Pennsylvania Foreign Registration · Registered office
The registered office and agent rules for a foreign LLC in Pennsylvania
Registering in Pennsylvania costs $250 and calls for a registered office, which is a street address in the state or the name of a registered office provider and a county. It does not call for a named registered agent.
What the office must be
The registered office has to be an actual street address or rural route box number in Pennsylvania, never a post office box alone. The Department must refuse a document that offers only a box. The same rule covers every address on the statement.
The registered office provider option
A company with no physical location or mailing address in Pennsylvania may list a commercial registered office provider in place of an address. Item 5(b) of the statement takes the provider's name and the county of venue. A provider is not a place of business, so it cannot be used for filings that require a principal place of business, such as fictitious name registrations.
Contract first
The Department says a company should contract with the provider before naming it. Listing a provider without a contract could bring civil and criminal penalties. Whoever you choose, keep the signed agreement with the company records so you can show it if the Department asks.
Why Pennsylvania has no registered agent
The Department says a registered office provider is not a registered agent and that Pennsylvania does not require one to be designated. A provider may also be an agent authorized in writing to receive service of process, but nothing requires that agent to be named publicly with the Department.
Mail from the Department
The registered office is where the Department mails. A postcard goes to a street-address office at least two months before an annual report deadline. Providers are not mailed postcards, which means a company that uses one should keep its own calendar. A termination notice goes to the registered office too, or to the principal office if the company has no registered office.
Service of process and the office
A provider may also act as an agent authorized in writing to receive service of process under the Pennsylvania Rules of Civil Procedure. That authorization is a private arrangement and is not recorded on the Department's register. The registered office is the address the Department uses for its own notices.
Choosing between an address and a provider
If the company has an office, a warehouse or an employee in Pennsylvania, use that street address. If it has none, a provider keeps the office for you, at its own fee and under a contract. A provider suits a company with no Pennsylvania address, and an owner who prefers not to put a home address on a public record. Either way the choice is entered once on the statement.
When a provider changes
If the company moves from one provider to another, the Department's record must change with it, or notices and postcards will keep going to the old one. The amendment is the same $250 filing, and the new provider should be under contract before it is named.
Street address or provider
| Point | Street address | Provider |
|---|---|---|
| Item 5 of the statement | Part (a), address and county | Part (b), name and county |
| Needs a Pennsylvania location | Yes | No |
| Contract needed first | No | Yes |
| Annual report postcard | Mailed to the address | Not mailed |
| Usable for filings needing a principal place of business | Yes, if it is one | No |
Either choice is entered on the same statement.
Changing the office later
A change to the registered office is made by amending the registration, which the fee schedule prices at $250. Keep the address current, because the Department sends notices there.
On your order
If you do not have a Pennsylvania street address, we can supply the registered office, or you can bring a provider you already use. Tell us which when you order and we enter it in item 5.
Registered office questions
Does Pennsylvania require a named registered agent?
No named agent is required. A registered office is.
Can I use a P.O. box?
No.
What is a registered office provider?
A commercial provider that holds the registered office for a company with no Pennsylvania address.
Does the provider get the annual report reminder?
No. Providers are not mailed the postcard.
What you pay
Register in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania$199
+ $250 Pennsylvania fee
- The Foreign Registration Statement completed from your answers
- The docketing statement that travels with it
- A Pennsylvania registered office address, or a provider you already use
- Your filed copy returned to you
- Renewal: after the first year, the agent service renews at $149 a year
Pennsylvania's fee is $250, listed on its own line apart from ours. $199 plus the state fee, including your first year of registered agent service; after that the agent service renews at $149 a year.
Sources
- Pennsylvania Department of State, fees and payments
- DSCB:15-412, Foreign Registration Statement, with instructions
- Pennsylvania Department of State, foreign associations
- Pennsylvania Department of State, annual reports
- Pennsylvania Department of State, commercial registered office providers
- 15 Pa.C.S. 419, termination of registration
Ready to register in Pennsylvania?
Start the order and the statement is prepared for filing.