Skip to content
Florida Foreign Registration Place an order

Florida Foreign Registration / Self-filing

How to register a foreign LLC in Florida yourself

Registering a foreign LLC in Florida yourself means filling in Form CR2E027, attaching a certificate of existence under 90 days old, writing one $125 check and mailing or couriering the packet to the Registration Section in Tallahassee. Nothing in the instructions requires a lawyer or a notary. This page follows the packet from the first form to the annual report, and shows where packets stall.

Start my Florida filing

Collect these before you open the form

  • The company name exactly as the home state records it, and the state or country of organization.
  • The federal employer identification number, if the company has one.
  • When the company began doing business in Florida, if that was earlier than today.
  • A principal office street address and a mailing address.
  • A Florida registered agent: a name, a Florida street address (no P.O. box) and a signature on the acceptance.
  • The names, titles and addresses of the people who manage the company, up to six on the form.
  • A person authorized to sign, aware that a false statement in the filing is a felony of the third degree.

Time the certificate of existence

Request the certificate from the office that keeps the home state's records, and watch the date. Florida needs it dated not more than 90 days before the packet is delivered. If you mail the packet and the home state's certificate is already a month old, the mailing time eats into the allowance. A foreign-language certificate needs a translation under oath.

Fill in the application

Work down the ten lines described on the Form CR2E027 page: name with its LLC designator and any alternate name, jurisdiction, FEI number, first Florida business date, the two addresses, the registered agent and the agent's acceptance, the managers, the statement that the certificate is attached, and the signature. Print the name the same way everywhere it appears.

Get the agent to sign

The registered agent signs the acceptance on the application, saying they are familiar with and accept the obligations of the position. If the agent is an individual, that person must live in Florida and have a business address matching the registered office. If it is a company, it has to be an authorized entity operating from the registered office address. Collect the signature before the packet is assembled, since the acceptance is the agent's own.

Write the cover letter and the check

The Division's cover letter names the company, a person to return papers to, a daytime phone number and an email address for annual report notices. Mark the total that fits your order: $125 for the filing by itself, then $130, $155 or $160 as you add a certificate of status, a certified copy or both. Make the single check payable to the Florida Department of State.

Send it

Mail to P.O. Box 6327, Tallahassee, FL 32314 or courier to 2415 N. Monroe Street, Suite 810, Tallahassee, FL 32303. Keep a copy of everything, including the certificate and the check image.

A checklist before you seal the envelope

  • The company name is spelled the same on the application, the cover letter and the certificate.
  • Every one of the ten lines is filled in or deliberately left blank (the EIN and the first Florida business date can be blank if they do not apply).
  • The registered agent has signed the acceptance, and the agent's address is a Florida street address.
  • The managers or authorized persons on line 8 include at least one person with authority to manage.
  • The certificate is an original showing the company in existence, and it will still be under 90 days old when it is delivered.
  • The box ticked on the cover letter matches the check, which is payable to the Florida Department of State.
  • You have photocopied the whole packet for your records.

Where do-it-yourself packets stall

  • The certificate ages out. Delivery time counts. A certificate that was fresh at signing can be too old on arrival.
  • The agent. An unsigned acceptance, or a registered office that is a mailbox, sends the packet back.
  • The name. The form leaves name infringement to the applicant, so check Florida's records and trademark records before you print the name on a letterhead.
  • The check. A total that does not match the box ticked, or a payee other than the Department of State.
  • Indexing the managers. Item 8 needs at least one person with authority to manage the company, since the statute requires one.

After the acknowledgment arrives

The annual report is next, and it is the part of Florida registration that you will repeat every year. It must be filed online between January 1 and May 1 of the year after the company is authorized, for $138.75. Keep the acknowledgment letter, since it carries the Florida document number the online system asks for. The screen-by-screen steps follow, and the annual report page covers revocation and reinstatement.

The first annual report, field by field

The annual report is filed through Sunbiz, and the Division's own instructions page walks through the same fields in order: document number, entity name, federal employer identification number, principal place of business address, mailing address, registered agent name, address and signature, principals, certificate of status, fee, delivery and email address. In practice that means opening the annual report filing on Sunbiz, entering your Florida document number from the acknowledgment letter, and then confirming each item the system displays against what the statute requires the report to state (Fla. Stat. 605.0212(1)).

Work through them like this. Confirm the company name as registered in Florida. Confirm the federal employer identification number, or note that one has been applied for (section 605.0212(1)(d)). Check the principal office and mailing addresses, which the statute says the report must carry. Check the registered agent and the registered office, because an agent name or address that differs from the Division's record counts as a statement of change. Check the person or persons with authority to manage the company, at least one of whom must appear. Enter an email address you read, since under Florida law email addresses are public records and the Division uses the one you give for later notices. Then choose whether to add a certificate of status ($5 for an LLC), review the fee and pay.

Paying the annual report fee

Card payments for online filings are processed by a third party, and the statement entry reads NIC DOS DIVISION OF CORP, so keep the receipt it emails you. The Division reports that updates post within minutes of filing when a credit card is used. The fee is $138.75 through May 1, $538.75 after it, and a correction filed later as an amended annual report is $50. The report must be filed online; there is no paper annual report form.

Registering a foreign LLC in Florida yourself

  1. Check that Florida applies

    Compare your Florida activity and property with the statute.

  2. Line up the agent

    Name, Florida street address and a signed acceptance.

  3. Order the certificate of existence

    Timed so it is still fresh, under 90 days, when the packet lands.

  4. Complete Form CR2E027 and the cover letter

    All ten lines, then the right check total.

  5. Mail or courier the packet

    To the Registration Section in Tallahassee, and keep copies.

  6. Calendar the annual report

    $138.75 between January 1 and May 1 each year.

Or let us do it

To skip timing the certificate, chasing the agent's signature and balancing the check total, use our order form: it asks for the details once and does it all for $199 plus the state fee.

Let us file it for me

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.

$199, Florida fee at cost

Qualify in Florida

Florida

$199

+ $125 Division of Corporations fee

  • Form CR2E027 for an LLC or Form CR2E007 for a corporation, completed for you
  • Your home state's certificate of existence, which we order so it is dated inside the window
  • Sent to the Division of Corporations in Tallahassee
  • A Florida registered agent: ours, or one you have already
  • The filed authorization and your first annual report date
  • Renewal: after the first year, the agent service renews at $149 a year
Start my Florida filing

Our fee and the Florida fee appear on separate lines at checkout. The state fee is not marked up. $199 plus the state fee, including your first year of registered agent service; after that the agent service renews at $149 a year.

Sources for this page

  1. Florida Division of Corporations, LLC fees
  2. Florida Division of Corporations, Form CR2E027 instructions (foreign LLC)
  3. Florida Division of Corporations, Form CR2E007 (foreign corporation)
  4. Florida Statutes 605.0902 (application for certificate of authority)
  5. Florida Division of Corporations, corporate fees
  6. Florida Division of Corporations, annual report instructions
  7. Florida Statutes 605.0212 (annual report for the department)
  8. Florida Division of Corporations, annual report fees
  9. Florida Division of Corporations, update your information
  10. Florida Division of Corporations, LLC forms

Bringing your company into Florida?

Order in a few minutes. We gather the certificate, complete the application and file it for you.

Start my Florida filing