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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
Estimated total $2,143
District of Columbia data last reviewed Oct 9, 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. The report and business licence fees are biennial and counted per filing due.

Foreign Qualification

Filing fee
$220
Form
Foreign Registration Statement (Form FN-1)
Annual obligation
$300 biennial + $250/year minimum franchise tax + $99 biennial business license
Processing time
About 5 business days for a standard online filing, 3 days for $50, or by the end of the next business day for $100
Expedite
$50 for 3-day service and $100 for service by the end of the next business 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, run by the Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection (DLCP), which took over business registration from the former DCRA in October 2022. You will need a certificate of good standing from your home state no more than 90 days old.
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 $159/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 in the District; interstate commerce is exempt
  • 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 for each biennial report you would have filed, on top of the $220 registration. DLCP works out the number of reports and the amount from the date you started.
  • 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 are not in the filing fees above: a general business licence at $99 for a two-year term, renewed at the same price, which our totals count in year one and every other year after; 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 minimum franchise tax + $99 biennial business license
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 15 pages

The official pages behind the figures on this page, with the date we last read each one. How we check.

Fees and costs

Deadlines and processing

When you must register

Penalties and reinstatement

Forms and filing

More District of Columbia guides

Already operating without registering?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.