Maine Foreign LLC Qualification: Form MLLC-12

Maine LLC qualification at a glance

Filing

Form MLLC-12, Statement of Foreign Qualification to Conduct Activities

State fee

$250 filing fee

Required expedite

$50 (24 hours), charged at checkout

Total with us

$499, first year of Maine registered agent service included

Required expedite processing

24 hours

Home-state certificate

Required, dated within 90 days

Maine yearly filing

Annual Report, $150, every year

Filed with

Maine Secretary of State, Division of Corporations, UCC and Commissions

What Form MLLC-12 asks for

Form MLLC-12 has 12 numbered items. In practice, Maine needs:

• The exact name of your LLC as formed
• The state it was formed in and its date of formation
• A Maine 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 Maine receives it

LLC into Maine, by home state

The first-year total adds the home state's certificate fee to the $499 checkout total; the certificate is ordered from that state.

When Maine expects an LLC to register

Maine law lists 11 activities that do not, on their own, count as doing business in Maine (31 MRSA 1623). 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 Maine 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 Maine without registering

An unregistered LLC doing business there cannot start a lawsuit in Maine 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. Maine penalties for unregistered business: up to $500 for each year or part of a year. The Maine attorney general can ask a court to stop the LLC doing business there until it registers.

Maine registered agent rule

Maine requires every registered foreign LLC to keep a registered agent there. A resigning agent stays responsible for 31 days after filing the resignation. Our $199 includes the first year of Maine registered agent service, then $149 a year.

Maine yearly filings

Once registered, your LLC files the Maine Annual Report every year, at $150, due June 1. The Maine filing window opens January 1 and closes June 1. Filing it late adds $50. From year two, keeping the Maine registration costs $299 a year with our registered agent service.

How long Maine takes

We file Form MLLC-12 with the Maine Secretary of State. Maine required expedite processing: 24 hours. Checkout includes the required expedite ($50). Faster state options: same-day $100; they are optional and not in the total.

Leaving Maine later

If your LLC stops doing business there, it ends the registration by filing a Statement of Cancellation of Foreign Qualification. Until that is filed, Maine's yearly filing stays due.