Running a US Company From Pakistan: Banking and Timelines

"we're unable to open accounts for founders living in any of the countries and regions listed below."

Mercury, Prohibited countries.

Pakistan is on Mercury's list of 48. It is also on Relay's list of 31, and Relay's test is wider:

"Relay cannot open a Relay Account for any business owner who holds citizenship or residency in one of the following countries"

Relay, Prohibited Countries. Last updated August 11, 2026. Citizenship or residency. For a country with a large diaspora this is the sentence that matters. Moving does not fix it. Neither does a co-founder taking the application, because the restriction "applies to any business owner named on the Relay Account application, including beneficial owners."

Wise excludes Pakistan by absence from its inclusion list of 79 territories.

Pakistan appears on no sanctions list among the twelve providers we track. Not on Mercury's separate sanctions heading, and not on Upwork's:

"Businesses or individuals in the following regions and countries are not permitted to register for accounts or utilize our platform:"

Upwork, Who's eligible to join and use Upwork?.

Pakistan is not on that list, which is why Upwork is open. Three companies made three commercial decisions about banking. That is different from a legal prohibition, and you should not accept "sanctions" as an explanation.

Etsy names Pakistan among sixteen countries whose sellers reach Etsy Payments through Payoneer rather than a local bank:

"Sellers in countries with * next to their names can accept Etsy Payments with a Payoneer Payment Account."

Etsy, Countries Eligible for Etsy Payments.

For a corridor where the banks are closed, that is the single most useful verified fact available. It is Etsy's statement about the Etsy integration, not Payoneer's about accounts generally, and Payoneer publishes no country eligibility list we could retrieve.

Stripe. Residency requirement scoped to unregistered businesses; your registered LLC is covered by the registration sentence. Blocked in practice by the payout bank account.

Shopify Payments. Residency rule covers individuals and sole proprietorships only. Needs a full US checking account, ACH-eligible.

Apple Developer. No residency or citizenship requirement stated anywhere. Requires a legal entity, D-U-N-S, a work email on your own domain and a live website.

Google Play. Choose the organization account, which accepts a photo ID issued in any country. The individual path requires United States government-issued identification.

Upwork. Open, as above. Note its rule binds "businesses or individuals," so incorporating would not have helped if Pakistan had been listed.

Everything except banking runs on a normal schedule. Banking is the step with no predictable end, and it should shape whether you start.

Pakistan has its own rules on foreign exchange, outward remittance and residents holding foreign assets, administered through the State Bank of Pakistan, along with mechanisms such as Roshan Digital Accounts aimed at non-resident Pakistanis.

We have not verified any of them and this page makes no claim about them. They require a Pakistani professional. We are not going to summarize another country's exchange-control regime from memory.

A foreign-owned single-member LLC files Form 5472 with a pro forma Form 1120 annually, on paper, due April 15 and extendable to October 15. Missing it is a penalty that compounds per related party once the failure continues after IRS notice.

Failing to file Form 5472 when due and in the manner prescribed carries a $25,000 penalty.[1]Internal Revenue Service, Instructions for Form 5472 (12/2024)

If banking is closed to you and your customers are not American, a US LLC gives you an annual federal filing, a state filing, a state fee and no working way to receive money. That is a bad trade and nobody should sell it to you.

If you sell on Etsy, or your customers are US businesses that will pay a US entity through Stripe once you have solved banking, or you build apps, the calculation is different and the entity earns its keep.

Decide which of those you are before spending anything.