North Carolina Foreign LLC Registration: Form L-09

North Carolina LLC registration at a glance

Filing

Form L-09

State fee

$250 filing fee ($253 with the charges North Carolina collects at filing)

Total with us

$452, first year of North Carolina registered agent service included

Standard processing

5 to 10 business days

Home-state certificate

Required, dated within 180 days

North Carolina yearly filing

Annual Report, $200, every year

Filed with

North Carolina Department of the Secretary of State, Business Registration Division

What Form L-09 asks for

For Form L-09, North Carolina needs:

• The exact name of your LLC as formed, with an ending North Carolina accepts: limited liability company, L.L.C. or LLC
• The state it was formed in and its date of formation
• A North Carolina 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 180 days when North Carolina receives it

North Carolina also lets the registration take effect on a later date, up to 90 days after filing.

LLC into North Carolina, by home state

The first-year total adds the home state's certificate fee to the $452 checkout total; the certificate is ordered from that state.

When North Carolina expects an LLC to register

North Carolina law lists 11 activities that do not, on their own, count as doing business in North Carolina. An office, staff, or regular sales and contracts there are what typically lead to registration.

If you do business in North Carolina without registering

An unregistered LLC doing business there cannot start a lawsuit in North Carolina courts until it registers. Its contracts stay valid, and it can still defend a case brought against it. North Carolina penalties for unregistered business: $10 a day, up to $1,000 a year.

North Carolina registered agent rule

North Carolina requires every registered foreign LLC to keep a registered agent there (G.S. 57D-7-06). Switching agents later costs $5 on Form BE-06. Our $199 includes the first year of North Carolina registered agent service, then $149 a year.

North Carolina yearly filings

Once registered, your LLC files the North Carolina Annual Report every year, at $200, due April 15. The North Carolina filing window opens January 1 and closes April 15. From year two, keeping the North Carolina registration costs $349 a year with our registered agent service.

How long North Carolina takes

We file Form L-09 with the North Carolina Department of the Secretary of State. North Carolina standard processing: 5 to 10 business days. Paid speed-ups: 24-hour $100, same-day $200; they are optional and not in the total.

Leaving North Carolina later

If your LLC stops doing business there, it ends the registration by filing Form L-14, Application for Certificate of Withdrawal ($10). Until that is filed, North Carolina's yearly filing stays due.