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ShelfCompanies24 has been forming Delaware companies for international clients since 1995. Our Delaware-licensed registered-agent partners handle every step of company formation in Delaware on one agreed service contract, from picking the right legal form (Inc vs. LLC) through Division of Corporations filing, IRS EIN application and your first US bank account. Most clients are trading inside 1 week, or in 2 to 5 working days via a ready-made off-the-shelf Delaware entity.
Our service covers Division of Corporations filings, registered agent, EIN and the documents that go with them.
Delaware entity + registered agent + US banking + accountant referral under one roof.
Delaware Division of Corporations standard formation 1 to 5 business days. English-speaking case manager.
Banking may require physical presence; many fintechs onboard remotely.
We file the Certificate of Incorporation or Formation and IRS Form SS-4 for the EIN.
The Delaware C-Corp under the DGCL is the standard form for VC-backed startups, IPO candidates, public-company structures, and complex equity arrangements.
The Delaware LLC under the Delaware LLC Act offers extraordinary flexibility, pass-through taxation, customisable Operating Agreement, asset-protection features.
| Form | Min. capital | Formation time | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Delaware Inc | None | 1 to 5 business days | VC, IPO, complex equity |
| Delaware LLC | None | 1 to 5 business days | Default, closely-held, JV, IP holding, foreign-owned |
| Delaware LP | None | 1 to 5 business days | Fund structures |
| Delaware Series LLC | None | 1 to 5 business days | Asset-segregation |
| Off-the-shelf Delaware entity | Varies | 2 to 5 days | Need immediate trading |
Delaware company registration runs through one office, the Delaware Division of Corporations, and through a Delaware-licensed registered agent who has to be appointed before anything is filed. You choose the form, reserve the name, file the Certificate of Incorporation or Certificate of Formation, apply to the IRS for an EIN, set up the annual Franchise Tax account and open the bank account. Standard processing at the Division of Corporations is 1 to 3 business days, and the eight steps below are the full sequence.
Confirm Inc vs. LLC, share/membership-interest structure, business activity, banking preferences, governance complexity.
Apply via the Delaware-licensed registered agent.
Standard documents for most uses; bespoke for VC term-sheet structures.
Filed electronically. Standard processing 1 to 3 business days; same-day filing surcharge; expedited 1-hour surcharge.
IRS Form SS-4 filed. EIN issued same-day for online application; 4 to 8 weeks for foreign-only-owner applications via fax.
An entity formed in Delaware is exempt. The interim final rule of March 2025 took every entity created in the United States out of the Corporate Transparency Act reporting net, and the final rule of 11 August 2026 made that permanent, so there is nothing to file. We confirm the position in writing.
Annual Franchise Tax (Inc, assumed-par-value method) or a flat annual amount (LLC).
Traditional banks (JPMorgan, BofA, Wells Fargo, Citi) typically require physical presence. Fintechs (Mercury, Brex, Relay, Wise) offer remote onboarding for foreign-owned LLCs.
Delaware law does not ask the owner to be American or to live anywhere in particular. There is no citizenship, residency, visa or green card requirement to own or manage a Delaware LLC or Inc, and one foreign person can be the only member and the only manager. Most of the people we incorporate for are in Britain, India, the Gulf and Turkey, and none of them travels to do it.
The step that genuinely needs planning is banking rather than incorporation, because some US banks still want to meet a director while the fintech platforms onboard foreign-owned Delaware LLCs remotely.
Both routes end with a Delaware entity in your name. Registering a new one lets you choose the name, the form and the Operating Agreement or Bylaws from a blank sheet, and standard Division of Corporations processing is 1 to 5 business days. Buying a shelf corporation or shelf LLC means taking over an entity that already sits on the register with its EIN issued and a clean filing record, which completes in 2 to 5 working days. An entity held for longer is sold as an aged corporation, and the older formation date is what an American landlord, supplier or platform tends to look for. Choose the shelf route when something is already waiting on the company; choose new formation when the constitution matters more than the calendar.
Appoint a Delaware-licensed registered agent, clear the name, then file a Certificate of Formation for an LLC or a Certificate of Incorporation for an Inc with the Delaware Division of Corporations. Standard processing is 1 to 3 business days and same-day filing is available. After the state returns the stamped certificate the company applies for its EIN, sets up the annual Franchise Tax account and opens a bank account. Everything is signed electronically.
