Foreign LLC registration for Georgia
Register your out-of-state LLC in Georgia
Form CD 241, a Georgia agent and a thirty-day clock, then one filing every spring.
What you receive
- Certificate of authorityGeorgia's record that the LLC may transact business.
- Filed applicationA copy of what we sent in, for your records.
- Agent of recordOurs or yours, shown as the Georgia agent.
- Annual windowJanuary 1 to April 1, every year.
Georgia foreign LLC registration is done on Form CD 241, the Application for Certificate of Authority for Foreign Limited Liability Company, for $235, which is the $225 filing fee plus a $10 service charge. File it within 30 days of starting work in Georgia, because a start date further back than that adds a $500 penalty plus fees. What we charge on top is $199.
The clock begins on the first day of Georgia business, not on the day you learn of the rule. Below: what starts it, what you owe once you are registered, and what comes each spring.
- Built around the 30-day clock
- No home-state certificate for LLCs
- Georgia registered agent available
What the order covers
Clock watched
We ask the day your LLC began work in Georgia and check it against the thirty days before we file.
Form CD 241 prepared
The eight items are completed from your checkout answers and checked before filing.
Nothing to order from home
A foreign LLC files no certificate of existence from its own state for this application.
Georgia agent
Choose us as the Georgia agent, or keep the one you have.
Yearly filing flagged
The annual registration costs $60 and falls between January 1 and April 1. We tell you when the first one is due.
Questions answered
Ask us about the form, the dates or the agent before or after you order.
Order to certificate
Tell us when work started
The thirty days run from the first day the LLC transacted business in Georgia, or the day you plan to start.
Give us the LLC facts
Name, home state and formation date, principal office, a manager, the filing person and an email address.
Pick the Georgia agent
Ours, a Georgia resident, or a company that qualifies.
We complete Form CD 241
The eight items are filled in from your answers, and you approve them.
We file and pay
Form CD 241 goes to the Corporations Division along with the $235 fee.
You receive the certificate and the dates
We pass on what Georgia issues and mark the first annual registration window.
Georgia foreign LLC registration, the short version
- Form
- Form CD 241, Application for Certificate of Authority for Foreign Limited Liability Company
- Filed with
- Georgia Secretary of State, Corporations Division
- Georgia fee
- $235 ($225 plus $10)
- Deadline
- Within 30 days of starting to transact business
- Late
- $500 plus the fees that would have been due
- Home-state certificate
- Not filed with an LLC application
- Annual registration
- $60, between January 1 and April 1; $25 more if late
- Typical wait
- about 7 business days online, about 15 business days from receipt by mail
What each kind of entity pays Georgia to register
| Entity | Filing fee | With service charge |
|---|---|---|
| LLC | $225 | $235 |
| Corporation, profit or nonprofit | $225 | $235 |
| Limited partnership or LLLP | $225 | $235 |
| Limited liability partnership | Confirmed when we file | Confirmed when we file |
Corporations get a separate write-up, the corporation application page, since they also send a home-state certificate. Later charges are tabulated on the fees page.
How the thirty days work
The Secretary of State's FAQ says the deadline is 30 days from the start of business in Georgia for an entity that concludes it has to file (O.C.G.A. 14-2-1502; 14-11-711). The application tests the same rule from the other side: item 1 asks for the date business began or is proposed, and the printed note says that a date more than thirty days before the application takes effect brings a penalty of $500 plus fees, which the Secretary of State cannot waive. If the LLC has not started yet and has no date, the FAQ says to enter "upon qualification or upon filing". The page on the thirty-day rule goes through what starts the clock.
The penalty, in numbers
An LLC, limited partnership or LLLP that should have registered owes $500 and then every fee it would have been charged along the way. For a foreign profit corporation it is the flat $500. A foreign LLP pays $500 for each year or part of a year, plus the fees. An LLC that waits is therefore looking at $735 in state charges before back fees, against $235 for filing in time. The penalty page has the detail.
What your LLC does not need to send
Some states ask a foreign LLC to attach a certificate from its home state. Georgia's administrative rule for LLCs does not (Rule 590-7-21). A foreign corporation is different: it sends a home-state certificate of existence issued within the last 90 days. For an LLC the application itself carries the home details, in item 3, and the signature of a person authorized under the home state's law.
How long Georgia takes, and what speed costs
The Division says processing varies with workload. Online filings generally take about 7 business days, and paper filings about 15 business days from receipt. Faster review is sold in three tiers on top of the filing fee: two business days for $120, the same day for $275 when the request arrives before noon, and one hour for $1,200. A name reservation, if you want the name held first, is $25 plus the service charge and lasts 30 days. Each filing needs its own payment.
