Can a non-US founder open a Mercury account with a Michigan LLC?

Yes. Mercury explicitly supports foreign founders with a US LLC. You need the Michigan formation document (the Articles of Organization), the IRS EIN letter, a non-US passport for identity, and a US business address. No US SSN or residency is required.

Does forming in Michigan affect Mercury eligibility?

No. Mercury accepts LLCs from all US states and territories. The formation document name varies by state, and Michigan issues Articles of Organization; Mercury accepts it the same as any other state's.

I do not live in Michigan. Can I still use a Michigan LLC on Mercury?

Mercury does not check where you live, only that the Michigan entity is validly registered and that the details you enter match Michigan's record. The catch is not Mercury, it is the state you actually operate from: states require an out-of-state LLC to register as a foreign LLC before it transacts business there, which is a second filing and a second fee on top of Michigan's $50. Forming in Michigan while working somewhere else usually means paying both states, not one.

Do I need a Michigan sales-tax permit before my first sale through Mercury?

Probably yes. Michigan charges a 6% state rate, and payments taken through Mercury are not covered by marketplace-facilitator laws, so you collect and remit yourself. Register before your first taxable sale if you have physical presence in Michigan, or once you cross its remote-seller threshold of $100,000 in sales or 200 transactions in the previous calendar year.

Marketplace Verification

How to pass Mercury verification with a Michigan LLC

What Mercury asks for at signup, and which Michigan LLC documents satisfy each requirement.

By Edmond Hui · Last updated: August 4, 2026

A Michigan LLC is generally eligible for Mercury verification, and you will need to provide your Articles of Organization, EIN, beneficial-owner ID, and a valid US business address. Nothing about forming in Michigan blocks approval, and nothing about it guarantees approval either: the final call is Mercury's.

Mercury is a fintech banking platform whose deposits are held at FDIC-member partner banks (currently Choice Financial Group and Column N.A., Members FDIC), making it popular with startups and small businesses including those with non-US founders. To open a Mercury account for a Michigan LLC, you must provide the company's formation document (in Michigan, the Articles of Organization), an IRS-issued EIN confirmation, a government ID for the beneficial owner(s), and a physical US address. Mercury supports all US-state LLC types and is commonly used by foreign founders who have formed a US LLC, since it does not require founders to be US citizens or residents.

In Michigan the entity behind that check is an LLC created by filing Articles of Organization, which costs $50. Michigan does not publish a processing time for LLC filings, so treat state approval as the open-ended step in your timeline rather than the Mercury review. Because Michigan keeps members and managers off routine public filings, Mercury has no public state record to match your owner name against, and relies entirely on the identification you upload.

Not legal advice: Verification requirements change, and so do Michigan's filing fees and forms. Confirm current platform rules with Mercury, and current filing rules with the Michigan filing office, before you file. Mercury's requirements were last reviewed 2026-07-21, and Michigan's figures on this page come from its own published schedule.

What Mercury requires, and how a Michigan LLC meets each

Requirement	How your Michigan LLC satisfies it
LLC formation documents	Upload the Articles of Organization Michigan returned to you, stamped and approved.
IRS EIN confirmation letter	Provide your federal EIN (free from the IRS; non-US founders without an SSN must apply via Form SS-4 by fax or phone rather than the online tool), independent of Michigan.
Government-issued ID for owner(s)	Provide a government ID for each beneficial owner, even though Michigan names none of them publicly. Michigan publishes no member or manager, so the platform relies entirely on the ID you upload, and the names on it must match your operating agreement.
US business address	Use a US street address registered to the LLC in Michigan (your Michigan registered-agent or virtual business address), since a PO box is usually rejected.

Michigan-specific things to watch

Michigan keeps both members and managers off routine public filings, but you must still upload beneficial-owner identification directly to Mercury. State-level anonymity does not exempt you from the platform's KYC. (Articles of Organization (Form CSCL/CD-700) require only the company name, purpose, duration, resident agent, and registered office, signed by an organizer who may be a third party, and under Michigan law the annual statement requires only the resident agent's name and registered office address. No member or manager is listed on any routine public filing. One caveat: Michigan law requires the annual statement to name the person signing and the capacity in which they sign, so a member who signs it personally appears on the public record (the law lets an authorized agent sign instead). A professional LLC is no exception (form CSCL/CD-701 names no member or manager either) but its Article V attests that all members and managers are licensed or otherwise legally authorized to render one or more of the services stated, except as Michigan's LLC Act allows; that limits who may own a PLLC, not who is disclosed.)

