West Virginia LLC Certificate of Authority: Form LLF-1

West Virginia LLC certificate of authority at a glance

Filing

Form LLF-1, West Virginia Application for Certificate of Authority of Limited Liability Company

State fee

$150 filing fee ($151 with the charges West Virginia collects at filing)

Total with us

$350, first year of West Virginia agent for service of process included

Standard processing

standard processing takes 5 to 10 business days at no extra cost

Home-state certificate

Required

West Virginia yearly filing

Annual Report, $25, every year

Filed with

West Virginia Secretary of State, Business & Licensing Division

What Form LLF-1 asks for

For Form LLF-1, West Virginia needs:

• The exact name of your LLC as formed, with an ending West Virginia accepts: limited liability company, limited company, L.L.C., LLC, L.C. or LC, with limited abbreviated Ltd. and company abbreviated Co., or an alternate name if that name is taken there
• The state it was formed in and its date of formation
• A West Virginia agent for service of process with a street address there; we fill in ours
• A principal office address
• A certificate of good standing from the home state

LLC into West Virginia, by home state

The first-year total adds the home state's certificate fee to the $350 checkout total; the certificate is ordered from that state.

When West Virginia expects an LLC to register

West Virginia law lists 12 activities that do not, on their own, count as doing business in West Virginia. A one-off transaction completed within 30 days, and not one of a series, does not count either. An office, staff, or regular sales and contracts there are what typically lead to registration.

West Virginia agent for service of process rule

West Virginia requires every registered foreign LLC to keep an agent for service of process there. Our $199 includes the first year of West Virginia agent for service of process, then $149 a year.

West Virginia yearly filings

Once registered, your LLC files the West Virginia Annual Report every year, at $25, due July 1 each year. The West Virginia filing window opens January 1 and closes June 30. Filing it late adds $50. From year two, keeping the West Virginia registration costs $174 a year with our agent for service of process.

How long West Virginia takes

We file Form LLF-1 with the West Virginia Secretary of State. West Virginia standard processing: standard processing takes 5 to 10 business days at no extra cost. Paid speed-ups: next-day $25, same-day (in person) $25, 2-hour $250, 1-hour $500; they are optional and not in the total.

Leaving West Virginia later

If your LLC stops doing business there, it ends the registration by filing a withdrawal application. Until that is filed, West Virginia's yearly filing stays due.