The filing takes a few days. Nobody tells you it was the easy part, and most guides stop writing right there.
- Pick a state, file articles of organization, appoint a registered agent; any decent service does that in days. - Foreign founders apply for the EIN by fax or mail; the IRS takes weeks, so plan around the delay. - No EIN means no US bank account and no payment processor, so the sequence matters more than the speed. - Plenty of banks still want to see you in person, so figure out your banking path before you form. - A foreign-owned LLC owes tax filings even with zero US income, and the penalties for missing them are absurd.
This is a support question, not a filing question, which is what the best LLC service for non-US founders app debate is about. I do the unglamorous part myself for $49 plus the state fee: EIN, banking, and registered agent, so you are operational, not just formed.