Can you own a Cybercab if you live outside the US?

The company part is settled: a person who lives outside the US can be the member of a US LLC, and the IRS accepts EIN applications on Form SS-4 by phone, fax or mail when the applicant has no SSN or ITIN. The car part is not confirmed yet: Florida’s motor vehicle procedure manual (FLHSMV RS-01) says autonomous vehicles belonging to a fleet should be titled and registered in a company name with an FEID number, Florida registration needs a Florida residence or place-of-business address, and Tesla has not published who will be approved to buy a Cybercab.

Owners outside the US are welcome here. Our reservation checkout already lets you pick Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom or Other as the country where you live.

General information, not legal, tax or immigration advice. Not affiliated with Tesla.

The short answer

Forming a US company from abroad is commonly done, and the IRS describes a way to apply for a federal tax ID without a US address. Putting a car on US roads is where it gets specific: the title, the plate and the insurance policy are decisions made by a state and an insurer, not by you or by us. This is what is confirmed today, with the source for each line.

What US law allows: the LLC and the EIN

The company. Florida’s LLC Act defines a member as a “person”, and its definition of “person” starts with “an individual” and sets no citizenship or residency condition (Fla. Stat. 605.0102). The state fee to form a Florida LLC is $100 to file plus $25 for the required registered agent designation, and the annual report is $138.75, or $538.75 if it is received after May 1 (Florida Division of Corporations fee schedule). A Florida LLC must also keep a registered office and a registered agent in Florida, either an individual who lives in Florida or an authorized business entity (Fla. Stat. 605.0113). If you live abroad, that agent is someone you hire. Which state to form in is a question for your attorney; Florida is the context here because that is where Florida titling rules apply.

The EIN. The EIN is the company’s federal tax ID. Per the IRS instructions for Form SS-4, the online application is only for applicants in the United States or US territories, and the responsible party needs an SSN, EIN or ITIN to use it. If you have no legal residence, principal place of business or principal office in the US, the IRS says you can call 267-941-1099 (not a toll-free number), 6:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. Eastern time, Monday through Friday, or apply by fax or by mail. The IRS suggests completing Form SS-4 before you call. The IRS sets its own processing, and we can’t promise an EIN or a timeline.

Where a car differs from a laptop business: title, registration, insurance

A software company can run on an EIN and a bank account. A car needs a title, a plate and a policy.

Title. FLHSMV procedure RS-01, revision 10/26 (Oct. 2026), says: “Fully autonomous vehicles (AVs) belonging to a fleet or being tested in a pilot program should be titled and registered in the company name with a FEID number.” The same procedure says that if the customer is a business, the FEID number is required.

Registration. Florida Statutes 320.02(2)(a) requires the street address of the owner’s permanent Florida residence or permanent place of business in Florida. RS-01 adds: “If the owner/registrant does not live in Florida full or part time and cannot provide a Florida address, the motor vehicle cannot be titled and or registered in Florida.” An owner who lives abroad has no US home state to fall back on. If you title in your own name rather than an LLC’s, the same procedure asks an individual registrant for a US state REAL ID license or ID card, a US passport, or a foreign passport with proof of lawful US presence such as an I-94. What address a US LLC owned from abroad can use as its permanent place of business in Florida is a question for a Florida attorney. Florida’s exemption for vehicles registered by nonresidents in their home jurisdiction does not apply to motor vehicles operated for hire (Fla. Stat. 320.37(2)(b)); how that applies to a driverless car on a ride network still needs review by a Florida transportation attorney.

Our agreement says the same. Section 7.2(a) of DockDuty’s Reservation Agreement: if you live outside the US, your vehicle “must be titled, registered, and insured in the United States.” DockDuty “will use commercially reasonable efforts to assist Owner in identifying available options” during onboarding, but “does not represent or guarantee that any titling, registration, or insurance path will be available.” If no lawful path is available, your deposit is refundable at your request any time before onboarding, no reason required (Section 3.1). It is refunded automatically within 30 days only if DockDuty publicly announces it won’t open any depot or ceases operations (Section 3.3).

