Step-by-step foreign qualification requirements, fees, and filing instructions for Arizona LLCs expanding into Texas.
Before filing, verify that your LLC name (or a distinguishable variation) is available in Texas. If your exact name is already taken, you may need to register under a fictitious or assumed name.
Search Texas business names ↗Texas requires no home-state certificate when a foreign LLC registers here. Form 304 carries a self-certification instead.
You must designate a registered agent with a physical address in Texas to accept legal documents on behalf of your LLC. This is required as part of the foreign qualification application.
Submit your application with the $750 filing fee. See the processing time under Ongoing compliance below. Expedited processing is available, priced under Ongoing compliance below. Online filing is available.
Texas filing portal ↗Northwest files the foreign registration and serves as your registered agent in Texas, which the filing requires. Only need an agent? Northwest's registered agent service alone is $125/year.
Have Northwest register your LLC in Texas ↗Not sure which service fits? Our full Northwest Registered Agent review and Harbor Compliance review cover pricing, renewal terms, and where each one fits.
The only durations the Secretary of State publishes are the three paid expedite tiers, plus a note on the filing-status page that it generally takes at least one business day from submission for a document to be entered into the system.
For filings received by noon, $500 buys next-day and $750 same-day service; request those in person in Austin or by email to TexasExpress@sos.texas.gov. Each charge is on top of the filing fee.
If your LLC did business in Texas before filing, check the Texas foreign LLC penalty guide first. Back fees can run from the date you started, not the date you file.
Texas carves 16 activities out by statute. On their own, none of them requires a foreign LLC to register.
Under Texas Business Organizations Code Section 9.251, all 16 items. Texas has NO order-solicitation safe harbor, which is a uniform-act staple: the nearest item covers sales through an independent contractor only, not solicitation by the entity's own employees. Texas adds mineral-interest, division-order, mortgage-servicing, fiduciary and governing-person carve-outs. Section 9.252 states separately that the list is not exclusive. There is no tax or service-of-process disclaimer in the statute.
If the business operates in Arizona, a Texas LLC still has to register in Arizona as a foreign LLC. Here is what each route costs in state fees plus one Northwest registered agent per state at $125 a year.
Its address on the filing, first year of registered agent included
A virtual mailbox gives your LLC a separate address in Texas for business mail. Confirm whether the state accepts it for the specific filing field. For banking, ask your bank before buying; it may require your actual operating address.
Unique suite number + same-day scanning of 15 pieces of mail a year (state and legal mail scanned free)
Learn more ↗10 mail scans/year + unique suite number
Learn more ↗Independent mailbox providers
Use our free tool to check if you need to register in additional states.
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
This page provides general information based on publicly available state requirements. It is not legal advice. Verify all fees and requirements with the Texas Secretary of State before filing.