I was thinknig, Can a non-US resident get a DBA (Doing Business As) from the US?

So that he can register domains names with his brand name instead of his person name.

This will vary state to state and county to county. I am in Texas... I am not sure if all states do this the same way.

In Texas, DBAs are handled through the County Clerk's office of the county you're doing business in. If you have a brick-n-mortar place of business and/or you just want to make sure that no one else in surrounding areas can do business using the same name you're using, you will have to register in surrounding counties.

You'll typically do a search... some counties have already entered all local business names into a database, but others have older records in ledgers that you have to skim through to ensure the name isn't already taken.

Prices vary. In Dallas County & Denton County, the registrations were $11 for 10 years... you've got to go to each county clerk's office to register for that county.

If the name of your business is your dot-com address, you probably only need to register in one county.

They will want a physical address, not a P.O. Box. Even if it's your apartment or your home, you will have to provide them with a physical address. If your business is not a brick-and-mortar variety (no store-front, just an on-line business), then you probably work on it from your home - in which case your home address is your legal business address, even though you may never have customers come to your home.

Many companies do business with other countries and foreign businesses do business in the U.S., so I don't see how you would need to be a U.S. citizen... but you should have a physical office somewhere in the U.S.

If you are not physically in the U.S., you may want to contact the U.S. embassy of the country you're in for assistance in setting up a business DBA.

If you are in the U.S., check the "blue pages" (most phone books have them) under county government and contact the county clerk's office in the town you live. Unless you are in a very tiny town, your city will probably have a Chamber of Commerce and an SBA (Small Business Administration) office - often housed in the same building... they can offer you free advice on setting up your DBA, opening up a business account, etc.

Hope that helps.

Thanks a lot CROMAG.

Your thread was very informative. I don't actually live in the US, I live in my country. The rules are not very helpful here, so I thought I could just get a other that my name to use.

I've seen companies that offer non-US residents serivces of forming a corporation or an LLC, but it costs a lot of money.

Irregardless of how expensive or inexpensive, I would be wary of having another party set up a company/LLC/whatever on your behalf if they have no local representative where you are... it could be some sort of scam.

Many in the U.S., irregardless of what state they live in, incorporate their businesses in Delaware. Delaware has more protection (legally) for those starting a small business and it costs less than most other states to do so.

Delaware has a web site to help people start businesses there:

http://delaware.gov/yahoo/Business

Hope that helps.