Editorial Policy

Purpose

This policy explains how Foreign Founder produces educational guides and decision-support tools. It is intended to make the site's current editorial practices and limitations visible to readers.

Who We Write For

We write primarily for non-US founders researching US business formation, banking, credit, tax, and ongoing compliance topics. The material is general education, not individualized legal, tax, accounting, banking, or investment advice.

How Topics Are Selected

Topics are selected based on common decisions and recurring questions faced by international founders, changes in official guidance, gaps in existing site coverage, and areas where structured comparisons may help readers identify questions to ask qualified professionals.

How Content Is Researched

Research may combine government pages, official forms and instructions, service-provider terms, and secondary explanatory sources. A source appearing in an article does not mean every statement on that page has been independently verified.

Source Hierarchy

Government statutes, agency pages, forms, instructions, and fee schedules.
First-party product documentation, pricing pages, and eligibility terms.
Reputable secondary sources used for context or interpretation.

Use of Government and Primary Sources

Government and other primary sources are preferred for filing fees, schedules, and agency requirements. Official material can still change, and readers should confirm time-sensitive information with the responsible agency.

Use of Secondary Sources

Secondary sources may help explain a topic or identify an issue for further research. They do not replace controlling law, official instructions, or the current terms of a product provider.

How State Data Is Verified

State data marked officially verified has a recorded verification date and one or more official sources that support the relevant fields. Automated data checks help detect missing sources, invalid values, and inconsistent representations; they do not constitute professional review.

Legacy Unverified Data

Some jurisdictions remain marked legacy_unverified. Those values came from earlier project data and have not yet been rechecked field by field against current official sources. The interface should identify this status rather than present the data as fully verified.

Article Publication and Updates

Published identifies the original publication date. Updated identifies the latest recorded material update. A data field's Last verified date refers only to the specified source check. These dates do not, by themselves, indicate independent expert review.

Editorial Review Status

Current articles are attributed to Foreign Founder Team, an editorial organization. Unless a page identifies a real reviewer and review date, the article has not been independently reviewed by a lawyer, CPA, or other subject-matter professional.

Expert Review

We do not label content as expert reviewed without a named reviewer, relevant qualifications, a reviewer page, a review date, and a defined review scope. The site currently does not display independent expert reviewers for its articles.

AI-Assisted Work

AI and other automated tools may assist with research organization, drafting, editing, data transformation, or code work. These tools can make mistakes. Source checks, generated output review, and automated tests remain necessary before publication, and none of them substitutes for legal, tax, accounting, or other professional review.

Corrections

We review reported errors and update material information when appropriate. Our approach to factual, source, date, formatting, and disclosure changes is described in the Corrections Policy.

Affiliate Relationships

Some links may generate a commission. Affiliate relationships should not determine an editorial conclusion, but compensation is part of the site's business context and may create potential incentives. See the Affiliate Disclosure.

Independence

We aim to separate editorial judgments from affiliate compensation and to disclose relevant commercial relationships. We do not claim that revenue has no influence in every circumstance; readers should consider our disclosures and independently compare products and terms.

Limitations

Information can become outdated, incomplete, or incorrect. Foreign Founder is not a law firm, accounting firm, bank, or government agency, and the website does not provide legal or tax advice.

Contact

Questions about this policy or the site's editorial practices can be submitted through the Contact page.