Shopify Payments for non-us resident . Have LLC and EIN . Dont have SSN

Accounting & Taxes

AI-generated summary

A non-US resident with a Wyoming LLC and EIN but no SSN seeks to activate Shopify Payments for selling fashion items. They have a US bank account but are unclear on required documentation and approval process.

Shopify’s Requirements:

  • Physical US presence (lease agreement, proof of US shipping, etc.)
  • US Tax ID (EIN for businesses, SSN for sole proprietors)
  • State business registration
  • Standard USD checking account from a physical US bank (no virtual banks)
  • Submission doesn’t guarantee approval—only starts the review process

Key Points:

  • Non-US residents with LLC/EIN can request account review for potential Shopify Payments eligibility
  • Review times can be lengthy due to high demand
  • If denied, third-party gateways like Stripe are possible but incur transaction fees and require separate approval
  • Services sellers face similar restrictions unless offering prohibited services

Alternative Solutions Mentioned:

  • Mercury, Relay, Wise, or Payoneer for US banking needs
  • Enable alternative payment gateways while awaiting review

Status: Multiple users report similar situations. No confirmed resolutions shared. Users must contact Shopify support directly via live chat/email to initiate the review process, as account-specific assistance isn’t available through forums.

1

Hey!

I’m trying to understand what I should do to get started with Shopify-Payments.

I’m a non-us resident therefore have no SSN. But I have EIN and registered my LLC in Wyoming. I have also a US-bank account and my business is selling fashion: t-shirts, hoodies etc.

I only need to know what are the documents you need from me to get approved and to where I should send them!

Thanks a lot and hope to get an answer ASAP because I contacted your support on Chat on 3/3/21 and didn’t get an answer yet! - This is very disappointing because I’m sure that I’m not the only one having this situation.

Looking forward

Eitan B.

2

Hi, @EitanB ,

Hank here from Shopify.

I can certainly see the urgency in wanting to get this activated within your store. That said, as Shopify is not a bank, sometimes it can take longer because our banking partners would need to authenticate any documents or changes to ensure its validity.

You mentioned you contacted support, was this then escalated for you, and that is what you are waiting for a response on? As this would require account access, at this time the Community Forums would not be able to provide an update on this, but you could reach out to the live chat team to query your ticket, should you have an email (from after your chat ended) with a ticket number. Please visit The Help Center and log in to your account to create a support request. Once logged in, search for a topic to try to assist you with this query, and you will see the option to continue to get to the live support teams below these topics.

They can then generate a ticket from the escalated team with the requested documents. Normally the documents would be in addition to having a physical presence in the US, merchants will also need to provide proof of the following in order to begin the review process. Since this list includes sensitive documents, please don’t send these to me here via the public forums.

Once you’ve confirmed that you will be able to provide these to the live chat teams, they will forward this to our review team and they will send you a secure document upload link so that you can safely upload your files to get the process started.

- Government issued photo ID (driver’s license, passport, etc). We may be able to accept non-US ID
- A valid IRS Tax ID in the United States:
- EIN if you’re registered with the IRS as a business
- SSN if you’re registered with the IRS as an individual/sole proprietor
- State level business registration document
- Proof of your physical presence in the US. Our review team may ask for a copy of your lease/rental agreement, proof of orders being shipped from the US, or other proof, at their discretion.
- A USD checking account, opened with a real US banking institution, located on US soil. Virtual banks, currency services, or other specialty accounts will not work for this, it has to be a standard US bank.

Please note that being able to provide these documents does not automatically qualify you to use Shopify Payments US. This is simply the initial step in the review process. Once you’ve submitted the required documents, our review team will reach out to you with the next steps.

I hope this gives you an idea of what is needed, but the live teams can get this process started, or give you an update on any ticket that you currently have.

Let me know any additional questions.

All the best,

Hank

3

Hi team,

If it is not possible to get Shopify payments, is it then possible to get Stripe activated inside the account since we have verified and working Stripe accounts?
That would be really helpful as most of the other payments gateways have really steep fees and/or are not available as a non US resident LLC owner

4

Hey, @belemaronabere . Welcome to the Community, and thanks for contributing to this thread!

Have you already contacted support to submit a request to use Shopify Payments? As Hank discussed above, merchants who have an LLC and EIN for their business in the USA but do not have an SSN, can request that their account be reviewed to determine if they may be eligible to use a USA Shopify Payments account anyways. The documentation required for the review is also listed above.

If you have not done this yet, I recommend doing so. We would love for Shopify Payments to be your gateway of choice since it comes with so many benefits, such as:

However, if your request to use Shopify Payments was not approved, then using your existing Stripe account is something we can help you look into as well. Please keep in mind that your own Stripe account would be considered a third party gateway. And as such, transaction fees would apply to all payments processed, and payment support would then come from Stripe directly.

