Mercury will not open an account for a founder living in one of 48 countries: the address decides, not the passport

In brief

• Mercury's help center has two lists: 4 sanctioned countries and regions (Cuba, Iran, North Korea, the Russian-occupied regions of Ukraine) and 48 countries where Mercury does not open accounts for founders.
• The test is the founder's country of residence, not citizenship. A citizen of a listed country who lives elsewhere can still be reviewed.
• In February 2026 the list had 37 countries. 14 have been added, including Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Latvia, Indonesia, Vietnam and Vanuatu.
• Kazakhstan, Armenia, Georgia, Serbia, Turkey, the UAE and Cyprus are not on the list.
• Since October 2026 Mercury also does not open accounts for companies that operate or do business in listed countries.
• Addresses are checked with documents. PO boxes, virtual offices and registered agent addresses are not accepted.

What Mercury says about prohibited countries

Mercury is not a bank. It is a fintech company that opens accounts for US companies through its partner banks, Choice Financial Group and Column N.A. Its users include startups founded by people who do not live in the US. Mercury states plainly that you do not need to be a US citizen or resident to apply. The company must be formed in the US or a US territory and have existing or planned operations in the US.

The restrictions are set out in the help article "Prohibited countries". The current version has two lists. The first covers sanctioned countries and regions: Cuba, Iran, North Korea and the Russian-occupied regions of Ukraine, including Crimea, Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia. The second lists 48 countries where Mercury does not open accounts. Russia, Belarus and Ukraine are on the second list, not the first. This is the company's own risk decision, not a direct consequence of sanctions.

The rule itself is short. Mercury does not open accounts for founders who live in listed countries or for businesses that operate or do business there. Then comes the sentence that makes the article worth reading in full: the decision is based on the country of residence, not citizenship or nationality. If a citizen of a listed country lives elsewhere, the application may be reviewed.

What this means for you. A Russian passport on its own does not shut you out of Mercury. A Russian address does. The reverse is also true: a second passport will not help if you still live in Moscow.

The bank looks at where you live

In banking compliance one mistake keeps coming up among founders. A founder thinks the bank checks the passport. The bank checks the person: where they live, where the money comes from, who the company works with. Mercury describes this directly in its application requirements. For every beneficial owner, meaning anyone with a stake of 25% or more, you must give the physical address where that person currently lives.

That address cannot be a PO box, a mail forwarding address or a virtual office. Mercury warns that it may ask for a document to verify it. Its article on address requirements lists examples: an ID or resident card, a signed lease, a utility bill or bank statement from the last 90 days, tax documents for the most recent year. The document must show the owner's name and the full address.

This leads to the main conclusion for founders from Russia and the CIS. For Mercury the question "what passport do I hold" is secondary. The primary question is "where do I live and how can I prove it". If you have a Serbian residence permit, a lease in Belgrade and a Serbian bank statement, you apply as a resident of Serbia, even with a Russian passport. If you hold another country's passport but live in Russia, your application is still that of a Russian resident.

There is a second side too. Mercury asks for the address where the team works day to day. A US legal address is needed separately: the address from the formation documents. A registered agent address is not accepted as a working address. A company with no link to the US beyond its registration raises more questions than one with US clients and contractors.

What this means for you. Prepare proof of residence, not a passport. Without a document confirming an address outside the list, Mercury will not review an application from a founder from Russia or Belarus.

The list grew from 37 to 52 entries in six months

I compared the current version with archived copies of the same page. In September and November 2025, and again in February 2026, the list had 37 countries in a single list, including Cuba, Iran and North Korea. There was no separate line for the occupied regions of Ukraine. In the copy of 3 September 2026 the list is already split into two groups, with 48 countries in the second. So the expansion took place between February and September 2026.

14 countries were added: Angola, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Burkina Faso, Gambia, Indonesia, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lesotho, the Maldives, Nepal, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu and Vietnam. For our readers Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan matter most, as many entrepreneurs from Russia moved there. Indonesia matters too: many founders work remotely from Bali. Many Russian-speaking entrepreneurs with a European residence permit live in Latvia.

