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Hawaii Foreign LLC Registration

The fee, the form, what triggers registration in Hawaii, and how to file.

State filing fee $51 one-time
Registered agent $125/year based on Northwest RA
Total, all in $463.50
Hawaii data last reviewed Sep 11, 2026 · cca.hawaii.gov Totals include the $51 filing fee once, Northwest RA at $125/year, and Hawaii recurring state costs over the selected period.

Foreign Qualification

Filing fee
$51
Form
Application for Certificate of Authority (Form FLLC-1)
Annual obligation
$12.50/year
Processing time
Hawaii publishes no processing time for this filing: not on the foreign LLC registration page, not in the FLLC-1 instructions, not in the FLLC information sheet and not in the BREG FAQs.
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What it does publish is that the division moved to a new registration portal on 6 July 2026 and that expedited handling is not available during the transition, so the paid fast route is closed as well.

Expedite
$25 per document, charged in a separate expedited review column rather than as a percentage of the filing fee.
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SUSPENDED at the moment: the Business Registration Division states that expedited handling is currently not available following its 6 July 2026 move to a new registration portal, so the $25 cannot be bought today at any price.

Estimated year 1 cost
$63.50
Visit Hawaii Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs ↗

Need to register your LLC in Hawaii?

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

Have Northwest register your LLC in Hawaii ↗
$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 ↗

What triggers foreign qualification in Hawaii?

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

Important to know

  • A one-time $20 General Excise Tax licence is required to engage in business in Hawaii, separate from entity registration with the Business Registration Division.
What does NOT require registration in Hawaii 10 activities

Hawaii carves 10 activities out by statute. On their own, none of them requires a foreign LLC to register.

  • Maintaining, defending, or settling a lawsuit or administrative proceeding
  • Holding meetings of members or managers, or carrying on internal company affairs
  • Maintaining bank accounts
  • Maintaining offices or agents to transfer, exchange, or register the company's own securities, or maintaining trustees or depositories for them
  • Selling through independent contractors
  • Soliciting or taking orders, if the orders must be accepted outside Hawaii before they become contracts
  • Creating or acquiring debt, mortgages, or security interests in real or personal property
  • Securing or collecting debts, enforcing security interests, and holding or maintaining property acquired that way
  • Conducting an isolated transaction completed within 30 days that is not one of a series of similar transactions
  • Transacting business in interstate commerce

Under HRS Section 428-1003, 10 items with a 30-day isolated-transaction limit. Hawaii has NO property-ownership safe harbor, and subsection (b) reverses it: owning income-producing real or tangible personal property in Hawaii DOES constitute transacting business. The phrase "of a like manner" is genuine drafting rather than a typo; South Carolina uses it too.

Forming a new LLC in Hawaii instead? $51 to form
Formation fee
$51
Annual cost
$12.50/year
State income tax
Income tax up to 11% (2026 tax year)
Privacy
Low
Sources 1 link

More Hawaii guides

Already operating without registering?Civil penalty, back fees and court access in Hawaii, statute-cited ↗ Not sure Hawaii applies to you?What counts as doing business, and what does not ↗ Changing your registered agent?The form, the fee and the steps in Hawaii ↗ Operating in more than one state?Free 3-question check of where you must register ↗

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