Stripe supported countries: the list
Stripe signed up businesses in 47 countries in November 2024, 45 of them open and 2, Indonesia and the Philippines, by invitation only (Merchant Maverick, Stripe review, November 18, 2024), and the count was still more than 40 in July 2026 (NerdWallet, Stripe fees, July 17, 2026).
Countries where Stripe signed up businesses (Merchant Maverick, November 18, 2024)
| Region | Countries |
|---|---|
| European Union (all 27) | Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden |
| Rest of Europe | Gibraltar, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland, United Kingdom |
| Americas | Brazil, Canada, Mexico, United States |
| Asia-Pacific | Australia, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, Thailand |
| Middle East | United Arab Emirates |
| Invitation only | Indonesia, Philippines |
Count the country your company is registered in, and check a territory on its own: Gibraltar is on the list, but a company in Jersey, the Isle of Man or the British Virgin Islands is not a UK company. Georgia, Türkiye, Pakistan, Nigeria and Argentina are among the countries missing from it, and a founder living in one needs a company in a listed country. The list has grown from the 34 countries Stripe served in 2019 and still changes, so confirm the company's country on Stripe's current list before you form anything.
Who can open a Stripe account: where the business is located
A business located in a listed country can sell to customers abroad and accept more than 135 currencies (NerdWallet, Stripe review, March 18, 2026).
Where the people behind the company live can matter too. When Stripe opened to Estonian companies formed through e-Residency in 2019, the e-Residency program said it was available only to e-residents located in one of the 34 countries Stripe then supported (e-Residency, October 28, 2019). Confirm the current rule before you form an Estonian company for Stripe from a country Stripe does not serve.
Preparing a Stripe application as a non-resident
Have ready what any business based in the company's country would show a payment processor, and keep the company, its bank account and its address in that one country: an offshore bank account in Switzerland or Singapore adds a third country that the application then has to explain.
If the company is formed abroad, a virtual business address gives it somewhere to receive mail, though it is not where you live. Before you form anything, compare business bank accounts for non-residents on the point this setup depends on: whether they accept a company in that country owned by someone who lives elsewhere.
What to have ready before you apply to Stripe
- Register the company in a country on Stripe's list.
- Get the company's tax ID (an EIN for a US company) and a business phone number.
- Set up a street address there where the company receives mail.
- Open a business bank account in the company's name, in that country and its currency.
- Publish a website that shows what you sell, with prices and contact details.
- Have your passport or another government-issued ID ready.
- Make every name, address and number match across the company record, the bank and the application.
The same US LLC, 2 Stripe applications
Consistent
Sofia lives in Georgia and sells design packages. Her Delaware LLC applies under its exact registered name, with its EIN, a US business address, a business account at a US bank in that same name and a website listing her packages, prices and contact details.
Inconsistent
The same LLC applies as "Sofia Studio" while its bank account reads "Sofia Design LLC", gives an address that appears on no other record and links a placeholder website. Every mismatch is a question someone has to answer before the account is approved.
Stripe with a US LLC or corporation: cost, EIN and yearly filings
A US company is the usual route for founders in unsupported countries. Stripe Atlas sets up a Delaware C-corporation for a founder based in another country, for a $500 setup fee and then $100 a year (Merchant Maverick, Stripe pricing, March 4, 2026). A C-corporation reports its own income and figures its own US income tax on Form 1120 (IRS, About Form 1120), so compare it with forming a US LLC through a formation service or by filing with a state yourself before you choose.
The company's tax ID is the slow part for non-residents. The IRS's online EIN application requires the owner or principal officer to have an SSN, ITIN or EIN, so a founder with none applies by phone on 267-941-1099, which is not a toll-free number, by fax on Form SS-4, with the EIN generally returned within 4 business days, or by mail, in about 4 weeks (IRS, Instructions for Form SS-4). A responsible party who has no SSN or ITIN and cannot get one writes "foreign" or "N/A" on line 7b of the form.
Approval is not the end of it: sudden account terminations and payment reversals without notice are the most common complaints about Stripe (Merchant Maverick, Stripe review, November 18, 2024), so keep the application consistent and the business description specific.
A Delaware LLC pays the state a $400 annual tax, due by June 1 for the year before, so an LLC formed in 2026 pays its first $400 by June 1, 2027 (Delaware Division of Corporations). The US taxes a foreign owner on income effectively connected with a US trade or business, and a foreign person is generally in one when personal services are performed in the US (IRS: effectively connected income), so for a founder working only from abroad the bigger bill usually comes from the country of residence, depending on whether it taxes an LLC's profit as yours or as a company's.
