Maryland Foreign Registration / Filing it yourself
Filing your own Maryland foreign LLC registration, start to finish
You can register a foreign LLC in Maryland yourself by filing with SDAT through Maryland Business Express for $100 plus a 3 percent technology fee, or by mailing a paper filing with a check. The state's own guidance recommends the online route. Both routes follow, with the review time for each.
Before you begin
Collect five things. The LLC's exact name and its formation state and date. The office address that the formation state's law requires the LLC to maintain. A short description of what it will do in Maryland. The name and Maryland street address of a resident agent who has agreed to serve. And a person with authority to sign. The sixth item is the home state's proof of good standing, which you order last.
Online or by mail
| Point | Online (Business Express) | By mail |
|---|---|---|
| Payment | Credit card or PayPal | Check or money order |
| Technology fee | 3 percent | None |
| Regular review | the second calendar month after submission | Within 8 weeks of receipt |
| Expedited review | $50, not before business day 7 | $50, 7 to 10 business days after receipt |
| Fastest | $325 rush, within 3 hours before 2:30 pm | $425 for two-hour service |
The online route is the one SDAT labels recommended. The mail route exists for people who cannot file online.
Step 1: settle the three decisions
Decide the name, the agent and the speed before you open the form, because each shows up on the first screens. The name is the LLC's home name unless another Maryland entity already uses it. The agent is a person or Maryland company that agrees in advance. The speed is regular, expedited or rush, and you can choose it at checkout.
Step 2: open a Business Express account
Online filings run through an account on Maryland Business Express, where approved filings later appear on the account home page. The portal has a demo that lets you click through the whole system without logging in or entering data, which is a useful rehearsal before you file for real. Use an email you will keep, since SDAT sends its confirmation there within 24 hours of approval.
Step 3: choose the foreign LLC filing
On the schedule and in the system the filing is listed as Non-Maryland Limited Liability Company. Choose that one, not the filing for forming a Maryland LLC, which sits beside it on the schedule. The registration asks for the statute's items: the name, the jurisdiction and date of formation, the character of the business, the agent, the home office, and proof of good standing.
Step 4: upload the proof of good standing
Order the certificate of good standing from the home state and attach the file. Follow the paper form's limit of 60 days. Wait to order until the other pieces are done, since a certificate ordered a month early may be stale by the time SDAT reviews a regular-speed filing in the second calendar month.
Step 5: pay and pick the speed
SDAT may not accept a registration until all required fees are paid, so the filing and the payment go together. At checkout you see $100 for the filing and the speed option you chose. The technology fee is added when you pay by card or PayPal, and it is not refundable. If a filing is rejected as legally insufficient you must resubmit it, and a resubmitted filing is reviewed on the next business day or sooner, according to SDAT's rush rules.
Step 6: watch for the approval
An approval message shows in your Business Express account, and within 24 hours SDAT emails the acknowledgment letter. Save that letter. Then check the business entity search for the LLC's record, which shows its status and filing history.
If you file on paper
Mail the completed SDAT form, the proof of good standing and a check or money order for $100 plus any speed fee to SDAT Charter Legal, 700 E. Pratt St., Suite 2700, Baltimore, MD 21202-6377. Mailing time and manual data entry add to the review time. Expedited paper filings are reviewed within 7 to 10 business days after SDAT receives them, and non-expedited paper filings within 8 weeks. Rush paper filings received by 10:30 am are reviewed the same day.
Where people get stuck
Four things slow a filing down. The certificate is out of date when SDAT reviews it. The resident agent has not agreed, or has a post office box. The filer chose the Maryland LLC formation filing instead of the foreign one. Or the person who signs does not have authority to bind the LLC. Each is avoided by checking before you click the final button, not after.
A checklist to print
| Before you file | Done? |
|---|---|
| Name checked in the SDAT entity search | |
| Agent agreed, with a Maryland street address | |
| Signer identified and authorized | |
| Speed chosen | |
| Proof of good standing ordered and dated | |
| Payment method ready |
A realistic schedule
With regular review, plan on the second calendar month after you submit: a filing sent in November is reviewed in January. With expedited review, plan on more than seven business days. With rush, plan on hours if you submit before 2:30 pm. If the LLC must be registered by a date, the schedule decides the speed, not the other way round.
What it costs to do it yourself
The filing costs $100. Add $50 for expedited or $325 for rush if you want one, the home-state certificate, and the 3 percent technology fee if you pay online. A mailed check avoids that fee. After that the LLC owes $300 each year. The cost page has the full table.
Where the paper goes
A paper filing goes to SDAT Charter Legal, 700 E. Pratt St., Suite 2700, Baltimore, MD 21202-6377. Include the LLC's name, its formation date and the home-state proof with the check or money order.
Filing the Maryland registration yourself
Settle the name, agent and speed
Before you open the form.
Open a Business Express account
Use an email you will keep.
Choose the foreign LLC filing
It is listed as Non-Maryland Limited Liability Company.
Upload the proof of good standing
Dated within 60 days if you follow the paper form.
Pay and submit
$100 plus any speed option and the technology fee.
Save the acknowledgment
It arrives by email after approval.
Keeping proof that you filed
Print or save the acknowledgment, the proof of good standing as filed, and the confirmation of payment. Put the SDAT identification number, a letter followed by eight numbers, on the LLC's calendar next to April 15, since you will need it to file the annual report.
When a service is easier
Filing yourself works well when the name and the agent are settled and the LLC has no Maryland history. It gets harder when the LLC has already been working in Maryland for a while, when the home state's certificate is slow, or when you need to coordinate a rush filing with a closing date. That is where $199 buys time. We never mind if you decide to file it yourself.
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.
Self-filing questions
Can I file for free?
No. SDAT charges $100.
Can I avoid the technology fee?
Yes, by filing on paper and paying by check or money order.
How do I speed it up?
Choose expedited at $50 or online rush at $325 at checkout.
Our fee and SDAT's
SDAT's $100 and any speed option you choose are listed on their own 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.
Register in Maryland
$199
+ $100 SDAT fee
- The SDAT registration for a non-Maryland LLC, completed from your answers
- Your home-state proof of existence checked before anything is sent
- A Maryland resident agent, either ours or the one you name
- Submission through Business Express and the SDAT acknowledgment returned to you
- Renewal: after the first year, the agent service renews at $149 a year
Sources
- Maryland Business Express fee schedule
- Md. Code, Corps. and Ass'ns 1-203, fees
- Maryland Business Express, processing times
- Maryland Corporations and Associations 4A-1002, registration
- Maryland Business Express, register a business in Maryland
- Md. Code, Corps. and Ass'ns 4A-1004, name of a foreign LLC
- Maryland SDAT form, registration of a non-Maryland LLC
- Md. Code, Corps. and Ass'ns 1-201, fees paid before acceptance
- Maryland Business Express, maintain good standing status
- Maryland Tax-Property 11-101, annual report
Doing business in Maryland?
Give us the home-state details and we prepare the SDAT registration.