Incorporating means filing a Certificate of Incorporation under the Delaware General Corporation Law, which names the company, its registered agent and its authorised shares. The standard authorisation is 10,000,000 shares at low or no par value. Once the Division of Corporations returns the stamped certificate the Inc exists, and the Bylaws, the first board consent, the EIN and the Franchise Tax registration follow. For a pass-through structure you would file a Certificate of Formation for an LLC instead.
Anyone of full age, of any nationality, resident anywhere. Delaware asks for no citizenship, no residency, no visa and no minimum capital, and one person can be the sole member and sole manager of an LLC or the sole shareholder and sole director of an Inc. The only compulsory local element is the registered agent in the state. A corporate body can also form and own a Delaware entity.
Yes, though the margin in Delaware is smaller than elsewhere, because the Division of Corporations is quick. A new filing takes 1 to 5 business days before the EIN work even starts, while a shelf corporation already has its EIN and its record, so the transfer completes in 2 to 5 working days. Where the formation date itself is the point, only an aged corporation from the shelf gives you one, because a new filing is dated the day it is made.
The Delaware General Corporation Law is the world’s most refined corporate-law statute, supported by the specialised Delaware Court of Chancery, a non-jury equity court with deep corporate-law expertise. ~67% of Fortune 500 companies, ~75% of US-listed companies and the vast majority of VC-backed startups are Delaware-incorporated. For sophisticated structures, Delaware is essentially mandatory.
Standard: 1 to 5 business days. Same-day available with surcharge. Off-the-shelf transfer: 2 to 5 working days.
For VC, IPO, public-company path: Delaware Inc. For closely-held, joint-venture, IP holding, foreign-owned operational structures: Delaware LLC (more common for international clients).
Only on Delaware-source income (8.7%). Foreign-owned Delaware companies operating outside Delaware typically pay 0% Delaware state CIT.
EIN, Delaware Franchise Tax setup, bank account opening, ongoing compliance.
Ready to register your Delaware Inc or LLC? Contact our Delaware desk.
Delaware is one of several jurisdictions where ShelfCompanies24 maintains pre-formed entities and active formation services. Why pick Delaware for your LLC specifically? Court of Chancery case law, and no FinCEN beneficial ownership report for a Delaware formed entity is the headline reason, but it pays to understand the trade-offs against the alternatives. Below are concrete differentiators that matter when you are weighing a structure decision against the actual operating profile of your business.
Cross-border corporate structuring in 2026 is governed by a tighter web of rules than in any previous decade. Three forces shape every decision:
For Delaware specifically: 21% federal and 8.7% state on Delaware-source income only (LLC pass-through, no state tax on out-of-state income); the DGCL and the Court of Chancery; and no FinCEN beneficial ownership report for a Delaware formed entity, an exemption made permanent by the final rule of 11 August 2026.
Issues we routinely see when prospects come to us after attempting the process directly with local providers in Delaware:
Yes. A name change is filed with the Division of Corporations via a directors’ resolution and a routine filing, typically clears in 24 hours. We include up to one name change as standard for both shelf-company purchase and new formation.
No. Delaware is a US state and has no treaty network of its own; treaties are made by the United States, which has about 57 comprehensive income tax treaties in force. The EU Parent-Subsidiary and Interest and Royalties Directives do not reach it. There is a further trap: an LLC that has not elected to be taxed as a corporation is fiscally transparent, so it is generally not a treaty resident in its own right and benefits are tested at member level.
Client information is held under contractual non-disclosure plus the professional-secrecy obligations applicable to corporate-service providers in our home jurisdiction. We do not share client identity or transaction details with third parties beyond what is statutorily required (KYC reporting, beneficial-owner-register filings, AML/CTF reporting where triggered). Our internal access to client files is logged and access-restricted by need-to-know.
A LLC is a separate legal entity Delaware-tax-resident with its own corporate tax filings and beneficial-owner record. A branch is an extension of a foreign parent, the foreign parent is the legal entity, the Delaware branch books local-source income but the parent’s overall tax liability cascades. Most foreign owners pick a LLC for liability ring-fencing and clean tax accounting; branches are sometimes preferred where the parent has specific group-relief or treaty considerations that depend on common legal personality.
Engaging us for your Delaware new LLC formation covers the following deliverables under one service:
The deliverable scope is identical regardless of whether you are based in the EU, the US, the UK, the Middle East, or APAC, we operate the same service globally for Delaware corporate setup. Optional add-ons (virtual office, accounting retainer, payroll, sector licences, transfer-pricing documentation) are scoped separately, so the incorporation or transfer work stays exactly as agreed.