In early October Mercury also changed the wording. The 3 September copy referred only to founders living in listed countries. The current version adds businesses that operate or do business in them. The article was edited on 6 October 2026 and the page was updated again on 19 October. The list of countries did not change in that time.

Look at the chart. The wire and card lists are kept separately and are currently shorter than the account opening list. The international wires list, for example, does not include Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan or Latvia. That does not mean a resident of Bishkek will get an account: account opening is governed by the first list. It means Mercury updates its rules piece by piece, and each article has to be checked separately.

What this means for you. Mercury's list changes, and it changes by growing. Decide on your country of residence for an application using the current version, not advice from a year ago.

Which founders from Russia and the CIS it affects

Below are the countries where our clients and readers most often live. The table is not a forecast; it reflects what Mercury's help article says as of 20 October 2026. Look at the second column: it tells you whether you can apply while living in that country.

The table shows that the line does not follow regions or EU membership. Latvia and Croatia are on the list, although they are EU countries. Kazakhstan and Armenia are not, although their neighbours Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan are. Mercury gives no reasons. You cannot plan on the logic that neighbouring countries will be added soon, but you should not treat the current list as final either.

A note on Vanuatu. What is listed is the country of residence, not the passport. A Vanuatu citizen who lives in Dubai, Limassol or Belgrade applies as a resident of the UAE, Cyprus or Serbia. What banks check for holders of this passport is covered in our article on bank accounts for Vanuatu citizens.

What this means for you. If you live in Kazakhstan, Armenia, Georgia, Serbia, Turkey, the UAE or Cyprus, Mercury's list does not stop you. The rest depends on the usual review: documents, source of funds and the company's business.

A second citizenship without moving changes nothing

After news like this the first question is usually whether a second passport will help. For Mercury the answer is written into the rule. Citizenship is not the test. A Turkish, Vanuatu or any other passport held while living in Russia still makes the founder a resident of Russia. The application asks for the address where you live now, and the bank may ask you to prove it.

A second passport works elsewhere. It opens visa and tax options, lets you obtain a residence permit in the right country and sometimes makes a personal account easier to open. But it does not replace actual residence. Where a second citizenship helps with banks and where it does not is covered in detail in the article "A second passport and banks".

I will also state what should be obvious. You must not give an address where you do not live. That is false information to a financial institution. Address documents are checked, and a mismatch between the application, statements and actual transactions comes to light in routine monitoring. We do not take on such requests and advise no one to do this.

What this means for you. A second passport makes sense as part of a real move. As a way to open an account without moving, it will not work with Mercury or with any bank with similar rules.

When a residence permit really helps

A residence permit changes the picture when there is life in the country behind it. The founder has moved, rents a home, pays bills, has opened a local bank account and files a tax return. They have the documents Mercury lists as proof of address. For Mercury such a founder is a resident of the new country, and their passport can remain Russian.

A residence permit obtained for status while life goes on in Moscow changes nothing. There will be nothing to prove an address in the new country, and account activity will show the opposite. Many residence programmes do not require permanent residence. That is convenient for a backup plan, but a Mercury application needs actual life outside the list.

The choice of country matters too. Moving to Latvia or Kyrgyzstan closes Mercury just as living in Russia does. Moving to Serbia, Armenia, Kazakhstan, the UAE or Cyprus does not. If you are planning a move and a US company at the same time, check the country against the current list before signing a lease.

What this means for you. A residence permit helps with Mercury only together with actual residence and documents proving it. A backup permit without a move does not serve this purpose.

The ban covers the company's business, not only the founder's address

Mercury's new wording also covers the business. Companies that operate or do business in listed countries will not get an account either. Mercury does not say where the line is: one client from a listed country or ongoing operations, contractors or sales. Without clarification it is sensible to assume a strict reading.

