Georgia Foreign Registration / Annual registration

The Georgia annual registration for a foreign LLC

Each year a foreign LLC holding a Georgia certificate of authority owes the Secretary of State an annual registration, $60, filed from January 1 to April 1; filing later adds $25. The year after the initial filing is when the first one falls. An entity that does not file risks administrative revocation.

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The annual registration at a glance

Amount: $60: $50 plus the $10 service charge
Window: January 1 to April 1
First one: The year after the initial filing
Late fee: $25
Multi-year: 1, 2 or 3 consecutive years
By mail: Postmarked by April 1; the renewal page adds a $10 service charge

Three ways to file

The Secretary of State offers three. One Click Annual Registration needs no login, and works only when nothing about the business has changed and the fees are current. Annual Registration With Changes goes through your eCorp account, which also shows the filing history and receipts. By mail, you search for the business on the Division's site, print the form, complete it and send it with payment to the Corporations Division. A mailed filing's updated registration and receipt should arrive in 3 to 4 weeks.

What you need

With no changes and fees current, you need the business name or control number and a way to pay: a major credit card, check, certified bank check or money order. If anything has changed, or you are behind on fees, you also need the name of the person filing, a valid email address, the agent's name and a Georgia street address, one where an individual can be found in person, and the principal office mailing address.

Pick the number of years

Georgia lets an entity file for the current year only, or for two or three consecutive years in one go. A multi-year filing takes the April date out of those years.

What to change while you are in there

The annual registration is where Georgia takes most changes. The FAQ says an entity's address, its registered agent and its registered office can all be changed by filing the annual registration, or an amended annual registration if one has already been filed this year. An amended filing carries $20 plus the service charge, and updating the NAICS code costs $10. The FAQ also says LLCs list only the registered agent, so there is nothing to change for members or managers.

If the filing is missed

The renewal page warns that an LLC that does not file or pay might face a civil suit, or administrative dissolution or revocation. For a foreign entity that means revocation of the certificate of authority. The Division mails a notice of administrative dissolution to the last known address of the principal office or the registered agent, and the entity has 60 days from the date of the notice to respond. Searching the entity on the Division's site shows its status; "active/noncompliance" means it will be dissolved or revoked this year.

There is no reinstatement for a foreign LLC

Georgia reinstates domestic entities that were administratively dissolved. Reinstatement is not available to a foreign entity. The FAQ and the how-to guide both say it must re-qualify to do business in Georgia by submitting a new application and fee for a certificate of authority, which today means Form CD 241 and $235, and a late-registration penalty if the new start date falls outside the window. Filing on time is cheap by comparison.

Mid-February is the time to file

We mark your annual registration window when we send the certificate. A filing in the middle of February, not on April 1, leaves time to fix a rejected payment, to pull the entity's control number and to change the agent first if you need to.

Annual registration questions

When is the first annual registration due?

Between January 1 and April 1 of the year after the initial filing.

Is the amount the same for every LLC?

Yes. For an LLC, the schedule lists $50 plus the service charge.

Who gets the reminder?

We mark the window for you when your certificate arrives.

What if my details changed?

Use Annual Registration With Changes through your eCorp account. One Click works only when nothing has changed.

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

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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 Secretary of State sources

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.

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