North Carolina Certificate of Authority/Registered agent

Who may act as registered agent for a foreign LLC in North Carolina

On Form L-09, a foreign LLC applying for a North Carolina certificate of authority names a registered agent and a registered office located in North Carolina. The agent can be a North Carolina resident, a North Carolina corporation, nonprofit corporation or LLC, or an out-of-state corporation, nonprofit corporation or LLC authorized in the state, and changing the agent later costs $5 on Form BE-06. We can act as your agent.

Apply for my certificate

Who qualifies

Form L-09's instructions list the permitted agents: North Carolina resident; North Carolina corporation, nonprofit corporation or LLC; an out-of-state corporation, nonprofit corporation or LLC that is authorized in North Carolina. The registered office is a street address in North Carolina, and a mailing address can be added if mail is not delivered to the street address; the instructions allow a P.O. box or drawer for that mailing address (item 6). The statute that governs the LLC's agent and office is G.S. 57D-7-06.

Changing and keeping the agent

Situation	What to file	Cost or deadline
New agent or office	Form BE-06	$5
Report a change of agent or office	Notify the Secretary of State	Within 60 days
No agent or office	Name a new one at once	60 days or more is a revocation ground

The deadline in the second row is the same 60-day window that appears in the statute and in the Secretary of State's maintenance requirements.

Why the agent matters

The registered agent receives service of process and official notices for the LLC. If the LLC has no agent, the state cannot reach it, and the Secretary of State may begin revocation. Revocation does not end the agent's authority (G.S. 57D-7-31(e)), but it does make the Secretary of State the LLC's agent for claims arising from its authorized period. When an LLC withdraws, Form L-14 revokes the agent's authority and consents to service through the Secretary of State.

Individuals and companies as agents

A North Carolina resident can serve. The cost is privacy: the Secretary of State's online search covers registered agents, so an individual agent's name and street address are findable. A commercial agent company is the alternative; it must itself be a North Carolina entity or a foreign entity authorized here. Either way, the person or company should know it has been named.

What happens when the agent seat is empty

Time without an agent or office	Position	Source
Day 1 to day 59	The LLC is at risk of missing service of process, but no ground for revocation yet	G.S. 57D-7-30(a)(3)
60 days or more	The Secretary of State may begin revocation	G.S. 57D-7-30(a)(3)
60 days after the change itself, unreported	Failing to inform the Secretary of State of an agent or office change within 60 days is a separate ground	G.S. 57D-7-30(a)(4)
60 days after notice mailed, still uncured	The Secretary of State may sign a certificate of revocation	G.S. 57D-7-31(b)
After revocation	Authority to do business ends; the Secretary of State is the LLC's agent for claims from its authorized period	G.S. 57D-7-31(c), (d)

What the registered office is for

The registered office is the North Carolina street address where the agent can be found and where process can be handed over. It must be located in North Carolina, which is why a mailing address in another state, or a P.O. box on its own, does not serve. The Secretary of State asks for the county of the office as well as the street address. If the office moves, the change is reported within the same 60 days as an agent change.

Practical checks before you name someone

Name an agent only after they have agreed, because the application will be filed in their name. Confirm that the address is a street address in North Carolina where someone is present to accept papers, and that mail forwarded to the company's own address will actually be read.

Using our agent

Pick the agent option at checkout and our North Carolina name and street address appear in items 4 to 6 of Form L-09. Whatever is served on us we pass on, and we file Form BE-06 if the arrangement ends.

Agent questions answered

May I act as my own agent?

If you are a North Carolina resident, yes. Your name and street address then appear in the Secretary of State's registered agent search.

How quickly must an agent change be reported?

Within 60 days, and 60 days with no agent or office is enough for the state to begin revocation.

Is there a fee for a registered agent in the state fee?

No. The $250 state fee covers the application. A commercial agent charges its own fee.

Add a North Carolina agent to my order

Simple pricing

We file your certificate of authority

Form L-09 for LLCs, Form B-09 for corporations
The certificate of existence, ordered from the state where you formed
Submission to the Business Registration Division
Our North Carolina registered agent, or one you name
Your issued certificate of authority, sent to you
Renewal: after the first year, the agent service renews at $149 a year

$199

, plus the $250 state fee

Apply for my certificate

State fees are charged at cost and listed on their own line 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.

Where these facts come from

Doing business in North Carolina?

Apply online today and we will prepare, submit and track your certificate of authority.

Apply for my certificate