I'm a Canadian and I have done it through DelawareIntercorp.com. They were great. I later sold that company to a publicly-traded company also incorporated in Delaware and everything went very smoothly. Make sure you talk to a lawyer and tax specialist before you do anything though. It could cost you a lot of money if things aren't done right.
How about the corporate bank account? There are many sites that help you create a company but almost none allows you to create a corporate bank account for your company, which is needed. For that I think it is still needed to go to the US and do all the paper work yourself. Am I right?
This has been very tricky for me. I know a few banks will do it but a) I forgot whom, b) the ones who did were all very inconvenient for me (ie: far). If I remember correctly, Wachovia was one of them.
I decided to try a few banks in upstate New York since it's not too far from here. I've been turned down by a few, namely Key Bank and Citizens Bank.
I ended up opening an account with RBC Bank in Virginia Beach, VA while I was on vacation. FYI, they have branches in Florida too. This is a great way to write off your vacation :) It was extremely easy, probably because they're mainly a Canadian bank and I'm Canadian.
You should call them and see if they'll do it for you. If not, look for an international bank such as HSBC.
On another note, I hired a lawyer to write a proper certificate of incorporation. The default one isn't usually suited for Internet startups that might require external funding, have an option pool, etc. You can see it here: http://bit.ly/9POOZe . Feel free to reuse it.
Everything was fine with it during the acquisition so I assume it is pretty darn good.
Hope it helps!
EDIT: The Certificate of Incorporation file also includes a note/warning from my attorney. I thought I'd include it because it is very important.
Thanks a lot. Does it matter if the company is in Delaware and its corporate bank account is in Florida or in another state? Do I have to pay taxes in Florida if my company is in Delaware?
One way you can get around going to the US is if one of you is a US citizen. I discovered that US citizens can open a bank of america business accounts online. But it probably doesn't help you guys too much.
I'm a Canadian and I have done it through DelawareIntercorp.com. They were great. I later sold that company to a publicly-traded company also incorporated in Delaware and everything went very smoothly. Make sure you talk to a lawyer and tax specialist before you do anything though. It could cost you a lot of money if things aren't done right.