The order of the steps, and how long each one takes
Which step depends on which, where the waiting happens, and what you are asked to do at each point, for a company and for a private client.
Why is the order of the steps fixed?
A bank won’t open a business account for a company that has no tax number, and a credit file only starts once an account reports. Each step hands the next one what it asks for. An application made too early tends to be refused or left waiting, and the refusal stays in the record the next bank reads.
Every step needs the one before it.
A bank won’t open a business account for a company that has no tax number. A card issuer has little to go on until a US account has reported for a while, and a credit file only starts once an account reports. Each step hands the next one what it asks for, which is why the order is fixed.
Running the steps out of order rarely saves time. An application made too early tends to be refused or left waiting, the step has to be repeated later, and the refusal stays in the record the next bank reads.
More in How US card issuers decide.
Where the waiting happens.
Most of the time in a setup is spent waiting on someone else. These are the waits we usually see, not promises: banks and the IRS set their own pace.
| Step | For a company | For a private client |
|---|---|---|
| Tax number | The EIN, days to weeks | The ITIN, the longest wait |
| Bank account | Weeks, once papers are in | Weeks, after the ITIN arrives |
| Credit file | Your own file, over months | Months, from the first account |
| First card | When account and file allow | After months of history |
The order for a company.
For a company owned from abroad, the work runs in five steps. Some overlap, but none starts before the step it depends on.
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Form the company, or check it
If you already own a US company, we check that its formation papers, address and records are complete. If not, the company is formed first, in the state that suits how it will operate.
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Request the company’s EIN
Without a Social Security number or an ITIN, the request for the company’s EIN from abroad goes by fax or mail. The IRS confirms it in a letter, which every bank will ask to see.
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Open the business account
A banker reviews the company and verifies you, sometimes over video. You send the documents and answer the bank’s questions, and the bank decides.
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Fund the account and use it
The bank wants to see the account used for what you said it was for, at about the level you said, before it lends to you.
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Apply for the first card
Once the account is funded and your personal file has started. The issuer decides on your personal credit, so the plan sets the date of each application.
The order for a private client.
For US banking and credit in your own name, with no company behind it, the path is shorter. Each step still waits for the one before it.
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Apply for an ITIN
The ITIN is the number your accounts and your credit file are built on, and the IRS issues it only for a US tax reason. It is usually the longest wait, so it starts first.
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Open a personal account
A bank opens an account for a person it understands: who you are, where you live and where your money comes from. The address you give is the one where you live.
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Let the file build
A credit file grows with time and with accounts that are paid on time each month. There is little to speed up here, and nothing to gain from trying.
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Apply for the first card
When the file has some months of history and the plan says so. The bank that already holds your account is usually the place to start.
Some steps can run side by side.
The order says what depends on what. Steps that don’t depend on each other can run in the same weeks. Forming the company and preparing an ITIN application can happen together, and the bank documents can be gathered while the EIN request is with the IRS, so the account application goes in soon after the letter arrives.
A step can’t overlap with the thing it needs. A bank account waits for the tax number, and a card waits for an account with some history. We start the slow steps first, so most of the waiting happens at the same time.
More in The ITIN, explained.
What you are asked to do at each point.
Most of the work is ours, but a few things can only come from you. These are the points where we will ask.
- Send your passport and proof of where you live
- Check and sign the tax number applications
- Join the bank’s video call to verify who you are
- Fund the account at the level agreed with the banker
- Apply for each card when the plan says
Nothing starts until you approve the written plan.
Before any application goes out, you get a written plan: the steps that apply to you, in order, with what each one needs from you. You always know which step is next, and what it waits for.
Most delays come from a missing document.
When a step runs late, the cause is rarely a bank or the IRS working slowly. More often a document is missing, out of date or doesn’t match another one: a proof of address older than the bank accepts, a company name spelled two ways, a passport close to its expiry date.
Each mismatch sends the file back with a question, and every question adds days. We check the documents against each other before anything is sent, and we ask for replacements early. The quickest setups are the ones where the papers were right the first time.
The order holds when you already have part of it.
Many clients arrive with some of the steps done. You may own a US company with an EIN, hold an account at a fintech, or have an ITIN from an earlier tax return. Those steps don’t need repeating, but they do need checking, because a gap in an old step shows up later.
We start from what you have and pick up the order at the first step that isn’t complete. Work already done makes the setup shorter. The order itself stays the same, because each step answers a question a US bank asks a founder abroad, and a private client meets the same questions.
We can help you be more efficient.
It reads like a lot from the outside. We take care of the steps, line them up in the right order and tell you what comes next, so you only do the parts that need you.
