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The Operational Blockers That Eat Months
European founders expanding to the US get plenty of advice about product-market fit, fundraising strategy, and building a US network. What they almost never get is a clear guide to the operational and legal groundwork that has to happen before any of that matters.
We work with European founders every week. The pattern is consistent: the founders who move fastest are the ones who handle the infrastructure before they land. The ones who don't end up losing months to problems that should have been solved in advance.
This is the checklist nobody gives you.
Immigration: Start 6-12 Months Before You Need to Work
The single biggest bottleneck for most European founders is immigration. Visa processing takes longer than expected, and delays are common.
Visiting vs. working. If you're attending meetings, conferences, or business development trips, ESTA or B1/B2 visitor status is usually sufficient. If you need to actually work in the US, build product, manage a US team, or be on US payroll, you need a work-authorized visa.
The main options:
- O-1A (extraordinary ability): No lottery, no cap, self-sponsorable through your own US company. Often the best founder path. Requires meeting at least 3 of 8 criteria demonstrating extraordinary ability. Budget 6+ months from petition prep to US entry.
- E-2 (treaty investor): Available to nationals of treaty countries (including Czech Republic). Requires substantial capital investment and at least 50% ownership. Spouse can work. No direct green card path. Risk: if you raise VC and your ownership drops below 50%, you lose eligibility.
- L-1A (intracompany transfer): For founders with an established European company who want to open a US subsidiary. Requires 1 year of employment at the foreign entity. Spouse can work. Green card path via EB-1C.
Do not rely on the H-1B lottery as your primary plan. The lottery makes timing unreliable.
Tax IDs: EIN, SSN, and ITIN
EIN (Employer Identification Number): Your company's tax ID. Required for banking, payroll, tax filings, and vendor relationships. If any founder has an SSN, you can get an EIN online instantly. If not, you're filing Form SS-4 by fax, and it takes approximately 4 weeks.
Plan for this delay. Some neobanks allow account opening with a pending EIN, but full functionality is restricted until the EIN arrives.
SSN (Social Security Number): Your personal ID, tied to work authorization. You need an SSN for US payroll, most banking workflows, credit applications, and many identity verification systems. If you don't have work-authorized status yet, you can't get an SSN.
ITIN (Individual Taxpayer Identification Number): A tax-only identifier for people who need to file US taxes but aren't eligible for an SSN. Common for foreign founders who need to make certain tax elections before securing work authorization.
Banking: Go With a Neobank
For foreign-founder-only entities, neobanks (Mercury, Rho) are typically the fastest path to a functional US bank account. Traditional banks will ask for documents and verifications that foreign founders often can't provide yet.
Expect follow-up questions about beneficial ownership, address verification, and cap table structure. Prepare passport copies, your Certificate of Incorporation, and a clean cap table summary before applying.
Founder Stock and the 83(b) Election
Issue your founder stock as early as possible, when the company's value is at its lowest. File the 83(b) election with the IRS within 30 days. The deadline is absolute. Certified mail. Keep the receipt.
For foreign founders, the 83(b) decision is more nuanced. The election only matters for US tax purposes. If you're certain you'll never become a US taxpayer, filing may be unnecessary. If there's any meaningful possibility of relocation, filing is the safer path. The cost of filing unnecessarily is small. The cost of not filing when you should have can be enormous.
Delaware Compliance
Franchise tax: Due March 1 every year. Use the assumed par value capital method for calculation. The authorized shares method can produce bills of $100,000+ for companies with standard startup share counts. The assumed par value method typically produces the $400 minimum.
Registered agent: Required. Maintain a commercial registered agent with a physical Delaware address. Typical cost: $50-300/year.
Foreign qualification: If you have employees or an office in a state other than Delaware, you likely need to register as a foreign corporation in that state. California charges a minimum $800 annual franchise tax.
Bookkeeping From Day One
Clean books close rounds faster and cost less to maintain than messy ones cleaned up in a rush.
Set up QuickBooks Online (or Xero), connect your bank accounts, and categorize transactions weekly. Engage a startup-experienced CPA before the end of your first fiscal year, not at tax season.
One pleasant surprise for European founders: US business expense rules are significantly more generous than most European countries. Meals with clients, team lunches, business travel, home office expenses, software subscriptions, and professional development are all standard deductible business expenses. For expenses under $75, your bank statement is sufficient documentation.
The Bottom Line
The founders who move fastest aren't the ones with the most money or the best product. They're the ones who get the operational groundwork done before they land.
Visa planning, EIN sequencing, banking setup, founder stock issuance, state compliance, and bookkeeping: none of these are glamorous. But each one is a gate that can block everything else if it's not handled in the right order.
We built Fellow for exactly this. If you're a European founder planning a US expansion and want legal that understands the full picture, reach out.
