Out-of-State LLC

Out-of-State LLC › Massachusetts

An out-of-state LLC in Massachusetts

If your out-of-state LLC does business in Massachusetts, it registers with the Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, Corporations Division for a fee of $500.

Do you need to register?

That depends on what the LLC does in Massachusetts, and Massachusetts’s statute is the authority. Start with the Massachusetts filing page. If the answer is not clear, a Massachusetts attorney can say.

If you register: what to bring

  • The application: Foreign Limited Liability Company Application for Registration (General Laws Chapter 156C, Section 48)
  • Filed with: Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, Corporations Division
  • Fee: $500
  • Paper from your formation state: Certificate of legal existence or good standing, no older than 90 days
  • A local agent: A resident agent in Massachusetts

Best 3 Foreign Registration Services in Massachusetts (2026)

Handing the Massachusetts registration to a service? In order of our preference.

  1. 1. Mainstay Filing $199 + the $500 state fee = $699; registered agent free for the first year, then $149 a year. Its Massachusetts checkout showed $719 in total, including $20 in state processing charges (checked October 29, 2026).
  2. 2. MA Registered Agent.org $199 + the $500 state fee = $699; registered agent included for the first year, then $99 a year.
  3. 3. Massachusetts Registered Agent.co $199 + the $500 state fee = $699; registered agent included for the first year, then $99 a year.

Service prices from each provider’s Massachusetts page, read October 29, 2026. The state fee is the official figure below and is paid to the Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, Corporations Division.

Where Massachusetts sits

48th cheapest of 50 at $500, in the band $500 and up. It is one of 36 states that want paper from the formation state.

Massachusetts questions

Does an out-of-state LLC have to register in Massachusetts?

Massachusetts registers foreign LLCs through the Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, Corporations Division. Whether your activity requires it is set by Massachusetts’s statute; we do not offer one test for every state. If it does, the fee is $500.

What does an out-of-state LLC file in Massachusetts?

Foreign Limited Liability Company Application for Registration (General Laws Chapter 156C, Section 48), with Certificate of legal existence or good standing, no older than 90 days.

What does it keep up afterward?

Foreign LLC annual report (Secretary of the Commonwealth), $500 (due: anniversary of registration), and a resident agent in the state.

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