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Register Your New York LLC in Rhode Island

Step-by-step foreign qualification requirements, fees, and filing instructions for New York LLCs expanding into Rhode Island.

Rhode Island filing fee $150 one-time

Registered agent $125/year based on Northwest RA

Total, all in $1,900

Rhode Island data last reviewed Aug 26, 2026 · sos.ri.gov Totals include the $150 Rhode Island filing fee once, Northwest RA at $125/year, and Rhode Island recurring state costs over the selected period. Adds the $25 Certificate of Status from New York once. The Cost Summary below is the same year one figure without the agent.

Cost Summary

Rhode Island filing fee: $150
New York Certificate of Status: $25
Annual obligation in Rhode Island: $50/year + $400/year franchise tax
Estimated year 1 total: $625

Note: Year 1 total includes the $150 filing fee in Rhode Island, the $25 Certificate of Status fee from New York, and $450 in first-year Rhode Island state charges. Registered agent fees (typically $100-$200/year) are not included.

New York data last reviewed Sep 11, 2026 · dos.ny.gov

How to register your New York LLC in Rhode Island

Check name availability in Rhode Island

Before filing, verify that your LLC name (or a distinguishable variation) is available in Rhode Island. If your exact name is already taken, you may need to register under a fictitious or assumed name.

Search the business name register on the Rhode Island Secretary of State website before you file.

Get a Certificate of Status from New York

Rhode Island requires a Certificate of Status from New York to prove your LLC is in good standing. The fee is $25. When Rhode Island is the destination for a foreign qualification, the home-state certificate must be dated within 60 days of filing.

Order from New York ↗

File the Application for Registration - Foreign Limited Liability Company (Form 450) in Rhode Island

Submit your application along with the Certificate of Status and the $150 filing fee. See the processing time under Ongoing compliance below. Online filing is available.

Rhode Island filing portal ↗

Appoint a registered agent in Rhode Island

You must designate a registered agent with a physical address in Rhode Island to accept legal documents on behalf of your LLC. This is required as part of the foreign qualification application.

Need to register your LLC in Rhode Island?

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

Have Northwest register your LLC in Rhode Island ↗

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

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 ↗

Not sure which service fits? Our full Northwest Registered Agent review and Harbor Compliance review cover pricing, renewal terms, and where each one fits.

Ongoing compliance in Rhode Island

Annual report: $50/year + $400/year franchise tax
Report due: February 1 - May 1
Processing time: Rhode Island publishes one to three business days against this filing specifically, on its foreign registration walkthrough, and two business days for filings generally. Rhode Island sells no expedited service for filings

Note: Rhode Island strictly enforces a $25 late fee for annual reports filed after May 1.

Important to know about Rhode Island

Rhode Island LLCs owe a $400 annual charge to the Division of Taxation, equal to the corporate minimum tax, on top of the $50 Secretary of State annual report. It is owed whether or not the business operates or turns a profit, and it is not pro-rated for a partial year. Most reference guides omit it entirely.

Registering after you already started doing business in Rhode Island? See the Rhode Island late-registration penalties for the back fees and fines that can apply.

What does NOT require registration in Rhode Island 12 activities

Rhode Island carves 12 activities out by statute. On their own, none of them requires a foreign LLC to register.

Maintaining or defending a lawsuit, administrative proceeding, or arbitration, or settling claims or disputes
Holding meetings of members or carrying on internal company affairs
Maintaining bank accounts
Maintaining offices or agents for the transfer, exchange, and registration of the company's own securities
Making sales through independent contractors
Soliciting or taking orders that must be accepted outside Rhode Island before they become binding contracts
Borrowing or lending, or acquiring evidence of debt, mortgages, security interests, or liens on real or personal property
Securing or collecting debts or enforcing rights in the property securing them
Transacting business in interstate commerce
Conducting an isolated transaction completed within 30 days that is not one of repeated similar transactions
Acting as general partner of a limited partnership that has filed or registered in Rhode Island
Acting as a member of a Rhode Island LLC or of a foreign LLC registered in Rhode Island

Under R.I. Gen. Laws Section 7-16-54(e). Rhode Island has NO property-ownership safe harbor and no clause to the contrary; the statute is simply silent on bare ownership. No tax or service-of-process disclaimer.

Need a business address in Rhode Island? mail forwarding

A virtual mailbox gives your LLC a separate address in Rhode Island 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.

Northwest Mail Forwarding $20/mo

Unique suite number + unlimited digital mail scanning

Learn more ↗

Independent mailbox providers

iPostal1

Largest address network in the US. Best budget option for a registered business address.

From $14.99/mo Visit site ↗

Alliance Virtual Offices

Real commercial address inside a staffed office center, with an Address Certification Letter for banking and registration.

From $49/mo Visit site ↗

Bizee

Commercial street address with unlimited mail scanning, cheapest bundled with Bizee formation.

$29/mo Visit site ↗

Check your full compliance

Use our free tool to check if you need to register in additional states.

Start free compliance check ↗

Sources 1 link

https://www.sos.ri.gov/divisions/business-services

This page provides general information based on publicly available state requirements. It is not legal advice. Verify all fees and requirements with the Rhode Island Secretary of State before filing.