Rules
Registered agent requirements by state: consent and fees
Registered agent requirements by state: which consent each state asks for, the filing that changes an agent, and the fee to file it.
What to take away
- Registered agent requirements by state start from the same two things: an agent, and a physical in-state street address where papers can be handed to a person.
- Consent rules differ by state: California files Form RA-1, Delaware takes the agent's signature on the certificate, New York files a Certificate of Change for $9.
- Change filings cost about $5 to $50. Delaware sets the firmest deadline: a resignation takes effect 30 days after the agent files it unless a successor is named first.
- One commercial agent covers every state where you register, with a consent and a renewal for each.
Who may serve, and what address qualifies
A registered agent accepts service of process: the lawsuit, subpoena or tax notice served on your LLC. Registered agent requirements by state decide who may accept that service and at what street address.
The registered office is a separate thing. It is the street address where a process server can appear in person. No state accepts a PO box for it.
[figure 1]
Registered agent vs registered office
Registered agent
- What it is
- person or entity
- Role
- receives legal papers
- Address type
- physical address
- PO box allowed
- no
- Listed in registry
- yes
Registered office
- What it is
- street address
- Role
- where agent is located
- Address type
- physical street address
- PO box allowed
- no
- Listed in registry
- yes
Most states allow a resident individual, an entity authorized to do business there, or a commercial service. The agent signs the consent. The owner signs the formation document.
Our guide to registered agents separates the person who accepts papers from the address the state publishes, the distinction that sinks the most filings.
Consent forms and signature rules
The consent is a signed statement in which the agent accepts the job. It names the LLC, the agent, the registered office and the date. Most states want it with the articles of organization, and some collect it again with the annual report.
Signature rules vary, and the state's own form settles them: some states accept an electronic signature, others want a wet one, and a few want it notarized. A rejected filing usually costs the fee.
Consent forms and signature rules
| State | Consent | Change filing | Fee | State | Consent | Change filing | Fee |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | Signed | Statement | $25 | Alaska | Signed | Statement | $25 |
| Arizona | Signed | Application | $10 | Arkansas | Signed | Change | $20 |
| California | Form RA-1 | RA-2 or SI-550 | $25 to $35 | Colorado | Signed | Statement | $25 |
| Connecticut | Signed | Change | $25 | Delaware | Agent signs | Certificate | $50 |
| Florida | Signed | Amendment | $25 | Georgia | Consent | Change | $25 |
| Hawaii | Signed | Statement | $25 | Idaho | Signed | Statement | $20 |
| Illinois | Signed | Application | $25 | Indiana | Signed | Change | $20 |
| Iowa | Signed | Statement | $5 | Kansas | Signed | Change | $25 |
| Kentucky | Signed | Statement | $10 | Louisiana | Signed | Change | $25 |
| Maine | Signed | Statement | $20 | Maryland | Signed | Change | $25 |
| Massachusetts | Signed | Statement | $25 | Michigan | Signed | Change | $10 |
| Minnesota | Signed | Statement | $35 | Mississippi | Signed | Change | $25 |
| Missouri | Signed | Change | $10 | Montana | Signed | Statement | $15 |
| Nebraska | Signed | Statement | $10 | Nevada | State form | State form | $50 |
| New Hampshire | Signed | Change | $15 | New Jersey | Signed | Change | $25 |
| New Mexico | Signed | Statement | $20 | New York | State form | Certificate of change | $9 |
| North Carolina | Signed | Change | $5 | North Dakota | Signed | Change | $10 |
| Ohio | Signed | Change | $25 | Oklahoma | Signed | Change | $25 |
| Oregon | Signed | Change | $25 | Pennsylvania | Signed | Change | $25 |
| Rhode Island | Signed | Change | $20 | South Carolina | Signed | Change | $10 |
| South Dakota | Signed | Change | $10 | Tennessee | Signed | Change | $20 |
| Texas | State form | Online change | $15 | Utah | Signed | Change | $15 |
| Vermont | Signed | Change | $20 | Virginia | Signed | Change | $25 |
| Washington | State form | State form | $50 | West Virginia | Signed | Change | $15 |
| Wisconsin | Signed | Change | $15 | Wyoming | State form | Statement | $20 |
Signed means a separate signed consent. State form means the state supplies its own. The change filing column carries the label the state itself uses, and the fee is the state's filing fee, not what an agent charges for the year. Online changes are often cheaper than paper, so confirm the current form and schedule with the state before you pay. Our state filing guides cover the filings that surround the appointment.
Changing a registered agent, step by step
- Get the new agent's signed consent.
- Pull your state's change form from the Secretary of State's office, or file online where the state offers it.
- Pay the fee, from about $5 to $50.
- File the change and keep the confirmation.
- Tell the old agent in writing that the appointment has ended.
What matters here is not a filing deadline but continuity: once an agent resigns or moves, the state expects a successor on file, and a registration without a valid agent can be revoked.
Named fees: Delaware $50, New York $9, California $25 to $35, Texas $15, Florida $25.
Delaware is worth knowing in detail. The requirement itself sits in the Delaware LLC Act, 6 Del. C. § 18-104; the state's registered agent page sets out the practice, and a resignation takes effect 30 days after the agent files it unless a successor is named first.
If you are switching agents while rethinking where to form, our Delaware versus Wyoming versus Nevada comparison covers the trade-offs.
Example: Delaware, Wyoming and California
Delaware takes the agent's signature on the formation certificate and charges about $50 for a certificate of change. Wyoming uses a state form and charges $20 online. California uses Form RA-1 at formation, then Form RA-2 or the Statement of Information, at $25 to $35.
[figure 4]
Delaware, Wyoming, California agent rules
Delaware
- Consent required
- yes
- Physical address
- required
- Business hours
- normal hours
- Initial form
- consent
- Change form
- not specified
- Annual cost
- fixed LLC tax
Wyoming
- Consent required
- yes
- Physical address
- required
- Business hours
- not specified
- Initial form
- consent
- Change form
- change form
- Annual cost
- low annual report fee
California
- Consent required
- yes
- Physical address
- required
- Business hours
- not specified
- Initial form
- RA-1
- Change form
- RA-2 or SI-550
- Annual cost
- not specified
None of those figures includes the annual cost of a commercial agent, which runs from about $50 to $300 a year.
Keeping the appointment valid
- Confirm the registered office is a street address in the state, not a mailbox.
- Check that the agent's consent is on file and current.
- Open and answer every document the agent forwards.
- Renew the commercial contract before it lapses.
- File a change within days if the agent moves, resigns or dies.
Consent is often collected with the annual report, so the two deadlines travel together. Our annual report deadlines page lists the dates by state.
Where each state's requirements live
Every state's rule sits in its own business-entity statute and on the form that statute prescribes. Mississippi's Registered Agents Act (Mississippi Code Annotated §79–35–3) uses the same forms to name, amend or terminate an agent, so the paper you file depends on the job, not on the agent. In Texas, a registered agent who changes address can notify the secretary of state by submitting Form 408, and the state's rule itself sits in the Business Organizations Code.
The US model does not travel north unchanged. Canada does not use registered agents, and British Columbia's Business Corporations Act requires an extra-provincial company to keep a registered office in the province and to appoint an attorney for service, the closest equivalent to a US agent.
