California Foreign LLC Registration

The fee, the form, what triggers registration in California, and how to file.

State filing fee $70 one-time

Registered agent $125/year based on Northwest RA

Total, all in $2,885

California data last reviewed Sep 11, 2026 · sos.ca.gov Totals include the $70 filing fee once, Northwest RA at $125/year, and California recurring state costs over the selected period. The report fee is biennial and counted per filing due.

Foreign Qualification

Filing fee: $70
Form: Application to Register a Foreign Limited Liability Company (Form LLC-5)
Annual obligation: $20 biennial + $800/year franchise tax
Processing time: California publishes a rolling processed-through date rather than a duration.
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The Secretary of State posts the receipt date it is currently working on: as of its 21 August 2026 update, LLC formations and registrations stood at 20 August for online filings and 17 August for post. Check that page rather than relying on a stored figure, because it moves.
Expedite: $350 for 24 hour filing, Class C, and $750 for same day, Class B. Those are the two tiers available through bizfileOnline.
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Class A four hour service is $500 but is drop-off only in Sacramento and requires the document to have been precleared first at a further $500, so it is $1,000 and a trip to Sacramento rather than a faster checkbox.
Estimated year 1 cost: $890

Note: Standard annual LLC tax is $800 in 2026 for LLCs taxed as partnerships or disregarded entities, subject to statutory exceptions. R&TC 17941(g)(2), enacted July 13, 2026, sets $400 for the first taxable year beginning in 2027-2029. It does not reduce an existing LLC's recurring annual tax; current 2026 totals retain $800. The tax test is separate from the Secretary of State registration test.

Visit California Secretary of State ↗

Need to register your LLC in California?

Northwest files the foreign registration and serves as your registered agent in California, which the filing requires. Only need an agent? Northwest's registered agent service alone is $125/year.

Have Northwest register your LLC in California ↗

$225 + the state fee · One year of registered agent included

Filing it yourself? Go to the official California SOS portal ↗

Other registered agent options 2 alternatives

Registered Agents Inc

$200/year · Report filing included, state fees extra

Visit site ↗

Harbor Compliance

$99 first year, then $149/year · Full-service compliance option

Visit site ↗

What triggers foreign qualification in California?

Physical presence (store, office, warehouse)
Employees in California
Recurring revenue from California customers
Owning or leasing property in California

Important to know

$800 annual franchise tax applies even if you earn no revenue in California
Franchise Tax Board has its own definition of doing business (Revenue & Taxation Code 23101)

California guides

Not sure California applies to your LLC? Our guide to when an out-of-state LLC has to register in California covers the doing-business tests. If you are already over the line, the $800 franchise tax guide explains what you owe and what accrues while you wait.

What does NOT require registration in California 10 activities

California carves 10 activities out by statute. On their own, none of them requires a foreign LLC to register.

Bringing or defending a lawsuit, administrative proceeding, or arbitration, or settling those claims or disputes
Holding meetings of members or managers, or carrying on internal company affairs
Maintaining bank accounts
Keeping an office or agent to transfer, exchange, and register the company's own securities, or keeping trustees or depositories for them
Selling through independent contractors
Taking orders by mail, online, or through employees or agents, if the orders must be accepted outside California before they become contracts
Creating or acquiring debts, notes, mortgages, liens, or security interests in real or personal property
Collecting debts or enforcing mortgages or security interests, and holding or protecting property acquired that way
Doing a single isolated transaction that is finished within 180 days and is not one of a series of similar transactions
Doing business in interstate commerce

Under Corporations Code Section 17708.03(b), 10 items. California's isolated-transaction window is 180 days, not the usual 30. California has NO standalone safe harbor for simply owning real or personal property. Subsection (c) adds six status-based exclusions (shareholder, limited partner, member or manager of another entity) and subsection (e) states the section does not determine service of process, taxation, or regulation under other California law. Note that Corporations Code Section 191 governs foreign CORPORATIONS and does not reach LLCs, so a citation to it for this list is wrong.

Forming a new LLC in California instead? $70 to form

Formation fee: $70
Annual cost: $20 biennial + $800/year franchise tax
State income tax: Income tax up to 13.3%, including the 1% surcharge on income above $1,000,000. $800 annual LLC tax regardless of income (2026 tax year)
Privacy: Moderate

California's top personal income tax rate is 13.3% (2026 tax year), and it reaches LLC income passed through to members. The Statement of Information (Form LLC-12) is due within 90 days of formation, then every 2 years. The $800 annual franchise tax is separate and due every year regardless.

Sources 3 links

More California guides

Already operating without registering?Civil penalty, back fees and court access in California, statute-cited ↗ Not sure California applies to you?What counts as doing business, and what does not ↗ Changing your registered agent?The form, the fee and the steps in California ↗ Operating in more than one state?Free 3-question check of where you must register ↗

This page provides general information based on publicly available state requirements. It is not legal advice. Verify with the California SOS before filing.