The LLC's account at a US bank sits outside CRS reporting: the United States has not signed the CRS multilateral agreement (OECD, CRS MCAA signatories, March 13, 2025) and exchanges under FATCA instead (OECD, status of commitments, September 30, 2026). Your country of residence taxes the income under its own rules whether or not a report reaches it.
| Year 1One-time setup fee | $500 |
|---|---|
| Year 2Annual fee | $100 |
| Year 3Annual fee | $100 |
| First 3 years, Atlas fees only | $700 |
Atlas fees from Merchant Maverick as of March 4, 2026, for a Delaware C-corporation. The corporation's Delaware and US tax filings and Stripe's per-payment fees are extra; Stripe charges no monthly fee for standard services (NerdWallet).
Form 5472: the filing a foreign-owned LLC cannot skip
A US LLC with a single foreign owner has no income tax return to file, but it files Form 5472 with a pro forma Form 1120 for each year with reportable transactions, and money you pay in or take out counts. The IRS assesses a $25,000 penalty for failing to file it or filing it substantially incomplete (IRS instructions for Form 5472).
Stripe without a US company: UK, Estonia and other countries
The same plan works in any listed country: the company, its address and its bank account all sit in that country. A UK company for non-residents is the cheapest in the Index at about $400 for the first year, and an Estonian company through e-Residency was limited to e-residents living in a Stripe country when Stripe opened to it in 2019.
Source: Nomad Tax Index, first-year cost per jurisdiction (sources on each incorporate page) Hungary and Romania checked September 28, 2026. Ireland assumes an owner resident in the EEA.
Show the numbers
| First-year cost | |
|---|---|
| United Kingdom | $400 |
| Estonia | $1,280 |
| Hong Kong | $1,590 |
| Bulgaria | $1,900 |
| Hungary | $2,000 |
| Romania | $2,000 |
| Ireland | $2,300 |
| Singapore | $2,870 |
| United Arab Emirates | $3,400 |
| Cyprus | $4,480 |
| Malta | $5,500 |
A company run day to day from the country where you live can be tax resident there under place of effective management rules, whatever its registration says, so choose the company's country and your own residence together.
Stripe fees by account country
Stripe has no monthly fee for standard services and charges per payment (NerdWallet, Stripe review), and the rate depends on the account's country. A US account pays 2.9% plus 30¢ for an online card payment, plus 1.5% for an international card and 1% more if a currency conversion is needed (NerdWallet, Stripe fees, July 17, 2026). A UK account pays 1.5% plus 20p for a standard UK card, 2.5% plus 20p for a card issued in the EEA and 3.15% plus 20p for other international cards, plus 2% when a currency conversion is needed (Expertsure, Stripe review, prices verified August 2026).
The rate depends on where your customers' cards come from as much as on the account. A US LLC selling a $100 service to a client paying with a German card pays 2.9% plus 1.5% plus 30¢, or $4.70, and $5.70 if the charge also needs a currency conversion (NerdWallet, Stripe fees). On a UK account the same German card costs 2.5% plus 20p, or 4.5% plus 20p with a conversion (Expertsure), against 4.4% plus 30¢ and 5.4% plus 30¢ on the US account, which matters if most of your clients are in Europe.
Stripe vs PayPal for non-residents
PayPal works in more than 200 markets, but its payment features, currencies and business products vary by country (Merchant Maverick, PayPal review, July 19, 2026), so check that an account in your country can receive payments and withdraw to a local bank before you rely on it.
On a US account it costs more per sale: 2.99% plus 49¢ for a card and 3.49% plus 49¢ for a PayPal or Venmo payment, plus 1.5% when the payment crosses a border (Merchant Maverick, PayPal review). The $100 sale to a client in Germany comes to $4.98 by card or $5.48 through PayPal checkout, against $4.70 on a US Stripe account (NerdWallet, Stripe fees).
For freelancers paid by invoice rather than by card, a local bank transfer into multi-currency account details does the same job without any processor.
Which Stripe route fits your situation
- You live in a Stripe country: open the account for a business in that country; no foreign company needed.
- You live in a country Stripe does not support and sell online by card: a US LLC through a formation service, or a corporation through Atlas, with a US bank account, a registered agent, any state tax and Form 5472 in your budget.
- You live in a Stripe country but your company is elsewhere: a company where you live is usually simpler than adding a third country to the setup.
- You are paid by invoice: skip Stripe and give clients local account details instead.
- Your country is on PayPal's list but not Stripe's: PayPal is the low-setup option, at a higher cost per sale.
David's note
I never let Stripe be the only way a business gets paid. Keep invoice payment by bank transfer open from day 1, so a review that pauses payouts does not also stop your clients paying you.
