1,000, up to six months in prison, or both, and is itself a ground of dissolution.

This is not theoretical. The state audited a large registered agent on site in Sheridan in March 2026.

The privacy rule may not survive 2027

The gap in the agent's list, managers but not owners, is the one lawmakers keep trying to close.

7 Jun 2022OFAC services ban for persons located in Russia takes effect

24 Feb 2025HB0069 signed, foreign adversary ground enacted

3 Mar 2025SF0059 on release of agent records dies in the House

1 Jul 2025Foreign adversary ground takes effect

3 Mar 2026SF0082 on owner names held by agents dies in the House

14 Aug 2026Federal ownership reporting ends for US-formed companies

1. 7 Jun 2022OFAC services ban for persons located in Russia takes effect
2. 24 Feb 2025HB0069 signed, foreign adversary ground enacted
3. 3 Mar 2025SF0059 on release of agent records dies in the House
4. 1 Jul 2025Foreign adversary ground takes effect
5. 3 Mar 2026SF0082 on owner names held by agents dies in the House
6. 14 Aug 2026Federal ownership reporting ends for US-formed companies

Senate File 82 of 2026 would have added one line to the agent's duties: "the names and addresses of each domestic entity's owners including but not limited to partners, members and shareholders". It passed the Senate 23 to 8 on 18 February 2026 and died in a House committee on 3 March 2026.

Read any statement about Wyoming privacy, this one included, as dated October 2026. A company formed for confidentiality should be one you could still live with if the agent held your name.

Owning is not working, and the IRS still expects you

Two federal points belong on this page in short form, because non-residents often learn them late.

• Ownership gives no immigration status. A Wyoming LLC is not a visa, a work permit or a basis for one by itself. You can own it from abroad without any US status.
• Working in the United States is a separate question. Performing services on US soil for your own company needs work authorization, and it can also change the company's tax position.
• Form 5472 is due every year. A single-member LLC owned by a foreign person files it with a pro forma Form 1120, even with no income. The penalty for missing it is $25,000.
• The state knows less than the IRS. The owner the register never sees is named on that federal form.

The tax test and the filing mechanics are in Wyoming LLC taxes for non-residents, and the yearly calendar in the annual report and compliance guide.

Where you live decides more than your passport

Most of the conditions on this page attach to residence. So does everything on the home country side, which is why each origin has its own page.

The bank applies its own country list on top of all this, by residence and sometimes by citizenship. That is covered in opening a Wyoming LLC bank account as a non-resident, and the budget in what a Wyoming LLC costs.