Kentucky foreign LLC registration
Register your out-of-state LLC in Kentucky before the daily penalty starts to add up
Kentucky charges $90 on Form FBE and $2 for each day of unauthorized business. We file it online and prepare the county clerk copy.
Kentucky registration
Sample orderPrepared- ReceivedOrder in
- PreparedForm FBE ready
- FiledThrough FastTrack
- RecordedFile-stamped
- Our fee
- $199
- Kentucky fee
- $90
- Registered agent
- Included, first year; $149/yr after
- Online filing, usually same day
- Form FBE prepared for you
- Kentucky agent available
Checkout lists these before you pay.
A foreign LLC gets authority to work in Kentucky by filing Form FBE, the Certificate of Authority (Foreign Business Entity), with the Division of Business Filings, and the state charges $90 however the company is organized. We prepare the application and submit it for $199. Kentucky takes no home-state certificate; the form has the signer certify that the company validly exists under the law of the state that formed it.
The reason to move early is arithmetic: a company that does business here with no certificate is charged $2 a day, and it cannot bring a lawsuit in a Kentucky court until the certificate exists. After approval comes a yearly rhythm, a $15 annual report between January 1 and June 30. The rest of this page sets out the fees, the paper and the dates, with a link to the deeper page on each topic.
What we handle
One Kentucky fee
Included$90 for any entity type, paid when the application is filed.
Faster than the mail
IncludedFastTrack takes the application online, and Kentucky says most documents are processed the day they arrive.
Nothing to order at home
IncludedKentucky wants a certification on the form, not a certificate from your home state.
An agent with a street office
IncludedWe can act as your Kentucky registered agent, or you can stay with your current one.
The yearly report, noted
IncludedThe first annual report falls in the January to June window after you register; $15 each year.
A reply from a person
IncludedAsk about your company and a preparer writes back.
From order to a Kentucky certificate of authority
Share the company details
The exact name on the home record, where and when it was formed, the principal office mailing address, and who manages it.
Name the registered agent
Use ours or the person or firm you already have. The agent must sign a consent and have a Kentucky street address.
We complete Form FBE
Thirteen numbered statements, drafted from your answers, for your authorized signer to approve.
We file online
FastTrack takes the application and the $90 fee, with no paper copies to send.
You receive the record
A file-stamped postcard reaches the principal office, and we send you the filed record along with the date your first annual report window opens.
Kentucky registration in eight lines
- Form
- Form FBE, Certificate of Authority (Foreign Business Entity)
- Agency
- Kentucky Secretary of State, Division of Business Filings
- Filing fee
- $90 for every entity type
- Home-state paper
- None; item 10 of the form carries the signer's certification
- How to file
- Online through FastTrack, or by mail with a check to the Kentucky State Treasurer
- Processing
- Usually same day; Kentucky says it can take as long as three business days (annual reports aside)
- Annual report
- $15, filed between January 1 to June 30
- Daily charge without a certificate
- $2
What Kentucky charges, by filing
| Filing | Kentucky fee |
|---|---|
| Application for certificate of authority | $90 |
| Annual report | $15 |
| Amended certificate of authority | $40 |
| Change of registered agent or office | $10 |
| Change of principal office | $10 |
| Certificate of withdrawal | $40 |
| Agent resignation | No charge |
The fees page adds worked totals, the county clerk's separate charge and what the daily penalty comes to over a few months.
Do you have to register at all?
No foreign entity may transact business in Kentucky before obtaining a certificate of authority. The statute exempts 11 activities, among them a bank account, sales through independent contractors and ownership of property with nothing more. Our trigger page reads that list item by item and tests it against remote staff, a warehouse and a one-time job.
The daily penalty and the courthouse door
At $2 a day, thirty days of unauthorized business come to $60 and a full year to $730. The bigger cost is access to the courts: with no certificate, the entity cannot be a plaintiff in Kentucky, and neither can anyone who took over its claim, until the certificate is in hand. Its earlier contracts stay enforceable, and it can still answer a suit. The fines and revocation page has the rest.
What the form certifies instead of a home certificate
Kentucky does not ask for a home-office certificate of existence. Instead, item 10 of Form FBE carries the signer's certification that the company validly exists on the filing date under the law of the state or country that formed it, and the statute treats a signature as that representation. So the cost and delay of ordering a home certificate fall away, but the signer is vouching for the company's standing at home. Settle any home-state taxes or reports first.
FastTrack and the clerk copy
Kentucky's FastTrack system lets you file the application online for $90, and the same system handles annual reports, agent changes and resignations. On a second track, state law wants a copy of the application filed with the clerk of the county that holds the registered office, and the clerk bills $33 when the copy runs five pages or fewer. The Secretary of State suggests generating it from the organization search tool. The Form FBE page covers it.
A yearly report with a long window
Kentucky wants an annual report from every authorized foreign entity, $15, filed between January 1 and June 30. The first report is due the calendar year after authorization, so a company approved in November reports the next spring. Missing the due date is the first of the grounds on which revocation can begin. The annual report page has the contents and the steps.
