Registering to do business in Idaho
Register an out-of-state entity in Idaho
One statement, one $100 base fee, and no fee for the annual report.
Idaho registers a foreign LLC on the Foreign Registration Statement, the same one-page form it uses for corporations, partnerships and nonprofits. The Secretary of State's base filing fee is $100 whatever the entity type, paper submissions add a $20 manual processing fee, and the yearly report carries no fee. We prepare the statement and file it online for $199.
A home-state existence certificate must accompany the statement, issued within 90 days of the filing. The rest of the work is a registered agent with a street address in Idaho, a signer, and a calendar entry for the report month.
Order
Entity type, name, home state and your Idaho agent.
Certificate
A certificate of existence is requested and dated.
Registered
Idaho files the statement and the entity may do business.
State of Idaho
Foreign Registration Statement, Illustrative Record
- Entity
- Sample Gem State LLC
- Formed in
- Washington
- Registered agent
- Listed
A mock-up. Your record shows your own entity.
- One Idaho fee for every entity type
- Annual report: no fee
- Idaho agent available
Your order covers
One statement
Every foreign entity files the Foreign Registration Statement. The Idaho base fee is $100 for all of them.
Certificate on time
Idaho takes proof of existence from the home state if it is dated within 90 days of filing. We order it when you do.
A real street address
We can be your Idaho agent, or you can keep an agent with an actual Idaho address.
No paper surcharge
Mailed filings carry a $20 manual processing fee. We file online, so you do not pay it.
Free annual report
Idaho lists no fee for the annual report. We give you the month it falls in.
Questions answered
Questions about the statement, the report month or the agent are welcome at any stage.
From order to registration
Tell us about the entity
Its type, its exact name, where it was formed and where its principal office is.
We request the certificate
Issued by the home state's records office, no more than 90 days before we file.
Pick the Idaho agent
Choose ours, or give us the person or company you already use.
We file online
The Foreign Registration Statement goes through SOSBiz with the $100 fee, so no paper surcharge applies.
You receive the registration
We send what Idaho returns and tell you the month your annual report falls due.
Idaho registration at a glance
- Filing
- Foreign Registration Statement
- Filed with
- Idaho Secretary of State, Business Services
- Base fee
- $100, any entity type
- Paper filing
- $20 manual processing fee added
- Faster service
- $40 for expedited, $100 for same day
- Home-state proof
- Certificate of existence dated within 90 days
- Annual report
- no fee, filed online
- Processing (Secretary of State estimate)
- about 3 to 5 days from the date of filing
What the Secretary of State charges
| Filing | Base fee | On paper, with processing |
|---|---|---|
| Foreign Registration Statement | $100 | $120 |
| Amendment of the statement | $30 | $50 |
| Withdrawal of the statement | $20 | $40 |
| Change of registered agent | Nothing | $20 |
| Annual report | no fee | Paper form by request only |
Expedited service adds $40 to any of these that offer it, and same-day service adds $100. The costs page has the worked totals.
Do you have to register?
The Code makes registration a precondition to doing business in Idaho, and it spells out eleven kinds of activity that fall short of doing business. Owning property, using outside sales agents and taking orders that are accepted elsewhere are among them. Our page on whether your company needs to register goes through the list and the situations people ask about most.
The certificate of existence
The statement travels with proof from the home state that the entity exists and is in good order. Idaho counts 90 days from the date printed on that certificate, not from the day it reaches you, so request it as your last preparation step. Idaho also refuses some substitutes, which the step-by-step guide lists.
Online or paper
The Secretary of State says most filings can be completed online at SOSBiz, and that online filing is the fastest option and avoids the manual processing fee. A paper statement must be typed, goes with a $120 payment, and is rejected if the processing fee is missing. We file online. Your card payment may carry a small processing charge on top of the Idaho fee, and checkout shows the exact total before you confirm.
How long Idaho takes
The Secretary of State's pages say filings are processed about 3 to 5 days from the date of filing, and they point to a processed-through date that is refreshed every five minutes. Expedited service, where offered, is typically within 8 business hours, and same-day requests must arrive before 1 p.m. Mountain time. These are the Secretary of State's own estimates, not promises we can make, and they move with filing volume.
The registered agent
The agent has to be reachable at a real street address in Idaho, so a mailing address will not do. Our agent page explains who may serve and how to change an agent, which costs $20 on paper and has no base fee.
The annual report
Every registered foreign entity files one report a year, and Idaho lists no fee for it. It falls due in the month the entity registered, from the year after registration onward. Miss it and the Secretary of State may end the registration after giving notice. The annual report page explains how.