Insurance. A car that carries paying passengers is expected to need commercial coverage. Florida lets the required coverage come from the owner’s policy, the ride network’s policy or both (Fla. Stat. 627.749), so ask the insurer whose name must be on the policy; our insurance explainer covers the state of that market and Florida’s robotaxi law covers the state rules. We can’t promise that an insurer will write a policy for an LLC owned from abroad.

Taxes to price with a CPA

These are questions to take to a US CPA, not answers. The IRS pages linked are the starting point.

• Are fares US business income? The IRS says that when a foreign person is engaged in a trade or business in the US, US-source income connected with that business is generally effectively connected income (ECI). Fares from a car on US roads may be US business income. Do not assume that a non-resident owes no US tax; ask a CPA.
• Does my LLC file Form 5472? Per the IRS instructions for Form 5472, a US disregarded entity wholly owned by one foreign person is a “foreign-owned U.S. DE”, and it files a pro forma Form 1120 with Form 5472 attached. The penalty for failing to file is $25,000, and if the failure continues more than 90 days after IRS notice, another $25,000 applies for each 30-day period.
• Do I need an ITIN? An ITIN is a 9-digit number the IRS issues if you need a US taxpayer identification number for federal tax purposes but aren’t eligible for an SSN. You apply with Form W-7. Whether you need one depends on what you file.
• What does my home country tax? Section 7.2(b) of our agreement leaves your own tax, currency-exchange, immigration, business-registration and reporting obligations in your home jurisdiction with you, and encourages independent advice.
• Does my US LLC file a BOI report? FinCEN says US companies are exempt from BOI reporting, and its August 11, 2026 final rule made that exemption permanent. Reporting now applies to entities formed under foreign law and registered to do business in a US state. Ask your attorney if you are using a non-US entity.

Paying in US dollars

Section 7.2(c) of our agreement: payments are in US dollars. Currency exchange is yours to manage. Opening a US bank account for an LLC owned from abroad is the bank’s decision, and we can’t promise approval.

A Cybercab is not a visa plan

USCIS describes the E-2 treaty investor classification as one for an investor coming to the US “solely to develop and direct” a “real, active, and operating” enterprise, with capital “at risk”, and the enterprise may not be “marginal.” E-2 also requires nationality of a treaty country and a substantial investment of capital. In our view a car that a depot would park, clean and send out for you does not match that description, and we do not present Cybercab ownership as an immigration route. Ask an immigration attorney about your own case. Not affiliated with Tesla.

What Tesla has not said

• Who may buy. Tesla has not published who will be approved to buy a Cybercab. Its interest form for fleet buyers and partners, opened September 3, 2026, is at tesla.com/robotaxi/interest; it collects interest and is not a purchase order.
• Buyers abroad. We have not found any Tesla statement on whether a buyer who lives outside the US, or a US LLC owned by one, can order.
• Owner terms. Tesla has not published owner-participation terms. As of October 2026, public reporting shows Tesla’s network has used only Tesla-owned cars. Not affiliated with Tesla.

DockDuty holds no Tesla vehicle allocation, no enrollment right and no commercial agreement with Tesla. Not affiliated with Tesla.

How DockDuty works with an owner abroad

• You don’t have to live here. Section 7.2 says an owner is not required to live in the depot’s market or in the United States.
• Your company can be the owner. Checkout lets an LLC, corporation or partnership sign the reservation agreement as the Owner party, with you as its authorized representative. More in should you put your Cybercab in an LLC?
• Identity and source of funds. Section 7.3: you confirm that you are not a person US sanctions prohibit dealing with and that the funds are from lawful sources, and you provide the identity, residency and source-of-funds documents DockDuty reasonably requests.
• The depot. No depot is open yet and no site lease is signed. What a depot company does is on robotaxi depot company.
• Several cars? The fleet operators page covers larger fleets, and its intake form includes investor groups and family offices. Current rates are on the pricing page, and reservations are listed in the order book.

