Step-by-step foreign qualification requirements, fees, and filing instructions for South Carolina LLCs expanding into Delaware.
Before filing, verify that your LLC name (or a distinguishable variation) is available in Delaware. 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 Delaware Secretary of State website before you file.
Delaware requires a Certificate of Existence from South Carolina to prove your LLC is in good standing. The fee is $10. Available to order online. When Delaware is the destination for a foreign qualification, the home-state certificate of existence must be dated within six months prior to filing.
Order from South Carolina ↗You must designate a registered agent with a physical address in Delaware to accept legal documents on behalf of your LLC. This is required as part of the foreign qualification application.
Submit your application along with the Certificate of Existence and the $200 filing fee. See the processing time under Ongoing compliance below. Expedited processing is available, priced under Ongoing compliance below. Online filing is available.
Delaware filing portal ↗Northwest files the foreign registration and serves as your registered agent in Delaware, which the filing requires. Only need an agent? Northwest's registered agent service alone is $125/year.
Have Northwest register your LLC in Delaware ↗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 it publishes are the four paid tiers, from next day at $50 to one hour at $1,000.
Next day is $50 to $100 and same day $100 to $200, received before 2pm. Two hour service is $500, received by 7pm, and one hour service is $1,000, received by 9pm.
If your LLC did business in Delaware before filing, check the Delaware foreign LLC penalty guide first. Back fees can run from the date you started, not the date you file.
Delaware carves 12 activities out by statute. On their own, none of them requires a foreign LLC to register.
Under 6 Del. C. Section 18-912, all 12 items. Delaware puts NO time limit on the isolated-transaction carve-out, unlike the 30 days used by most states. Delaware also has NO standalone safe harbor for simply owning property. Unique items: an equipment-installation carve-out and an insurance-company carve-out. Subsection (b) protects a person who is merely a member or manager. Subsection (c) disclaims service of process, taxation and regulation under other Delaware law.
If the business operates in South Carolina, a Delaware LLC still has to register in South Carolina 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 Delaware 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 + unlimited digital mail scanning
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
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 Delaware Secretary of State before filing.