Indiana Foreign Registration / Registered agent
Choosing and changing the Indiana registered agent
Registering a foreign LLC in Indiana costs $105 online, and changing its registered agent afterwards costs nothing to file. Under the Code every registered foreign entity must name and keep an agent with a street address inside Indiana. Our own service can serve as that agent when we complete the application.
Agent rules at a glance
- Who must have one
- Every registered foreign entity
- Who may serve
- an individual, a general partnership, a domestic filing entity or a registered foreign entity
- Address
- a street address in Indiana
- Agreement
- Stated in the agent filing
- Changing the agent
- A statement of change, with no fee
- If the agent quits
- A statement of resignation, also no fee
Who is allowed to serve?
The Code allows an individual, a general partnership, a domestic filing entity or a registered foreign entity (IC 23-0.5-4-3(a)). In practice that means a person who lives or works in Indiana, a firm registered here, or a commercial agent. A commercial registered agent is a business listed with the Secretary of State as serving in that role and maintaining a place of business here. Listing as a commercial agent carries its own fee, $20 online.
Why a street address, not a mailbox?
Where the chapter calls for an address, it must be a street address in Indiana. The reason shows in the Secretary of State's page on service of process: a plaintiff must try the registered agent first, and only if that fails may it serve certified mail on the principal office or ask the office to accept service. An agent whose address is a mailbox defeats the first step, and the entity then learns of the lawsuit late.
What the agent needs from you
The agent filing has to state the agent's consent, or a representation that the agent has consented (IC 23-0.5-4-3(d)). The entity must also supply its agent with a contact person, an officer, director, employee or designated agent, whose name, business address and phone number are kept up to date (IC 23-0.5-4-3(e)). If the entity fails to supply that, the agent may resign. A small company can name its owner, a manager or an employee as the contact.
How do you change the agent?
The Code lets a represented entity change its agent information by delivering a signed statement of change. The statement names the entity, gives the new information and, for a new agent, states the agent's consent or a representation that the agent has consented (IC 23-0.5-4-6). It costs nothing to file. File it within thirty days of the agent's new name or address, because the Secretary of State may revoke a registration when a change in those details goes unreported for longer than that.
What if the agent resigns?
An agent resigns by filing a statement of resignation, which also has no fee. The entity then needs a replacement quickly. Until it names one, notices go to the principal office, and the registration becomes open to revocation after notice. Appoint a new agent as soon as you hear of a resignation, and file the statement of change straight away. Having no registered agent is itself a ground for revocation (IC 23-0.5-5-11(a)).
Can the agent accept service by email?
In the Code's words, an entity without a commercial registered agent may give an email address at which the agent accepts electronic service, only in the way the Indiana supreme court's trial rules prescribe.
Hiring a professional
A professional agent charges a yearly fee that Indiana does not set. Get the agreement in writing before you name the agent on the statement.
If you want us to serve
We offer an Indiana agent service for the entities we register; it comes with the registration. Either way, get the agent's agreement before the statement is filed.
Agent questions
Can a mailbox service be my agent?
No. The record must state a street address in Indiana.
Is there a charge to switch agents?
No fee applies to a statement of change of agent or office.
Does the agent have to be a company?
No. An individual can serve.
Who serves as my agent if I use you?
We do, for the entities we register. The agent comes with the order.
Our charge and Indiana's
Register in Indiana
- The Foreign Registration Statement (State Form 56369), completed from your answers
- A check that your home-state certificate falls inside Indiana's window before the filing goes in
- An Indiana registered agent: ours, or the one you use now
- The filing sent to the state and the registration record returned to you
- Renewal: after the first year, the agent service renews at $149 a year
$199
+ $105 Indiana fee, filed online
Register in IndianaThe state fee is its own line at checkout. Indiana prices a paper filing higher than an online one. $199 plus the state fee, including your first year of registered agent service; after that the agent service renews at $149 a year.
Sources
- Indiana Code, Title 23, Article 0.5 (Uniform Business Organizations Code)
- Indiana Administrative Code, Title 75, Article 8, business entity filing governance
- Indiana State Form 56369, Foreign Registration Statement
- Indiana Secretary of State, Business Entity Reports
- Indiana Code 23-0.5-4, registered agent of entity
- Indiana Code 23-0.5-9, fees
- Indiana Secretary of State, service of process
Ready to register in Indiana?
Tell us where the company was formed and we take it from there.