What is still unknown

• Whether Tesla will sell Cybercabs to buyers who live outside the US, or to US LLCs owned by them.
• What Florida address an LLC owned from abroad can use as its permanent place of business for registration.
• Which insurers will write commercial autonomous-vehicle coverage for an LLC owned from abroad, and on what terms.
• How fares will be taxed for a particular owner: effectively connected income, withholding and any tax treaty depend on your facts.
• Whether a US bank will open an account for your LLC.
• How ride earnings that pass through DockDuty would be paid to an LLC owned from abroad. We have not yet confirmed payouts to a non-US bank account.

What we learned forming our Florida LLC

DockDuty is DOCK DUTY LLC, a Florida limited liability company, Florida Division of Corporations document number L26000247958. Search “Dock Duty”, two words, on Sunbiz to find it. The state fees in this guide are the ones on the Florida fee schedule, the annual report is due each May 1, and we found it simplest to keep the company’s exact legal name consistent on every filing and contract. The EIN, tax and banking steps for an owner abroad are described here from IRS and Florida sources, not from our own filing.

Questions for your attorney and CPA

1. Which state should my LLC be formed in if the car will be titled in Florida?
2. Can my LLC title and register an autonomous vehicle in Florida, and what Florida address can it use?
3. Will fares be effectively connected income, and which US returns will my LLC and I file?
4. Does my LLC need Form 5472 and a pro forma Form 1120 each year, and who prepares them?
5. Do I need an ITIN, and does a tax treaty between my country and the US change anything?
6. How does my home country tax a US LLC, and what do I report there?
7. Which US banks and insurers will work with my LLC?
8. Do sanctions or source-of-funds rules raise anything for me?

Frequently asked questions

Can a non-US resident own a US LLC?

Yes. Florida’s LLC Act defines a member as a “person”, which includes any individual, and sets no citizenship or residency condition. Which state to form in is a question for your attorney.

Can I get an EIN without an SSN?

Yes. The IRS instructions for Form SS-4 say an applicant with no US residence, place of business or office can apply by phone at 267-941-1099, or by fax or mail. The online application needs an SSN, EIN or ITIN.

Can a car I own from abroad be titled in Florida?

FLHSMV procedure RS-01, revision 10/26 (Oct. 2026), says autonomous vehicles belonging to a fleet should be titled and registered in the company name with a FEID number, and Florida registration needs a Florida residence or place-of-business address. Nobody can promise that a path will be approved, including us. Confirm with a Florida attorney.

Do I owe US tax on fares if I live abroad?

Possibly. Fares from a car on US roads may be US business income, which the IRS calls effectively connected income. Ask a US CPA before you assume either way.

Sources and review

• IRS, Instructions for Form SS-4, last reviewed Apr 30, 2026
• IRS, Instructions for Form 5472, last reviewed Apr 30, 2026
• IRS, Effectively connected income (ECI), last reviewed Aug 18, 2026
• IRS, Individual taxpayer identification number (ITIN), last reviewed Oct 28, 2025
• FLHSMV procedure RS-01, revision 10/26 (Oct. 2026)
• Fla. Stat. 320.02 and Fla. Stat. 605.0102, 2026 Statutes
• Fla. Stat. 605.0113, Fla. Stat. 320.37(2)(b) and Fla. Stat. 627.749, Florida Legislature
• Florida Division of Corporations, fees
• FinCEN, Beneficial ownership information, alert updated Aug 11, 2026
• USCIS, E-2 treaty investors, last reviewed Aug 20, 2026
• DockDuty Reservation Agreement, Sections 7.2 and 7.3

Last reviewed: October 2, 2026

Owners outside the US are welcome. Planning Cybercabs from outside the US? Get the question list by email. Not affiliated with Tesla.