A Georgia agent with a street address
Item 5 of the form names the registered agent and the Georgia street address of the registered office. A mailbox service or post office box will not be accepted. A Georgia resident can serve, as can a Georgia company or an out-of-state company that already has its own Georgia certificate; the LLC itself cannot fill the role (O.C.G.A. 14-11-703). The agent page covers changes and resignation.
After approval: one filing a year
Georgia issues a certificate of authority when the filing is approved. From then on the LLC files an annual registration between January 1 and April 1. Its first date is in the calendar year after the initial filing. It costs $60, a $50 fee plus the $10 service charge, and a late filing adds $25. An entity that never files is exposed to administrative revocation of its certificate, and a revoked foreign entity cannot be reinstated; it has to apply afresh. See the annual registration page.
Delaware and Wyoming LLCs
A Delaware LLC keeps paying Delaware $400 a year, so with Georgia's annual registration the yearly cost is $460. A Wyoming LLC keeps Wyoming's $60 minimum, which makes $120 with Georgia's. The Delaware page and the Wyoming page cover each. Filing without us is possible too, and our do-it-yourself guide shows the route.
Leaving Georgia
An LLC that stops working in Georgia files Form CD 555, an application for withdrawal of its certificate of authority. Online it carries no fee, and on paper it is $10. The withdrawal page goes through the form. Withdrawal does not wipe out claims from the Georgia years, because the form appoints the Secretary of State to receive papers in a suit over the Georgia years.
What Georgia issues
When the Corporations Division has reviewed the filing and approved it, it issues a certificate of authority to the LLC. The certificate is the starting point of your yearly cycle, since every annual registration after it refers to the same record. Keep the certificate with the LLC's formation papers, and keep the date it was issued in your own records, because Georgia's penalty and its annual windows are all measured around dates.
What we ask you before we file
- The date Georgia business began, or is planned to begin.
- The name on the home-state record, and a Georgia reservation number, if you have one.
- Where the LLC was formed, when, and how long it is set to last.
- The principal place of business, and the address where the LLC keeps its records.
- Who manages the business day to day.
- Your agent's details, or a note that you want ours.
- A primary email address that someone reads.
The list matches the items on the form, so there are no surprises at the end of checkout.
Which page answers what
| If you are asking | Open |
|---|---|
| What each Georgia charge adds up to | Fees |
| What counts as starting to transact business | The 30-day rule |
| What each item on the application means | Form CD 241 |
| When the yearly filing is due | Annual registration |
| What the $500 penalty is tied to | Late penalty |
| Who may serve as agent | Registered agent |
Registered agent: first year included, then $149 a year
$199 plus the state fee, including your first year of registered agent service; after that the agent service renews at $149 a year.
Our price, then the Georgia fee
Register in Georgia
Georgia$199
+ $235 Georgia fee
- Form CD 241, prepared from your answers
- The thirty-day clock checked against your start date
- Our office as your Georgia agent, or the one you choose
- Your annual registration window, marked
- Renewal: after the first year, the agent service renews at $149 a year
Our price and the Georgia fee are separate lines at checkout. $199 plus the state fee, including your first year of registered agent service; after that the agent service renews at $149 a year.
Georgia foreign LLC questions
How much does Georgia charge to register a foreign LLC?
$235: a $225 filing fee and a $10 service charge. With the first annual registration of $60 the state cost comes to $295.
When do I have to file?
Within 30 days of starting to transact business in Georgia. A start date further back than that adds a $500 penalty plus fees.
Must I order anything from my home state?
Not for an LLC. Foreign corporations send one dated within 90 days.
How long does approval take?
The Division says about 7 business days online and 15 by mail, with paid review in two business days, the same day or one hour.
Can I be my own registered agent?
No. An entity cannot serve as its own registered agent, and the agent needs a street address in Georgia.
What if I never file the annual registration?
The certificate can be revoked, and a revoked foreign entity must apply again; it cannot be reinstated.
Does the form have to be notarized?
The form asks for the signature of a person authorized under the home state's law. It does not mention a notary.
Is a lawyer required?
No. We prepare the form from your answers. Deciding whether your activity amounts to transacting business is for a Georgia business lawyer.
Georgia Secretary of State sources
- Georgia Secretary of State, Form CD 241, Application for Certificate of Authority for Foreign Limited Liability Company (PDF)
- Georgia Secretary of State, Corporations Division filing fees and expedited processing (PDF)
- Georgia Secretary of State, how to file an annual registration
- Georgia Secretary of State, Corporations Division business FAQ
- Georgia Secretary of State, how to guide: register a foreign entity
- Georgia Rules, 590-7-21-.07, foreign limited liability companies
- Delaware Division of Corporations, LLC/LP/GP annual tax
- Wyoming Secretary of State, Business Division fee schedule
Working in Georgia already?
Tell us the day it started. We file before the penalty window opens, or tell you plainly if it already has.