Alabama Foreign Registration / Registered agent
Alabama registered agent requirements for foreign LLCs
A foreign LLC registering in Alabama must name a registered agent who has a business office at a physical Alabama street address, and changing that agent later costs $100. The agent is someone living in Alabama or a business registered here, and the code does not let a virtual office or mail forwarder do the job alone.
What the statute requires
Section 10A-1-5.31 makes every registered foreign entity name an Alabama agent and an Alabama office and keep both on file at all times (Ala. Code 10A-1-5.31). The agent receives process, notices and demands for the entity. It can be a person who lives in Alabama, an Alabama entity, or a foreign entity that is registered here. The agent's own business office must be the registered office address, and the job cannot be done purely through a virtual office, a mail forwarder or both.
What counts as a registered office
The office is a street location in Alabama at which the agent can be handed process in person. It need not belong to the LLC, which is how companies with no Alabama premises still comply. A mailbox service or phone answering service cannot be the whole of it (Ala. Code 10A-1-5.31(c)). The application forms add that the street address cannot be a PO box, though a separate Alabama mailing address is allowed for mail.
Who can serve, and who cannot
| Candidate | Qualifies? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| A person living in Alabama who works from the registered address | Yes | Individual resident, office at the address |
| An Alabama business that is registered here | Yes | Domestic or registered foreign entity |
| A commercial agent company registered in Alabama | Yes | A registered foreign entity can serve |
| An agent in your home state only | No | No Alabama registration or office |
| A virtual office or mail forwarder alone | No | The statute rules it out as the sole means |
| A mailbox store or answering service alone | No | Not a place where process is personally served |
Using a commercial agent
Check three things before signing: that the firm is registered to do business in Alabama, that it keeps a staffed office at the Alabama address it gives you, and that its address is a street address and not a PO box. We can also serve as your agent: choose that option at checkout and our Alabama name and office address go into items 9 and 10.
Changing the agent or the office
An entity changes its registered agent or office by filing a statement of change (Ala. Code 10A-1-5.32(b)(5)). The Secretary of State's form is the Change of Registered Agent or Registered Office by Entity, which costs $100 and has 7 numbered items. Item 3 asks for the agent and office currently on file, for verification. Items 4, 5 and 6 let you change the agent's name, the registered office's street address and its mailing address, any one of them or all. The new agent signs a consent to the appointment, and the entity certifies that the office street address matches the street address where the agent does business. This one form says it may be emailed to the office's miscellaneous filings address, unlike the registration forms.
The sixty-day rule
Alabama gives you 60 days to file a statement of change after the agent or office changes. A stretch of 60 days or longer with neither agent nor office is a separate ground for revocation. Both appear in the revocation section (Ala. Code 10A-1-7.12(2)).
When the agent changes its own details
An agent can also report its own change of name or office address, by a statement that recites the entity it represents, the entity's identifying number and written notice to the entity at least 10 days earlier. The Secretary of State's downloads page also carries an agent resignation form. An entity whose agent has resigned should appoint a new one right away.
Choosing and filing an Alabama agent
Choose the agent
An Alabama resident or a registered entity, with a real staffed office.
Confirm the address
A street address, no PO box, no mailbox store.
Name them on the application
Items 9 and 10 of the LLC form, or items 9 and 10 of the corporation form.
Change when needed
File the change form, $100, within 60 days.
Agent questions
May I be my own registered agent?
Yes, if you live in Alabama and work from the street address you list as the registered office.
Can my home-state agent serve in Alabama?
Only if the same company is registered to transact business in Alabama and keeps an Alabama office.
Does the agent need to be at the office all day?
The statute asks for a business office where process can be handed over in person. It sets no hours.
Is the agent fee part of the state fee?
No. The $150 registration fee does not include a registered agent.
Can I use a PO box for mail?
For the mailing address, the forms allow an Alabama mailing address. The street address of the office cannot be a PO box.
Our charge and the state fee, itemized
Register in Alabama
+ $150 state fee
- The Alabama name reservation, requested first so its certificate can travel with the filing
- The Foreign LLC Application for Registration or the Foreign Corporation Application for Registration, completed and signed for you
- An Alabama registered agent and office: ours, or the one you keep
- Submission to the Secretary of State and the filed registration sent back to you
- Renewal: after the first year, the agent service renews at $149 a year
$199
Alabama
Start my Alabama registrationCheckout lists our charge and the Alabama fee on separate lines before 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.
Where these facts come from
- Alabama Secretary of State, LLC filings
- Alabama Secretary of State fee schedule
- Alabama Secretary of State, Foreign LLC Application for Registration (form PDF)
- Alabama Secretary of State, Foreign Corporation (business or nonprofit) Application for Registration (form PDF)
- Alabama Secretary of State, foreign corporations
- Alabama Secretary of State, Change of Registered Agent or Registered Office by Entity (form PDF)
- Code of Alabama 10A-1-5.31 (registered agent and registered office)
- Alabama Secretary of State, list of registered agents
- Code of Alabama 10A-1-5.32 (change by entity of registered office or agent)
- Code of Alabama 10A-1-7.12 (grounds for revocation)
Doing business in Alabama from another state?
Order online and we reserve the name, prepare the application and file it in Montgomery.