Connecticut Foreign Registration › Do it yourself
Filing the Connecticut foreign LLC registration yourself
You can file the Foreign Registration Statement yourself in one session online, paying Connecticut $120 through a Business.CT.gov account, as long as you have the facts in hand. Our own order is below as the alternative, for $199.
Is doing it yourself sensible here?
Yes, for one LLC with a clear name and a settled agent. The Secretary of the State's system walks the filer through the items, saves progress, and says most filings are accepted automatically. The difficulties are not technical. They are knowing the right date for item 5, choosing the agent correctly, and remembering the annual report window in the years that follow.
Gather these before you start
| Item | Form item | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| LLC name with designator | 1 | Home-state formation record |
| Alternate name, if the first is unavailable | 2 | Your choice |
| State of formation and date | 3 and 4 | Formation record |
| Date work began in Connecticut | 5 | Your records, the real date |
| Principal office and mailing address | 6 | Your records |
| Entity email address and NAICS code | 8 and 9 | Your records |
| Agent details | 10 | The agent, who must accept |
| A manager or member with addresses | 11 | The LLC |
| A payment method | n/a | $120, plus $50 if you expedite |
The route, in order
Create or log into a Business.CT.gov account
If you do not have one, the system prompts you to create one when you file online.
Choose the foreign LLC registration
Select the Foreign Registration Statement from the list of foreign LLC filings.
Complete the items
Work through name, dates, addresses, agent and manager details. Progress can be saved and finished later.
Sign as an authorized official
The execution item is a statement under penalty of false statement.
Decide on expedite
If offered at the end, expedite is $50 per transaction.
Pay and keep the record
Pay $120 and save the filing for your file.
Diary the annual report
Put January 1 to March 31 in the calendar for every year.
What to watch on each screen
The name. Copy it from the home-state record and keep the designator. If Connecticut cannot accept it, fill in the alternate name item and only then.
The dates. Item 5 is the date work began. Do not shorten the story to make the 90-day window look met. Put the true date, register at once, and let the penalty, if any, be whatever the statute says.
The agent. Pick one of the three branches. If you pick a person, they must live in Connecticut, and the form asks them to sign accepting. If you pick a business, it must be registered with the office. If you pick the Secretary of the State, there are no further agent details to give.
The principal office. It can be anywhere, but it needs a street address. Remember that an address you give becomes publicly visible.
The paper route
Connecticut still provides a downloadable form. Use ink, print or type, attach extra 8.5 by 11 sheets if a section runs over, and make the check payable to The Secretary of the State. The state says expedited service is not available for paper forms sent by mail. Check the form's header for the current mailing address before you post it.
How long it takes
The state's fee of $120 is the same whether you file or we do. The state does say that most online filings are accepted automatically. In practice, a ready filer can finish the screens in one sitting. Lead time goes to the parts outside the screens: getting the agent's agreement, and, where you want one, a certificate from the home state.
Setting up the account
Connecticut moved its business filing to a new system, and the old CONCORD credentials no longer work, even if the state has your email on file. To make an account, go to business.ct.gov, choose Sign in at the top right, and pick Sign up now. You give a name, email, mobile number, preferred language, username and password, tick the "I'm not a robot" check yourself, and then enter the verification code sent to your email or phone. You can skip the code step. After that, sign in and the dashboard lists the filings you can make. Signing up also gives you notices of deadlines and fraud alerts.
What the online route gives you
The state lists the benefits of its online route: faster processing and fewer rejections, the option to save progress and submit later, and access to past filings with reminders of coming ones. Those points are why the paper form is the second choice, and why expedited service exists only online. If you do file on paper, keep a copy of the signed form and the check.
Where owners get stuck
- Counting the 90 days from the first customer instead of from the first day of work.
- Naming a non-resident individual as agent.
- Completing more than one part of item 10.
- Entering a P.O. box as the principal office or a manager's address.
- Leaving out the NAICS code or the entity email.
- Filing the annual report in the home state's season by mistake.
Checking your work
Before you pay, read each item back against the home-state record: the spelling of the name, the formation date, the state, and the designator. Read the agent details aloud to the agent. Check that the start date is not in the future unless work truly has not begun. After the filing, open the record from your dashboard and read it as a stranger would, since the content is public record. A new manager or member between reports is an interim notice at $20, and a name change is an amendment at $120. If anything is wrong, a correction costs $100 and an amendment $120.
What to have beside you for the account step
The account sign-up sends a verification code to the email or mobile number you give. Have that phone or inbox open. If you work from a shared office, check whose inbox will own the account, because the name on a Business.CT.gov account follows the person who set it up, and the dashboard shows every filing you make. Use a role address if more than one person will file.
After you file
Save the filing and note the annual report window. Make sure the email address on the record is read by a person, since reminders go there about a month before a report is due. Log in once to look up the due date for your own entity, so you are not relying on memory. If anything on the record is wrong, a correction has its own fee, and some changes need a new filing.
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.
Doing it yourself: questions
Can I save the online form and come back?
The state says online filing lets you save your progress and submit later.
Do I need to pay online?
Online filings are paid through the Business.CT.gov account. Paper filings use a check payable to The Secretary of the State.
Is expedite worth it?
Most filings are accepted automatically, so the state itself calls expedite unnecessary in the usual case.
How do I fix an error after filing?
A statement of correction is $100, and an amendment of the registration is $120.
Our rate, then the Connecticut fee
Register in Connecticut
+ $120 Connecticut fee
- The Foreign Registration Statement, prepared from your answers
- Proof of existence from the home state, requested where the filing calls for it
- A Connecticut registered agent: ours, or one you already have
- The filing and the date your annual report window opens
- Renewal: after the first year, the agent service renews at $149 a year
$199
Start my Connecticut filingOur rate and the state fee are separate lines at checkout. $199 plus the state fee, including your first year of registered agent service; after that the agent service renews at $149 a year.
Sources
- Business.CT.gov, foreign LLC forms and fees
- Connecticut Secretary of the State, Foreign Registration Statement for a limited liability company (PDF)
- Business.CT.gov, foreign annual report forms and fees
- Business.CT.gov, foreign stock corporation forms and fees
- Business.CT.gov, foreign nonstock corporation forms and fees
- Connecticut Secretary of the State, Application for Certificate of Authority, foreign corporation (PDF)
- Business.CT.gov, expedited services
Already working in Connecticut?
Tell us when the LLC started. We check it against the 90-day window when we prepare the filing.