District of Columbia Foreign LLC Registration

The fee, the form, what triggers registration in District of Columbia, and how to file.

State filing fee $220 one-time

Registered agent $125/year based on Northwest RA

Total, all in $2,044

District of Columbia data last reviewed Sep 3, 2026 · dlcp.dc.gov Totals include the $220 filing fee once, Northwest RA at $125/year, and District of Columbia recurring state costs over the selected period. Counts the $99 business licence once. The report fee is biennial and counted per filing due.

Foreign Qualification

Filing fee: $220
Form: Foreign Registration Statement (Form FN-1)
Annual obligation: $300 biennial + $250/year franchise tax
Processing time: about 5 business days for a non-expedited online filing, or 3 days for $50 and same day for $100
Expedite: $50 for 3-day service and $100 for same-day, each charged on top of every other fee.
More
Walk-in customers at the Business License Center are charged the expedite fee whether or not they want it, and expedited service may be limited or unavailable on mail-in filings
Estimated year 1 cost: $869

Note: Filings go through the BOSS portal at boss.dc.gov. The agency is the Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection; older guides call it DCRA, which is the same office under its former name. You will need a certificate of good standing from your home state dated within the last 90 days.

Visit District of Columbia Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection ↗

Need to register your LLC in District of Columbia?

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

Have Northwest register your LLC in District of Columbia ↗

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

Filing it yourself? Go to the official DLCP 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 District of Columbia?

Physical office, storefront or other place of business in the District
Employees working in the District
Recurring, non-isolated business transactions with District customers
Income-producing real estate in the District

Important to know

Already doing business in the District before you registered? You owe the missed reports and fees before DLCP will register you: $300 a report plus a $100 late fee each, on top of the $220 registration.
Every registration and biennial report must name anyone owning more than 10 per cent, plus anyone below that who controls the money or the day-to-day running. This is a District rule, separate from the federal one, and reporting to FinCEN does not cover it.
Your first biennial report is due 1 April of the year after you register, then every second year. It is $100 late, and left long enough it puts the registration itself at risk.
Your registered agent needs a street address inside the District. A PO box, a mailbox service, or a Maryland or Virginia address will not do.
Two charges sit outside the fees above: a general business licence at $99 for a two-year term, and, if you trade under another name, a $55 trade name filing renewed every two years.

What does NOT require registration in District of Columbia 10 activities

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

Maintaining, defending, mediating, arbitrating, or settling a lawsuit or proceeding
Carrying on internal affairs, including holding meetings of interest holders or governors
Maintaining accounts at financial institutions
Maintaining offices or agencies for the transfer, exchange and registration of its own interests, or maintaining trustees or depositories for those interests
Selling through independent contractors
Soliciting or obtaining orders that must be accepted outside the District before they become contracts
Creating or acquiring debt, mortgages, or security interests in property
Securing or collecting debts, enforcing security interests, and holding, protecting or maintaining the property involved
Conducting an isolated transaction that is not one of a series of similar transactions
Doing business in interstate commerce

Under D.C. Code Section 29-105.05. The District follows the uniform list and puts NO time limit on the isolated-transaction carve-out. Subsection (b) disclaims the list for service of process, taxation and regulation under District law outside Title 29, so a company that is outside the registration duty can still owe District tax. Subsection (c) adds that merely being an interest holder or governor of a foreign entity doing business in the District is not itself doing business. DLCP points readers at this section by name and adds one worked example: owning District real estate usually does not require registration, but income-producing real estate does.

Forming a new LLC in District of Columbia instead? $99 to form

Formation fee: $99
Annual cost: $300 biennial + $250/year franchise tax
State income tax: District individual income tax applies to residents. An LLC treated as an unincorporated business also pays the 8.25 per cent unincorporated business franchise tax with a $250 minimum, on top of what the members owe personally.
Privacy: Low

Owner names go on public filings here. Every registration and every biennial report must name anyone owning more than 10 per cent, plus anyone below that who controls the money or the day-to-day running.

Sources 3 links

More District of Columbia guides

Already operating without registering?Civil penalty, back fees and court access in District of Columbia, statute-cited ↗ Not sure District of Columbia applies to you?What counts as doing business, and what does not ↗ Changing your registered agent?The form, the fee and the steps in District of Columbia ↗ 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 DLCP before filing.