Michigan sales tax & nexus rules for Mercury sellers

Michigan charges a 6% state sales-tax rate. Payments through Mercury are not covered by marketplace-facilitator laws, so you collect and remit yourself. Registration is required before your first taxable sale if you have physical presence in Michigan (an in-state location, inventory, or employees), or once you cross Michigan's remote-seller economic-nexus threshold of $100,000 in sales or 200 transactions in the previous calendar year.

Michigan has a flat 6% state rate with no local add-ons, making it straightforward for compliance. Michigan is an SST member state. Register through Michigan Treasury Online (MTO).

How to verify your Michigan LLC on Mercury

LLC formation documents. Upload the Articles of Organization Michigan returned to you, stamped and approved.
IRS EIN confirmation letter. Provide your federal EIN (free from the IRS; non-US founders without an SSN must apply via Form SS-4 by fax or phone rather than the online tool), independent of Michigan.
Government-issued ID for owner(s). Provide a government ID for each beneficial owner, even though Michigan names none of them publicly. Michigan publishes no member or manager, so the platform relies entirely on the ID you upload, and the names on it must match your operating agreement.
US business address. Use a US street address registered to the LLC in Michigan (your Michigan registered-agent or virtual business address), since a PO box is usually rejected.

Non-US founders with Michigan LLCs

Mercury explicitly supports non-US founders who have formed a US LLC, Michigan included. A non-US passport is accepted for identity verification. The entity must be formed and registered in the United States, and a US business address is required, which a Michigan registered agent address satisfies. No US Social Security Number is needed from the founder.

Frequently Asked Questions

: Yes. Mercury explicitly supports foreign founders with a US LLC. You need the Michigan formation document (the Articles of Organization), the IRS EIN letter, a non-US passport for identity, and a US business address. No US SSN or residency is required.
: No. Mercury accepts LLCs from all US states and territories. The formation document name varies by state, and Michigan issues Articles of Organization; Mercury accepts it the same as any other state's.
: Michigan charges $50 to file Articles of Organization, and that is the state's fee to create the LLC. Michigan does not publish a processing time for LLC filings, so treat state approval as the open-ended step in your timeline rather than the Mercury review. Mercury charges nothing for verification itself, so the $50 filing fee and Michigan's ongoing obligations are the real cost of getting verified as a Michigan entity.
: Mercury does not check where you live, only that the Michigan entity is validly registered and that the details you enter match Michigan's record. The catch is not Mercury, it is the state you actually operate from: states require an out-of-state LLC to register as a foreign LLC before it transacts business there, which is a second filing and a second fee on top of Michigan's $50. Forming in Michigan while working somewhere else usually means paying both states, not one.
: Probably yes. Michigan charges a 6% state rate, and payments taken through Mercury are not covered by marketplace-facilitator laws, so you collect and remit yourself. Register before your first taxable sale if you have physical presence in Michigan, or once you cross its remote-seller threshold of $100,000 in sales or 200 transactions in the previous calendar year.

Sources

Each entry below is a document recorded in our verified Michigan sources, and each entry says what the document is. Some statutory text is read from an accurate mirror rather than from the state's own host, and those say so. Where we hold the citation but no stable public link, the citation is printed on its own rather than pointed at a guessed address.

Michigan statute: MCL 450.4207(3) (annual statement contents)
Michigan statute: MCL 450.4103(2) (signer named on filings)
Michigan statute: MCL 450.4103(3) (authorized agent may sign)
Michigan law: Section 904 of P.A. 23 of 1993 (professional LLC ownership)

Edmond Hui · Founder, MyStateLLC

Edmond Hui is a software engineer and serial entrepreneur based in New York who has founded multiple online businesses across e-commerce, media, and information publishing. Before transitioning into tech, he spent years as a commercial real estate professional closing deals totaling over 100,000 square feet, giving him firsthand experience with business formation and entity structuring. He built MyStateLLC to provide the free, state-specific LLC guidance he wished existed when forming his own companies.