Massachusetts Foreign Registration / Doing it yourself
Filing your own Massachusetts foreign LLC registration
Registering a foreign LLC in Massachusetts without help means delivering the sworn application and a home-state certificate issued within 90 days to the Corporations Division, with $500, inside 10 days of starting business. The Division takes filings online, by fax, by mail and in person. The paperwork, the payment and the points where self-filers lose time follow.
Before you begin
Gather six things: the LLC's exact name and any substitute name; its formation state and date; the address of its principal office and of any Massachusetts office; the names and addresses of its managers, if it has any; a description of the Massachusetts business; and the resident agent's name, address and written consent. The seventh item, the home certificate, is ordered last.
Ways to file and ways to pay
| Route | How to pay | Note |
|---|---|---|
| In person | cash, check or money order | Filing hours 8:45 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday |
| By mail | check or money order | Payable to Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
| By fax or electronically | MasterCard, Visa, American Express, or a personal or company e-check | Expedite fee $20 on a $500 filing |
Step 1: write down the start date
Everything is measured from the day the LLC commences doing business here. Put that date at the top of your notes, add 10 days, and treat the result as your filing deadline. If the date is already behind you, go straight to filing and handle the question of the fine afterwards.
Step 2: choose the agent
Pick the resident agent first, because the agent's consent must be written, and an agent who has not yet agreed holds up the filing. The agent has a business office here that is the same as the registered office. Ask the agent to sign a short consent that names the LLC.
Step 3: draft the application
Write the nine items in the statute's order. For the Massachusetts business, one sentence is enough. For managers, give each name and address. Leave the dissolution date out unless the LLC has a fixed end date, and leave the real estate signers out unless you want them. The application page explains each item.
Step 4: order the home certificate
Request a legal existence or good standing certificate from the formation state. It has to be under 90 days old when the Division sees it. If you file by mail, allow for the transit time when you count its age.
Step 5: sign under oath
An authorized person signs the application and swears to it. That person need not live in Massachusetts. Before signing, read each item once more, because it is a sworn statement.
Step 6: pay and send
Send the application, the certificate, the agent's consent and payment of $500. For a paper filing, make the check or money order payable to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The Division's address is 1 Ashburton Place, Boston, MA 02108.
Step 7: confirm approval
When the state secretary approves the application, it is deemed filed and the LLC is registered. Search the Division's corporate database for the LLC to see its record. Order a certificate of good standing for $25 when a bank or landlord asks for one.
Where people get stuck
Four problems stand out. A certificate that has aged past ninety days by the time it arrives. An agent whose written consent is missing. A signature that is not sworn. And a filing that arrives after the tenth day without the filer realizing the clock began on the first day of work, not the day of the lease signing.
A checklist to print
| Before you send | Done? |
|---|---|
| Start date written down; ten days counted | |
| Agent has agreed in writing | |
| All nine items completed | |
| Home certificate under ninety days old | |
| Application signed and sworn | |
| Payment ready for the route chosen |
Start the certificate early
The ten-day deadline is a good reason to start the certificate order the moment work begins.
The cost of filing without help
The registration is $500. Add the home certificate, an expedite fee of $20 if you want one on a fax or electronic filing, and the agent's charge if you hire one. The annual report follows each year at $500. The fee page has the table.
Filing the Massachusetts registration yourself
Record the start date
Count ten days.
Get the agent's written consent
A person or entity with a Massachusetts office.
Draft the nine items
In the statute's order.
Order the home certificate
Under 90 days old when filed.
Sign and swear
An authorized person.
Pay and send
$500 to the Corporations Division.
Keeping the paperwork
Keep the application as filed, the certificate, the consent, the receipt and the approval. Put the anniversary of registration on a calendar, since the yearly report falls due on or before it.
When help is worth it
Self-filing works when the facts are settled and the date is comfortable. It is harder when the ten days are nearly up, when the home certificate is slow, or when several entities need registering together. That is where $199 saves time. Filing yourself is a fair choice, and we will answer questions either way.
Working with the agent
Agree three things with the agent before you file: that the agent consents in writing, that the agent will forward anything served, and what the agent charges. If the agent is a company, ask how it learns of a change in its own office address, since an agent that moves can update the registered office for all its clients with one statement.
Costs after the filing
After approval, naming a new agent or office costs $25 by paper or fax and nothing electronically. An amendment costs $100, and withdrawing costs $100 once the LLC is in good standing. A name reservation, if you want to hold the name first, costs $30.
A certificate in another language
A home certificate that is not in English must go in with a translation sworn to by the translator. Order the translation the day the certificate arrives, so both are inside the ninety-day window when the Division sees them.
Calendar entries to make now
Make four entries as soon as you file. The tenth day after starting work, as the filing deadline. The ninetieth day after the home certificate was issued, as the date after which it no longer works. The anniversary of registration, as the annual report date. And a reminder a month before that anniversary.
If you mail it
Use a trackable method, because the ten days are running while the envelope travels. Put the payment in the same envelope, made payable to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and keep a photocopy of everything, including the check. Mailing to the Division at 1 Ashburton Place, Boston, MA 02108 suits a package assembled with days to spare. If the deadline is close, an in-person delivery or a fax filing with a card is the safer path.
Registered agent: first year included, then $149 a year
$199 plus the state fee, including your first year of registered agent service; after that the agent service renews at $149 a year.
Questions from self-filers
Is there a no-cost way to file?
No. The state charges $500 on every route.
Who can sign?
An authorized person of the LLC, under oath.
Can I pay by credit card?
Yes, for filings by fax or electronically. By mail, pay by check or money order.
Our fee and the Commonwealth's
Start my Massachusetts registration
$199
+ $500 state fee
The Commonwealth's $500 is itemized on its own when you pay. $199 plus the state fee, including your first year of registered agent service; after that the agent service renews at $149 a year.
- The foreign LLC application for registration, completed from your answers
- The certificate from your home state, checked against the ninety-day limit before anything is sent
- A Massachusetts resident agent: ours, or one you already use
- Filing with the Corporations Division and the record sent back to you
- Renewal: after the first year, the agent service renews at $149 a year
Sources
- Massachusetts 950 CMR 112.29, LLC fees
- Massachusetts Corporations Division, filing fees
- Massachusetts Corporations Division, fee schedule
- G.L. c. 156C, 48, registration of a foreign LLC
- G.L. c. 156D, 15.07, registered office and agent of a foreign corporation
- G.L. c. 156C, 51, resident agent of a foreign LLC
- G.L. c. 156C, 53, cancellation and withdrawal
- G.L. c. 156C, 49, duties of the state secretary
- G.L. c. 156D, 15.08, change of registered office or agent
Working in Massachusetts?
Tell us when work starts and we prepare your application.