Louisiana Foreign LLC Registration: Form 972

Louisiana LLC registration at a glance

Filing

Form 972, Application of Foreign Limited Liability Company

State fee

$185 filing fee ($190 with the charges Louisiana collects at filing)

Total with us

$389, first year of Louisiana registered agent service included

Home-state certificate

Required, dated within 90 days

Louisiana yearly filing

Annual Report, $35, every year

Filed with

Louisiana Secretary of State, Commercial Division

What Form 972 asks for

Form 972 has 10 numbered items. In practice, Louisiana needs:

• The exact name of your LLC as formed
• The state it was formed in and its date of formation
• A Louisiana registered agent with a street address there; we fill in ours
• A principal office address
• A certificate of good standing from the home state, no older than 90 days when Louisiana receives it

LLC into Louisiana, by home state

The first-year total adds the home state's certificate fee to the $389 checkout total; the certificate is ordered from that state.

When Louisiana expects an LLC to register

Louisiana law lists 10 activities that do not, on their own, count as doing business in Louisiana (La. R.S. 12:1343); the list gives examples and is not the full test. A one-off transaction completed within 30 days, and not one of a series, does not count either. Owning property there, without more, is not doing business either. Interstate commerce alone, such as shipping into Louisiana from outside, is also on the list. An office, staff, or regular sales and contracts there are what typically lead to registration.

If you do business in Louisiana without registering

An unregistered LLC doing business there cannot start a lawsuit in Louisiana courts until it registers. Its contracts stay valid, and it can still defend a case brought against it. Members and managers do not become personally liable just because the LLC skipped registration. Louisiana penalties for unregistered business: a civil penalty of up to $1,000. When it does register, Louisiana collects the fees it would have charged for the years it went unregistered. The Louisiana attorney general can ask a court to stop the LLC doing business there until it registers.

Louisiana registered agent rule

Louisiana requires every registered foreign LLC to keep a registered agent there. A resigning agent stays responsible for 30 days after filing the resignation. Our $199 includes the first year of Louisiana registered agent service, then $149 a year.

Louisiana yearly filings

Once registered, your LLC files the Louisiana Annual Report every year, at $35, due on or before the anniversary date of registration in Louisiana. The Louisiana filing window opens 30 days before the anniversary date and closes Anniversary date. From year two, keeping the Louisiana registration costs $184 a year with our registered agent service.

How long Louisiana takes

We file Form 972 with the Louisiana Secretary of State. Paid speed-ups: 24-hour $35, 2 to 4 hour $60; they are optional and not in the total.