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Florida Foreign LLC Registration

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

State filing fee $125 one-time
Registered agent $125/year based on Northwest RA
Estimated total $916.25
Florida data last reviewed Oct 9, 2026 · dos.fl.gov Totals include the $125 filing fee once, Northwest RA at $125/year, and Florida recurring state costs over the selected period.

Foreign Qualification

Filing fee
$125
Form
Application by Foreign Limited Liability Company for Authorization to Transact Business in Florida (Form CR2E027)
Annual obligation
$138.75/year
Processing time
About 3 weeks. No paid expedited tier, but same-day walk-in service is available at the Division in Tallahassee.
Estimated year 1 cost
$263.75
Visit Florida Secretary of State ↗

Need to register your LLC in Florida?

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

Have Northwest register your LLC in Florida ↗
$225 + the state fee · One year of registered agent included

Filing it yourself? Go to the official Florida 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 $159/year · Full-service compliance option
Visit site ↗

What triggers foreign qualification in Florida?

  • Physical presence (store, office, warehouse)
  • Employees in Florida
  • Owning income-producing property, subject to the exemptions below
  • Selling in Florida beyond the exemptions below; sales in interstate commerce, orders accepted outside Florida and sales through independent contractors are exempt

Important to know

  • Florida statutes define what does NOT constitute doing business rather than what does (Fla. Stat. 605.0905)
  • Extremely high $400 late fee if annual report is filed after May 1. This is mandatory and non-waivable, making the total $538.75 if late.

Florida guides

Weighing Florida against Nevada for your LLC? Our Florida vs Nevada comparison breaks down the real cost, privacy, and tax differences between the two.

What does NOT require registration in Florida 13 activities

Florida carves 13 activities out by statute. On their own, none of them requires a foreign LLC to register.

  • Maintaining, defending, or settling a lawsuit or other legal proceeding
  • Holding meetings of members or managers, or handling internal company affairs
  • Maintaining bank accounts
  • Maintaining agents or agencies to transfer, exchange, or register the company's own securities, or trustees or depositaries for those securities
  • Selling through independent contractors
  • Soliciting or taking orders, by mail or through employees or agents, if the orders must be accepted outside Florida to become contracts
  • Creating or acquiring debts, mortgages, or security interests in real or personal property
  • Securing or collecting debts, or enforcing mortgages and security interests in the property backing them
  • Doing business in interstate commerce
  • Conducting a single isolated transaction finished within 30 days that is not part of repeated transactions of a like kind
  • Owning and controlling a subsidiary corporation or LLC that operates in Florida, and voting that subsidiary's stock or membership interests
  • Owning a limited partner interest in a limited partnership doing business in Florida, so long as you do not manage or control the partnership or act as a general partner
  • Owning real or personal property, and nothing more

Under Fla. Stat. Section 605.0905, all 13 items. IMPORTANT CARVE-BACK: subsection (3) states that owning income-producing real or tangible personal property in Florida DOES constitute transacting business. Passive ownership is exempt under (1)(m) but the moment the property earns income, such as a rental, registration is affirmatively triggered. Subsection (4) disclaims service of process, taxation and regulation under other Florida law.

Forming a new LLC in Florida instead? $125 to form
Formation fee
$125
Annual cost
$138.75/year
State income tax
No state income tax
Privacy
Conditional
Florida does not tax personal income. An LLC that elects to be taxed as a corporation pays Florida corporate income tax at 5.5 percent of net income, after a $50,000 exemption. Every Florida LLC also files an annual report, which costs $138.75, or $538.75 if filed after May 1. Owner names are optional on the articles, and the annual report can name an authorized representative instead of an owner.
Sources 17 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 Florida guides

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