US Phone Number for Your LLC or Stripe Atlas Company (Foreign Owners, 2026)
Get a US phone number for your LLC with no SSN or US address: $3/month, forwarded to your phone abroad. What Stripe Atlas asks for, costs and SMS limits.
TL;DR — 30-Second Read
- Yes, a founder outside the US can get a US number for a US LLC or corporation. No SSN, no US address, no ID and no SIM.
- Two ways to pay: $3 setup plus $3/month from your BubblyPhone balance, or $9.99/month by card with $6 of calling credit included.
- Calls reach you anywhere: forward the number to your own mobile in any country, or answer in the BubblyPhone app.
- Stripe Atlas asks for a US number during setup and again when you turn on payments. It doesn't give you one.
- The honest limit: it's an internet (VoIP) number, and many banks and fintechs refuse those for verification codes.
The short answer
You can get a US phone number for your LLC while living abroad, with no US address or SSN. It's a real +1 number for $3/month from your BubblyPhone balance (or $9.99/month by card, with $6 of calling credit included), and it forwards to the mobile you already carry. Put it on your Stripe Atlas application, your website and your invoices. Customers call it, you answer in your own country. What it won't reliably do is receive verification codes from banks, because many of them block internet numbers.
Founders who incorporate in the US tend to do it again. In founder data Stripe published in September 2026, 85% of founders with a US-incorporated company said they would base a new company there today. For companies incorporated in the EU the figure was 25% to 47%: Spain 25%, France 33%, Germany 40%, Sweden 47%. The UK came in at 44% and Switzerland at 68%.
Plenty of founders in Europe and elsewhere form a Delaware or Wyoming company from home. The incorporation itself follows a well-worn path. The phone number is where people get stuck: the forms want a US number, Google Voice wants a US number before it will give you one, and US carriers want an SSN. This guide covers where you'll be asked for a number, how to get one from abroad, what it costs and what it can't do.
What this guide covers
Do you need a US phone number for an LLC?
Not to form it, but you'll be asked for one within days. The state filing is built around a registered agent's US address, not your phone. The number requests start right after:
The EIN application
Form SS-4, the IRS application for your company's tax ID, has a phone number field. If you apply yourself as a founder abroad, you phone or fax the IRS. Our guide to getting an EIN from outside the US by phone walks through that call.
Payments, banking and marketplaces
Payment processors, business bank accounts, marketplace seller accounts and business listings all have a “business phone” field, and many of them expect a US number there.
Customers who want to call you
American customers are more likely to call, and to pick up when you call back, if they see a +1 number on your website and invoices rather than an unfamiliar international one. That's the number's everyday job once the paperwork is done.
Stripe Atlas and the phone number
Atlas asks for a US phone number twice but doesn't provide one. Atlas incorporates your company in Delaware, gets the EIN and issues founder equity for $500. According to Stripe's own Atlas documentation:
- The application has a “Company US phone number” field. A personal number is accepted, it's used only on your EIN application to the IRS, and it isn't listed publicly. Atlas points you to partners in its Perks section if you need one.
- Turning on Stripe payments asks for a US phone number again.
- It won't speed up your EIN on its own. Atlas quotes 1–10 business days when the founder provides a US address, a US phone number and an SSN. Founders without an SSN should expect 10–45 business days either way.
A number you own works for both Atlas fields and then becomes the company's public line. Keep the verification caveat in mind, though (see texts and verification codes): if a step texts a code and refuses internet numbers, use your own mobile for that step.
What you don't need: no SSN, address or ID
A foreign owner can get the number with just an email address and a top-up. Specifically, you don't need:
- An SSN or ITIN. Nothing asks for one.
- A US address. No mailing address and no proof of residency.
- ID documents. No passport or licence upload.
- An existing US number. Nothing asks you to verify against another US line.
- A SIM. It's a software number; nothing ships.
That's what separates it from the usual routes, which assume you live in the US:
- Google Voice asks you to verify with an existing US phone number during signup, which is exactly what you don't have, and isn't offered for sign-up outside the US. More in US virtual number vs Google Voice abroad.
- US mobile carriers want a US address and usually an SSN, and a US SIM is little use on the other side of the world.
- Free “receive SMS online” sites publish numbers shared by thousands of strangers and recycle them within days. Anyone can read the codes, services block them first, and the number isn't yours to put on an invoice.
How it works
You pick a US number, choose how calls reach you, and the company is reachable. Everything runs from your BubblyPhone account.
- Pick the number. Choose an available US number, for example with the area code of the state you incorporated in, and it's yours straight away.
- Choose how to answer. Forward calls to your own mobile in any country, or answer in the BubblyPhone iPhone or Android app, or in the browser with the Dialer page open. Forwarding is the most reliable: your phone rings even when the app and browser are closed.
- Voicemail and texts. Calls you miss go to voicemail, with a transcript you can read at a glance. Texts to the number land in your Messages inbox, and you can reply from there.
