‹ All Guides

Register Your Wisconsin LLC in Florida

Step-by-step foreign qualification requirements, fees, and filing instructions for Wisconsin LLCs expanding into Florida.

Florida filing fee $125 one-time

Registered agent $125/year based on Northwest RA

Total, all in $926.25

Florida data last reviewed Aug 22, 2026 · dos.fl.gov Totals include the $125 Florida filing fee once, Northwest RA at $125/year, and Florida recurring state costs over the selected period. Adds the $10 Certificate of Status from Wisconsin once. The Cost Summary below is the same year one figure without the agent.

Cost Summary

Florida filing fee: $125
Wisconsin Certificate of Status: $10
Annual obligation in Florida: $138.75/year
Estimated year 1 total: $273.75

Note: Year 1 total includes the $125 filing fee in Florida, the $10 Certificate of Status fee from Wisconsin, and $138.75 in first-year Florida state charges. Registered agent fees (typically $100-$200/year) are not included.

Wisconsin data last reviewed Sep 7, 2026 · wdfi.org

How to register your Wisconsin LLC in Florida

Check name availability in Florida

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

Search Florida business names ↗

Get a Certificate of Status from Wisconsin

Florida requires a Certificate of Status from Wisconsin to prove your LLC is in good standing. The fee is $10. Available to order online. When Florida is the destination for a foreign qualification, the home-state certificate of existence must be no more than 90 days old.

Order from Wisconsin ↗

File the Application by Foreign Limited Liability Company for Authorization to Transact Business in Florida (Form CR2E027) in Florida

Submit your application along with the Certificate of Status and the $125 filing fee. See the processing time under Ongoing compliance below. Online filing may be available.

Florida filing portal ↗

Appoint a registered agent in Florida

You must designate a registered agent with a physical address in Florida 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 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

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 Florida

Annual report: $138.75/year
Report due: May 1
Processing time: About 3 weeks. No paid expedited tier, but same-day walk-in service is available at the Division in Tallahassee.

Important to know about Florida

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.

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

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.

Thinking of forming in Florida instead of Wisconsin? $398.75 more in year one

If the business operates in Wisconsin, a Florida LLC still has to register in Wisconsin as a foreign LLC. Here is what each route costs in state fees plus one Northwest registered agent per state at $125 a year.

Form in Wisconsin, year one: $280
Form in Florida, register in Wisconsin, year one: $678.75
Form in Wisconsin, each year after: $150
Form in Florida, register in Wisconsin, each year after: $453.75

Forming in Florida and operating in Wisconsin costs $398.75 more in year one and $303.75 more every year after, because the LLC still has to register in Wisconsin and still pays Wisconsin's recurring charges. The Florida formation is not saving you anything. Figures are state fees from each state's published schedules plus the agent; they leave out federal tax, which does not change with the state you form in, and any local licences.

Form in Wisconsin with Northwest, $39 plus the state fee ↗

Its address on the filing, first year of registered agent included

Need a business address in Florida? mail forwarding

A virtual mailbox gives your LLC a separate address in Florida 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 ↗

Registered Agents Inc $50/year

10 mail scans/year + unique suite number

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://dos.fl.gov/sunbiz/

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