Wisconsin Foreign LLC Registration: Form 521

Wisconsin LLC registration at a glance

Filing

Form 521, Foreign Registration Statement

State fee

$100 filing fee

Total with us

$299, first year of Wisconsin registered agent service included

Home-state certificate

Not required

Wisconsin yearly filing

Annual Report (Form 5 / CORP5), $80, every year

Filed with

Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions, Division of Corporate and Consumer Services

What Form 521 asks for

For Form 521, Wisconsin needs:

• The exact name of your LLC as formed
• The state it was formed in and its date of formation
• A Wisconsin registered agent with a street address there; we fill in ours
• A principal office address

LLC into Wisconsin, by home state

Every home state pays the same $299 at checkout for Wisconsin.

When Wisconsin expects an LLC to register

Wisconsin law lists 11 activities that do not, on their own, count as doing business in Wisconsin. Being a member or manager of an LLC that does business in Wisconsin does not by itself mean you do business there. An office, staff, or regular sales and contracts there are what typically lead to registration.

If you do business in Wisconsin without registering

An unregistered LLC doing business there cannot start a lawsuit in Wisconsin courts until it registers. Its contracts stay valid, and it can still defend a case brought against it. Wisconsin penalties for unregistered business: up to $97.50 for each year or part of a year.

Wisconsin registered agent rule

Wisconsin requires every registered foreign LLC to keep a registered agent there. The agent must agree to serve before Wisconsin accepts the appointment. Switching agents later costs $25 on Form 13. Our $199 includes the first year of Wisconsin registered agent service, then $149 a year.

Wisconsin yearly filings

Once registered, your LLC files the Wisconsin Annual Report (Form 5 / CORP5) every year, at $80, due March 31. The Wisconsin filing window opens January 1 and closes March 31. Filing it late adds $25. From year two, keeping the Wisconsin registration costs $229 a year with our registered agent service.

How long Wisconsin takes

We file Form 521 online with the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions. Paid speed-ups: next-day $100, 4-hour (in person) $250, 1-hour (in person) $500; they are optional and not in the total.

Leaving Wisconsin later

If your LLC stops doing business there, it ends the registration by filing a Withdrawal of Registration of Foreign Limited Liability Company. Until that is filed, Wisconsin's yearly filing stays due.