To explore this option further, we’ll need to access your account. While we’re not able to provide account-specific support via the Shopify Community at this time, we’d be happy to continue assisting you through live chat, email, or callback. Please visit the Help Center and log in to your account to create a support request.

Let me know if you have any further questions or concerns about this. I’m happy to continue to discuss.

5

Hi Helen. I am non US resident and I own a US LLC but I do not sell goods. I sell services. Does this mean there’s absolutely no chance of me using Shopify Payments? If the answer to this is Yes, can I still use Stripe?

6

Hi, @Lexwaka ! Thanks for your inquiry. What type of services are you selling? Shopify Payments does support the selling of some services; You can find the ones our banking partners are unable to supporthere.

If you do find your services on that list, then you will need to use a third party gateway to process payments on your store. However, because Shopify Payments is available for you to use in the USA, an external Stripe account generally is not, and it is likely that the same restrictions will apply.

If you feel that Stripe is the best suited payment process for you though, I encourage you to reach out to Stripe directly to inquire further about using their gateway. If they determine that they are able to support you, then please contact a Support Advisor via live chat, email or phone callback and we can look into submitting a request for review on your account to see how we can help out with it from our end.

Let me know what you find out!

7

Hi @Helen . Thanks for your response. The services I intend to offer are not stated in the list of restricted items. You mentioned that a Stripe account is “generally” not available. Does this mean that if the services intended to be offered are not restricted, there might be a remote chance that the non US resident with a US LLC and EIN can still get to use Stripe for their store?

8

That’s correct, @Lexwaka .Shopify Payments is the premier gateway to use on the Shopify platform. It is our main offering since there are many benefits to using it, as outlined in my reply within this thread on 04-29-2021.

However, we also understand that there may be situations or circumstances when an external Stripe account is more beneficial to a merchant’s business, so we can escalate a request for your account to be reviewed to see if it’s possible to use Stripe instead.

Is there a particular reason why you would prefer to use an external Stripe account instead of Shopify Payments?

9

I understand the benefits of using Shopify Payments. But from what you’ve said so far, I cannot use it because I am not resident in the US and I don’t have an SSN. Also, the fact that I own a US LLC with an EIN isn’t enough as I haven’t met the “physical residence” requirement. Exceptions may be made for certain persons, but I don’t think I fall under that class as I do not ship physical goods but sell virtual services.

It is possible that a request may be escalated for me to use an external Stripe account?

10

Yes of course, @Lexwaka . We’re certainly happen to also check in with our Shopify Payments department to see if they would review your eligibility to use a US Shopify Payments account first, if you’d like?

In order to initiate either request for review, we’ll need to access your account. While we’re not able to provide account-specific support via the Shopify Community at this time, we’d be happy to continue assisting you through live chat, email, or callback. Please visit the Shopify Help Center and log in to your account to create a support request.

If I can answer any other questions for you, please let me know.

11

Alright. So, in order to initiate the review, I’ll need to contact support through live chat or email?

12

Yes, @Lexwaka . Please do!

13

Hello dear, I’m a non us citizen. I have LLC + EIN and I sell physical goods. I hold my inventory and send out goods using DHL.

Am I qualified to use shopify payments? In what cases can exceptions be made for a user like me?

I have no SSN.

Thanks!

14

Hello, @Jasminesopra ! Welcome to the Community. I appreciate you taking the time to reach out about this.

Are you personally located in the USA? As I explained on 04-29-2021 within this thread, store owners who have a US based business but are not US citizens, can apply to have their account reviewed to determine if they qualify to use a US Shopify Payments account.

If you would like to proceed with it, please reach out via live chat, phone callback or email to have your request for review escalated. The team conducting the review will then contact you and let you know the documents they require in order to assess your eligibility. Please note, due to high support demands, review times can be lengthy, so I recommend enabling another payment gateway on your store in the meantime, if you would like to continue to accept payments from your customers.

All the best!

15

Hey, why did you need SSN ?

We’ve been preparing for Shopify payments lately to have access to markets. I read your question, wanted to ask why do you need a SSN while signing up as an LLC ?

I read, while sharing the store owner details, we can put up last 4 digits of EIN and Shopify let’s us signup (please let me know if that’s true, Shopify)

I have an LLC in USA, and stuck with a physical bank account requirement by Shopify. No US banks allowing to open a bank account online, from Pakistan atleast. How did you get a US Bank account with an LLC without visiting ?

16

Hey, were you able to have Shopify payments enabled?

17

Get Mercury, Relay, Wise, or Payoneer.

18

Were you able to solve this? I’m in a similar situation

19

Hey Eitan, I’m from Israel too and would be grateful if you can share if you figured it out, I’m in the same situation now.