Vermont Foreign Registration / Filing it yourself
Filing the Vermont foreign LLC application on your own
Nothing stops a company from filing its own Vermont registration. The Secretary of State likes online filings, takes $155, and by its own account clears an online filing in less than one business day.
Collect these first
Gather the exact company name, the state or country whose law governs it, the address of its designated office, the name, email and address of your Vermont agent, and the certificate from home.
Search the name
Search the Secretary of State's online database before you file. The state rejects a name that is too similar to an already registered name, such that it would confuse the public as to whom they are dealing with, and it advises against spending on a website or cards before the certificate arrives. If the name will not clear, enter an alternate one.
Find an agent
The agent for service of process must be an individual resident of Vermont or a business organization that has a place of business in Vermont and is authorized to conduct business there, and must agree to serve.
Get the certificate from home
Ask the home-state office for a certificate of existence or a document of similar import, authenticated by the official who keeps company records where the company was formed, dated not earlier than 90 days before the application is filed. Save it as one of .jpeg, .jpg, .png, .gif, .bmp, .tif and .pdf.
Open the online account
Registration is filed in the Online Business Service Center. Log in if you have an account or create one, then choose to register a foreign business. There is no charge for filing online.
Enter the four points
The application asks for the name of the company (and an alternate name if its own is unavailable in Vermont); the state or country whose law governs it; the address of its initial designated office; and the name, email and address of its agent for service of process in Vermont.
Upload and pay
Upload the certificate and pay $155. When the application meets the filing requirements and the fees are in, the Secretary of State files it and issues the certificate.
The paper route
A mailed application goes to Business Services Division, 128 State Street, Montpelier, and the state says mailed filings take seven to ten business days.
After you file
Keep the certificate. Put the annual report date on a calendar. It falls 3 months after your fiscal year closes, and the fee is $170.
Choosing the agent first
Pick the agent before the application, since the application cannot be completed without one. Vermont wants an individual resident of Vermont or a business organization that has a place of business in Vermont and is authorized to conduct business there, and the agent has to consent. If you hire an outside agent, agree the engagement before you start the filing.
The name step in more detail
The state's standard is distinguishable on the record, and it explains it as a name too similar to a registered one, such that the public would be confused about whom they are dealing with. The search is free and online. If the home name fails, the application takes an alternate name, and the company then does business under it. A reserved name is the safer course if you want a name held while you prepare: $25.
The certificate in detail
What Vermont wants is a certificate of existence or a document of similar import, authenticated by the official who keeps company records where the company was formed, dated not earlier than 90 days before the application is filed. If the home state offers several kinds of certificate, choose the one that confirms the company exists. Save the file as one of .jpeg, .jpg, .png, .gif, .bmp, .tif and .pdf before you start the online application.
What you pay yourself
The state fee is $155. The home certificate comes at the issuing state's rate: $50 for Delaware, $0 for Wyoming. A hired agent adds a third charge. Filing online adds nothing to the state fee.
The online account, in more detail
The online center takes a user ID and password. First-time filers create an account. The state describes the annual report route as selecting the filing from the main menu and following the prompts to confirm, update or enter each item, and it says all of those filings are completed online. Registering a foreign business works from the same account.
Paying
The state accepts an eCheck online, and a paper check can be chosen on the payment screen. Keep the receipt with the certificate.
After the certificate arrives
Store the certificate with the company's other records. Note the annual report date. If the agent or the designated office moves, file a statement of change at $35.
Doing it in a sensible order
Search the name and settle the agent first, since both can hold up the application. Then prepare the application text. Order the home certificate last, so that its date sits well inside the 90-day window on filing day. File online the same day, keep the receipt, and put the first annual report date in a calendar.
What you will have afterward
You will hold a certificate of authority that the Secretary of State issued, a record of the agent for service of process, the receipt for $155 and the report date. The company can then use Vermont courts as a plaintiff.
If the company has already operated here
The penalty is $50 for each day, to $10,000 in a year, plus the fees due for the period. Filing now does not change what has already accrued. The penalty page shows examples.
Where filings stall
The state turns away a name that is too close to a registered one, needs a certificate inside the window, and files only once the fees are paid. If the company already operated in Vermont, the penalty is $50 a day.
The alternative
Prefer to hand it off? We take the company details, order the certificate, write the application and submit it online, for $199. Vermont's fee does not change.
Registering a foreign LLC in Vermont yourself
Gather the details
Name, home state, designated office, agent.
Search the name
Use the Secretary of State database.
Order the certificate from home
Dated within 90 days of filing.
Log in and start the application
Use the online business service center.
Upload and pay
$155 to the state.
Keep the certificate
Put the annual report on a calendar.
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.
Filing it yourself questions
Does filing online cost extra?
No. The Secretary of State adds nothing.
How long does the state take?
Online normally less than one business day; mail seven to ten business days.
What do I pay in total?
$155 to Vermont, whatever your home state charges for its certificate, plus any agent fee.
Do I need an account to register?
The online center needs a user account. A paper application does not.
What can I do to speed it up?
File online, the route the state says normally takes less than one business day.
Can I choose an alternate name?
Yes, if the company's own name is unavailable in Vermont.
May I file on paper?
Yes, though online is preferred.
What you pay
Register in Vermont
- Your Vermont application, drafted from a short questionnaire
- Your home certificate, ordered so its date is still good on filing day
- A Vermont agent for service of process, from us or of your own choosing
- The certificate of authority Vermont issues, sent on to you
- Renewal: after the first year, the agent service renews at $149 a year
$199
+ $155 Vermont fee
Register in Vermont$155 is Vermont's fee for an LLC. Other entity types pay different amounts; the cost page lists them. $199 plus the state fee, including your first year of registered agent service; after that the agent service renews at $149 a year.
Sources
- Vermont Secretary of State, fees and statutes
- 11 V.S.A. 4112, application for certificate of authority
- Vermont Secretary of State, foreign registration
- 11A V.S.A. 15.03, application for certificate of authority
- 11 V.S.A. 4116, name of foreign limited liability company
- 11 V.S.A. 1655, designation of agent for service of process
- Vermont Secretary of State, end business registration
- Vermont Secretary of State, annual and biennial reports
- 11 V.S.A. 4033, annual report
- Delaware Division of Corporations fee schedule (PDF)
- Wyoming Secretary of State, Business Division fee schedule
- 11 V.S.A. 4008 and 4009, change and resignation of agent
- 11 V.S.A. 4119, effect of failure to obtain certificate of authority
- 11A V.S.A. 15.02, consequences of transacting business without authority
Working in Vermont already?
Order today and the filing goes in before more days pile up on the penalty meter.