The registered agent
Your agent has to live in Kentucky, or be an entity authorized here, and its business address must be the registered office. Self-appointment is out, and so is a PO box. Changing agents costs $10 and resigning costs nothing; the agent page explains both.
Other entity types on the same form
The form lists a box for each type, from profit and nonprofit corporations through professional LLCs and limited partnerships to statutory trusts, all at $90. A limited liability partnership takes a different route, a statement of foreign qualification, and a general partnership falls outside the section unless it wants a certificate to qualify for a state contract.
State contracts need the certificate
Eligibility for a contract under Kentucky's procurement chapters turns on holding either a certificate of authority or a statement of foreign qualification. A seller to Kentucky agencies may therefore register for that reason alone, even with little other Kentucky activity.
What the certificate lets you do
A certificate puts the company on an equal footing with a comparable Kentucky entity: no extra rights, no extra burdens. Kentucky gains no say over how the company is organized or run internally. In practice that means the company can file suit here, sign Kentucky contracts with confidence and bid for state work, while its governing documents stay governed by its home law.
Changes after approval
A new registered agent or office is a $10 statement, a new principal office address is another $10 statement, and an alteration to any other item on the application, a new Kentucky name or a switch between member and manager management for instance, requires an amended certificate for $40. A corrected annual report costs $15, and any other document a foreign entity is permitted to file costs $15.
Leaving Kentucky
A company that has stopped working here must file a certificate of withdrawal, $40, before it may leave. The Form WFE page covers the six statements, and two common home states have their own pages: Delaware and Wyoming.
Four sample bills
| Situation | Kentucky total |
|---|---|
| Register, nothing else | $90 |
| Register and file the first annual report | $105 |
| Register, then change the agent once | $100 |
| Register, file three annual reports and withdraw | $175 |
These are Kentucky's state charges only. They leave out our fee, the $33 county clerk copy, a commercial registered agent and anything your home state bills.
Do you need a preparer?
One form is all Kentucky asks for, and the FastTrack walk-through shows the do-it-yourself route. A preparer earns its charge on the surrounding details: the agent's signed consent, the county clerk copy, and an annual report that does not slip past June 30. Whether those details justify $199 depends on how many filings you handle.
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 Kentucky's
Start my Kentucky filing
KY+ $90 Kentucky fee
$199
- Form FBE, the Certificate of Authority (Foreign Business Entity), completed from your answers
- The signed statements Kentucky wants from your agent and your authorized signer, collected for you
- A Kentucky registered office and agent: ours, or the ones you already use
- Online submission through FastTrack, the file-stamped record, and the county clerk copy prepared
- Renewal: after the first year, the agent service renews at $149 a year
Kentucky's $90 is its own line at checkout. The county clerk bills separately for its copy. $199 plus the state fee, including your first year of registered agent service; after that the agent service renews at $149 a year.
Kentucky registration questions
What does Kentucky charge for a foreign LLC certificate?
$90 to the Secretary of State, plus $199 from us for preparing and filing.
What is the Kentucky form called?
Form FBE, the Certificate of Authority (Foreign Business Entity). It is filed online through FastTrack or by mail.
Do I need a certificate of good standing from my home state?
No. The signer certifies the company's existence on the form itself, in item 10.
How long does Kentucky take?
Kentucky says documents other than annual reports are usually processed the day they are received, and can take up to three business days.
What happens if I work in Kentucky without a certificate?
$2 accrues daily, and Kentucky courts are closed to your lawsuits until the certificate exists.
When is the annual report due?
Between January 1 to June 30 each year, starting the calendar year after authorization. The fee is $15.
Can the company itself act as its Kentucky agent?
No. The instructions bar it, and the agent must have a street office in Kentucky.
Does registering make my LLC a Kentucky LLC?
No. Its home state stays its state of formation, and the certificate puts it on the same footing as a comparable Kentucky entity.
Sources
- Kentucky Secretary of State, business filing fees
- Kentucky FastTrack, apply for a certificate of authority
- KRS 14A.6-010, annual report
- Kentucky Form FBE, certificate of authority for a foreign business entity
- KRS 14A.9-020, consequences of transacting business without authority
- KRS 14A.9-030, application for a certificate of authority
- Kentucky Secretary of State, annual reports
- Kentucky Form FCA, amended certificate of authority
- Kentucky Form RAC, changing a registered agent or registered office
- Kentucky Form POC, moving a principal office address
- Kentucky Form WFE, certificate of withdrawal of a foreign business entity
- KRS 14A.9-010, authority to transact business required
- Kentucky FastTrack online filings index
- KRS 64.012, fees of county clerks
- KRS 14A.2-040, copies filed with the county clerk
- KRS 14A.4-010, the duty to keep a registered office and agent
- KRS 14A.9-050, effect of a certificate of authority
- KRS 14A.9-040, amended certificate of authority
- KRS 14A.9-060, withdrawal of a foreign entity
Working in Kentucky already?
Every day without a certificate adds to the penalty meter. Start the filing today.