A forwarded call reaches your number over the internet first and only then rings your local mobile, so there's no roaming on your side and the company keeps one US number wherever you move. If you work with clients in several countries, our guide to phone service for freelancers with global clients covers calling out as well.
What it costs
The number is $3/month from your balance, or $9.99/month by card with $6 of calling credit included. Calls and texts are paid from your balance as you use them.
The numbers, plainly
- From your balance: $3 one-time setup, then $3/month. No card on file.
- Or by card: $9.99/month on the website, which includes $6 of calling credit each month.
- Answered incoming calls: about $0.03 a minute, billed per started minute.
- Forwarded calls add a second leg, from your US number out to your mobile, at that country's per-minute rate. Both legs show as separate lines.
- Missed and voicemail-only calls are free.
- Texts: incoming from $0.01 each, and texts you send from $0.05 each.
Worked example: a call forwarded to a UK mobile
A customer in the US calls your company number, it forwards to your mobile in London, and you talk for 5 minutes. You see two lines: 5 minutes on the incoming leg, and 5 minutes at the UK mobile rate for the forward leg (listed on the UK rates page). If the caller had reached voicemail instead, the call would have cost nothing: no answer, no forward leg.
If your balance can't cover the monthly fee, you don't lose the number overnight. We email you and keep it working through a 7-day grace period. It's only released if it's still unpaid after that.
Texts and verification codes
The number receives texts, including many one-time codes, but services that handle money or identity often refuse internet numbers. As a rule, the more a service has to lose, the more likely it is to block VoIP:
Usually accept it
- Everyday shopping and store accounts
- Most SaaS tools that text a one-time code
- Newsletters, forums and communities
- “Confirm your number” steps that aren't identity checks
Often refuse it
- Banks and banking apps
- Payment and fintech platforms
- Account-security checks at the big tech companies
- Some messaging apps and crypto exchanges
These policies change often, so we don't promise that any named service will accept the number. The safe plan for a founder: make the US number the company's public line and the number on forms, and keep your own mobile as the verification number for your bank and payment accounts.
Replying works, sending campaigns doesn't. The number is built for receiving texts and replying to people who contacted you or gave you their number. Cold outreach, marketing and bulk sends aren't allowed. US carriers block numbers that send them. Replies reach many US phones, but texts to customers of some US carriers don't get through at the moment; when a text fails for that reason, it's refunded automatically.
Honest limitations
- Bank and fintech verification. The main one, covered above: don't make this number the two-factor phone on your bank or payment accounts.
- The browser only rings while the Dialer is open. For a business line, forward to your mobile or use the app, so calls don't depend on a browser tab.
- Calling Europe works better from our shared numbers. Because of caller-ID rules in some European countries, outbound calls there connect more reliably from BubblyPhone's shared numbers than from a US number. The Dialer suggests the switch when it matters.
- No emergency calls. Use your local mobile for 911, 112 or 999.
Who answers when US customers call back?
A US number that nobody answers still loses the customer. Forwarding gets the call to your phone, but if it's 3 a.m. where you live, it rings out anyway. An AI receptionist like Dial Milo answers 24/7 in six languages, takes a message or books the appointment while you sleep. It's pay-per-use with no subscription, roughly $18/month at typical small-business call volume (about $0.061/min effective). Compare options in our AI receptionist pricing guide.
How to set it up
It takes a few minutes from a standing start.
- Sign in or create a BubblyPhone account with your email.
- Open Get a Number and pick an available US number for the company.
- Choose how to pay: $6 from your balance ($3 setup plus the first month), or the $9.99/month card plan.
- Set the forwarding number to your own mobile, with its country code, or install the app to answer there.
- Test it: call the number, let one call go to voicemail and read the transcript, and send it a text.
- Put it to work: your Atlas application, Stripe profile, website, invoices and business listings.
Get a US number for your company
$3/month from your balance, or $9.99/month by card with $6 of calling credit included. No US address, no SSN, no ID. Forward company calls to your own mobile in any country.
Get a US numberFrequently asked questions
Can a non-US resident get a US phone number for their LLC?
Do I need a US phone number to form an LLC?
Does Stripe Atlas give you a US phone number?
Will it work for bank or Stripe verification codes?
Can it receive SMS verification codes?
How do I forward it to my phone abroad, and what does that cost?
Is this better than Google Voice for a foreign-owned LLC?
Related resources
Get a US number
Pick a number and forward it to your phone
Get an EIN From Outside the US
The SS-4 call to the IRS, step by step
Call the IRS From Abroad
The international line, hours and cost
The Calls of a US Company Setup
Every call you'll make setting up from abroad
Phone Service for Expats & US CPAs
Running a US entity from abroad: the tax and calling side
BubblyPhone Rates
Per-minute rates for every country, including the forward leg