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Georgia Foreign LLC Registration

Everything you need to register a foreign LLC in Georgia.

State filing fee $235 one-time
Registered agent $125/year based on Northwest RA
Total, all in $790
Georgia data last reviewed Aug 15, 2026 · ecorp.sos.ga.gov Totals include the $235 filing fee once, Northwest RA at $125/year, and Georgia recurring state costs over the selected period.

Foreign Qualification

Filing fee
$235
Form
Application for Certificate of Authority
Annual obligation
$60/year
Processing time
7-10 business days
Expedite
$100
Estimated year 1 cost
$295
Visit Georgia Secretary of State ↗
Georgia data last reviewed Aug 15, 2026 · ecorp.sos.ga.gov

Formation in Georgia

Formation fee
$110
Annual cost
$60/year
State income tax
Flat 5.49% income tax
Privacy
Low

What triggers foreign qualification in Georgia?

  • Physical office or place of business
  • Employees working in the state

Important to know

  • The annual registration is $60, being a $50 filing fee plus a compulsory $10 service charge. Guides quoting $50 or $55 are using stale figures.
  • Operating unregistered triggers a single $500 penalty rather than an annually recurring one, plus the accumulated fees.

Activities that do NOT require registration in Georgia

The following activities are explicitly carved out by statute. On their own, they do not require a foreign LLC to register in Georgia.

  • Maintaining or defending a lawsuit, administrative proceeding, or arbitration, or settling claims or disputes
  • Holding meetings of managers, members, or other owners, or carrying on internal company affairs
  • Maintaining bank accounts, savings and loan share accounts, custodial or agency arrangements, or brokerage accounts
  • Maintaining offices or agencies for the transfer, exchange, and registration of membership interests, or appointing trustees or depositaries for them
  • Effecting sales through independent contractors
  • Soliciting or procuring orders, by mail or through employees or agents, where the orders require acceptance outside Georgia before becoming binding and the contracts involve no local performance other than delivery and installation
  • Making loans, or creating or acquiring evidences of debt, mortgages, or liens on property, or recording them
  • Securing or collecting debts, or enforcing rights in property securing them
  • Owning real or personal property, and nothing more
  • Conducting an isolated transaction not in the course of repeated transactions of a like nature
  • Effecting transactions in interstate or foreign commerce
  • Serving as trustee, executor, administrator, or guardian, or in a like fiduciary capacity where Georgia law permits
  • Owning or controlling, directly or indirectly, an interest in another person organized under Georgia law or transacting business in Georgia

Under O.C.G.A. Section 14-11-702(b), all 13 statutory items. Georgia's isolated-transaction carve-out has NO time limit. Subsection (d) states this Code section does not establish a standard for taxation or service of process.

Need a registered agent in Georgia?

A registered agent is required for foreign qualification. These services operate in all 50 states.

Get Northwest Registered Agent ↗
Recommended · $125/year · Privacy included

Other options

Registered Agents Inc
$200/year · Includes annual report filing
Visit site ↗
Harbor Compliance
$99 first year, then $149/year · Full-service compliance option
Visit site ↗

More Georgia guides

Check your compliance

Answer 3 questions to find out if your LLC needs to register in other states.

Start free compliance check ↗

Need to change your registered agent?

See the form, fee, and step-by-step process for changing your registered agent in Georgia.

Georgia change of agent guide ↗

What's the penalty for not registering?

Statute-cited guide to the civil penalty, back fees, and court access if you operate in Georgia without a certificate of authority.

Georgia penalty guide ↗

Not sure if you need to register?

Learn what counts as “doing business” and which activities trigger the foreign qualification requirement.

What triggers foreign qualification? ↗

This page provides general information based on publicly available state requirements. It is not legal advice. Verify with the Georgia before filing.