If an entity skips registration
Skipping registration does not void anything the company has signed, and it can still defend a suit. What it cannot do is start or keep up a lawsuit of its own in Idaho, and the Attorney General can go to court to have it stopped. The foreign-entity sections of the Code set no money penalty. The penalty page has the detail.
Corporations, partnerships and nonprofits
There is no separate corporate form. A corporation ticks the business corporation box on the same statement, and a nonprofit ticks its own; the corporation page covers what changes. Limited partnerships, limited liability partnerships and the other types listed on the form follow the same route, and the contact page is the place to write about those.
Leaving Idaho
When the Idaho business ends, the entity files the Withdrawal of Foreign Registration Statement, which has a base fee of $20, or $40 on paper. Changing the name or other facts on the record uses the Amendment of Foreign Registration Statement at $30, or $50 on paper. Delaware and Wyoming companies have pages of their own: Delaware and Wyoming.
Information to gather first
- The entity's type and its name as the home-state certificate shows it.
- The home jurisdiction.
- Where the principal office stands, plus a separate mailing address if it has one.
- The name and Idaho street address of the registered agent.
- At least one governor, with a role and a mailing address.
- A phone number and email for the Secretary of State's questions.
What the Secretary of State does with it
Once the statement and payment arrive, the office checks the form against the Code, enters the registration and posts the record. If something is missing, it contacts the phone or email you gave. If payment is not completed, the filing can be deleted from the database. When the entity appears in the business search with the agent you named, the registration is in place and the entity can do business in Idaho.
Why one statement serves every entity
The Foreign Registration Statement has a box for each kind of entity, and the Code lists the same contents for every one of them: the name, the type, the home jurisdiction, the principal office, the agent and a governor. Only the signer's role and the certificate's wording change from one entity to the next.
Registering from out of state
Nothing in the process requires a trip to Boise. SOSBiz takes the filing and the supporting upload online, and a mailed statement goes to a P.O. box. The one part that has to be local is the registered agent, whose address must be inside Idaho.
What a first year costs
Idaho's charge for the registration year is $100 online, and in later years it is nothing, because the annual report has no fee. Alongside that sit the price of the home-state certificate, a paid agent if you hire one, and the preparation fee of $199 for the filing. A paper filing would add the $20 manual processing fee, which is the main reason to file online.
Three points to get right
First, the annual report carries no fee, so the risk is a missed deadline, not a bill. Second, a certified copy of the articles does not stand in for a certificate of existence. Third, the agent needs a street address, not a mailbox.
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.
Our fee and Idaho's
Register in Idaho
Idaho$199
+ $100 Idaho fee
- Your Foreign Registration Statement, drafted from the details you give us
- A certificate of existence (certificate of good standing) from the home state, requested and dated for the filing
- An Idaho registered agent with a street address: ours, or the one you already use
- Online filing with the Secretary of State, so no paper surcharge applies
- Renewal: after the first year, the agent service renews at $149 a year
Our fee and Idaho's fee show as separate lines, and checkout gives the exact total before you pay. $199 plus the state fee, including your first year of registered agent service; after that the agent service renews at $149 a year.
Idaho registration questions
What does Idaho charge to register a foreign LLC?
$100 as the base filing fee for the Foreign Registration Statement, the same for every entity type. Paper adds $20. Our service fee is separate.
How fresh must the home certificate be?
It has to be issued no more than 90 days before you file; certified articles do not count.
Is there an annual report fee?
The Secretary of State lists no fee. The report is due each year in the month the entity registered.
Can I file faster?
Yes: $40 extra buys expedited handling, and $100 extra buys same-day handling for filings in before 1 p.m. Mountain. Otherwise filings run on the Secretary of State's posted processing time.
Can my agent use a P.O. box?
No. Idaho wants a street address where the agent can actually be found, and commercial mailboxes do not qualify.
Can I be my own agent?
Yes, if you have an Idaho street address of your own. If not, hire a service or name someone who lives there.
Does registration move my company to Idaho?
No. The home state's law keeps governing its internal affairs.
Is a lawyer needed?
Nothing on the form calls for one. Whether the company does business in Idaho at all is the legal question.
Sources
- Idaho Secretary of State, business forms and fees
- Idaho Code 30-21-214, fees
- Idaho Secretary of State, business FAQ
- Idaho Code 30-21-503, foreign registration statement
- Idaho Foreign Registration Statement form and instructions
- Idaho Amendment of Foreign Registration Statement form
- Idaho Withdrawal of Foreign Registration Statement form
- Idaho Statement of Change of Registered Agent, Registered Office, or Both
- Idaho Secretary of State, starting a business and registered agent requirements
Opening for business in Idaho?
Tell us what kind of entity you run and its home state. We handle the statement, the certificate and the agent.