The short answer is about 48 hours after the filing fee has been received in our account from you. The longer answer is that forming the company is a matter of filing the correct forms, but there is post incorporation paperwork that must be approved and signed by the founding members of the company. If anyone has any disagreements over the terms, it could take as long as is necessary to resolve those issues.

There are a few things. One is a charter, which is the document that creates, names, and establishes the basic information for the corporation such as the name, number of shares of stock, and other pertinent information. Additionally, there is post-incorporation paperwork that can include Intellectual Property assignments, the Bylaws, stock vesting documents, confidentiality agreements, and other pertinent paperwork.

Generally, yes. For the most part, anyone can form a Delaware corporation (with some exceptions). However, you should consider tax issues if you are not a U.S. resident. You should also consider restrictions on stock ownership or working for your own corporation if you are in the U.S. on certain types of visas. Please consult with an immigration attorney if you have more specific questions.

You can absolutely use an online service to incorporate your company. However, doing this may result in problems later. Many of these services do not provide post-incorporation paperwork, which is necessary for the operation of the company and will be required by any investor. Additionally, most of these online services simply perform the step of incorporation but are unable to provide legal guidance on issues related to stock division, IP assignments, and other important questions you may have. Elevate Law is a full service law firm with many years of guiding more than 100 startups.

Delaware is a popular location for startups to incorporate for a few important reasons. Delaware has decades old caselaw and administrative decisions that make it easy to reliably predict outcomes to disputes. Additionally, and because of the previous explanation, it's a good neutral ground for businesses that will have shareholders and investors from many different areas of the country or world. You may discover that many investors will not write the check unless your company is a corporation organized in Delaware.

Without getting too detailed, an LLC and Corporation provide the same level of liability shielding, but each has different positives and negatives beyond that. An LLC is usually easier to operate in terms of paperwork and meeting requirements, but can be more difficult when admitting or releasing owners of the company. On the other side, a corporation requires more in terms of internal paperwork for corporate governance, but is much easier to bring owners in and out of the company. For startups, most investors will require that your company is a Delaware C corporation before actually investing.