For founders from Russia this matters. If a US company sells services to Russian clients, pays contractors in Russia or Belarus or keeps a team there, this is visible from the business description and transactions. Even a founder living in Serbia may be refused because of what the company does.

There is also a technical ban. The international payments article lists 11 countries and regions to and from which Mercury does not send or accept payments, including Belarus, Russia, Venezuela, Myanmar and the sanctioned regions of Ukraine. It also says international wires are unavailable to companies whose legal address is outside the US and to companies whose physical address or owner address is in one of 37 countries.

What this means for you. Before applying, describe the business as the bank will see it: who the clients are, where the contractors are, where money comes from and goes to. If a significant part is linked to listed countries, Mercury is not your option.

What a founder should do: five steps before applying

We cover setting up a US company on the page on company registration in the USA. If you already have a company but no account, see the options on the page on corporate accounts and in our bank catalogue. Mercury does not disclose reasons for refusal, but lets you reapply if you have new information, such as a move.

What this means for you. Address and owners first, then the business description, and only then the application. The reverse order most often ends in a refusal with no explanation.

Who these changes do not affect

There is no need to change plans in a hurry if neither you nor your partners live in listed countries. A founder with a residence permit and actual life in Serbia, Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Turkey, the UAE or Cyprus applies on the same terms as before. For Mercury a Russian passport is not in itself a ground for refusal.

There is also no rush for those who do not really need Mercury. If you have no US company and no US operations, there is no point setting one up just for a Mercury account. Mercury opens accounts only for US companies. For a European business a European company and an EU bank make more sense.

Hasty steps will not help those who live in Russia and do not plan to move either. Neither a second passport, nor a formal residence permit, nor a change of director gets round the rule. It is wiser to choose another structure and another bank than to build an application on inaccurate information.

What this means for you. If your country of residence is not on the list, it is enough to follow updates to Mercury's article. Changing countries for one service is not worth it either: that is a decision about your family's life, not about a bank account.

What Mercury does not explain

The help article answers the question of who will not get a new account. It does not say what happens to existing customers whose owner has moved to a listed country or has lived in one since the account was opened. The help center has no separate rules on this. If this is your situation, ask Mercury support in writing.

It is also unclear why these particular 14 countries were added. Mercury publishes no reasons and itself notes that it may reassess its risk appetite and update the lists at any time. The scope of the ban on companies that "do business" in listed countries is unclear too. Practice under this wording will emerge over the coming months.

Two things are worth tracking. The first is the edit date of the "Prohibited countries" article and the composition of both lists. The second is alignment with the wire and card lists. If Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Latvia appear there too, it will be a sign that the new rule has been fully applied across all products.

My conclusion

Mercury's rule is an accurate description of how banking compliance has long worked. A bank cares where the owner lives, what the company does and where the money comes from. A passport is just one document among many. So the question "which citizenship will help me open an account" should be replaced by another: where do I live, how do I prove it and how does it look in my transactions.

For a founder who has already moved, Mercury's rule is rather helpful. It states plainly that a Russian or Belarusian passport is not a ground for refusal if life goes on in another country. For a founder who stays at home, it gives a clear answer: this option is closed, and there is no need to spend time on an application.

How this piece was prepared

This piece is based on Mercury's help articles: "Prohibited countries" (edited on 6 October 2026, updated on 19 October 2026), "Eligibility and requirements for opening a Mercury account" (30 September 2026), "Company address requirements" (9 June 2026), "Sending international payments" (30 July 2026), "Restricted countries for card issuance" (29 April 2026) and "Reapplying if your Mercury application has been denied". The texts were checked on 20 October 2026. The earlier composition of the list comes from archived copies of the "Prohibited countries" page dated 8 September 2025, 25 November 2025, 7 February 2026, 3 September 2026 and 15 October 2026. Mercury's lists may change at any time. This is not a legal opinion and not a guarantee of Mercury's decision on your application.