Iowa Foreign Registration / Biennial report

Your Iowa biennial report as a foreign LLC

A registered foreign LLC in Iowa files a biennial report between January 1 and April 1 of every odd-numbered year, $30 online or $45 on paper. The first comes due in the first odd-numbered year after the calendar year of registration. Termination of the registration can begin once a report is more than sixty days overdue, so treat the window as a hard date.

The report at a glance

Name: Biennial report (Iowa Secretary of State)
When: January 1 to April 1 of each odd-numbered year
Fee online: $30
Fee on paper: $45
Corporations: Even-numbered years, $60
If late: Termination can begin after 60 days

When the first one is due

The first LLC report falls between January 1 and April 1 of the first odd-numbered year after the calendar year in which the foreign LLC registered. Because the window follows the calendar and not an anniversary, two LLCs that register in different months of one year share a first report date. Registration in an even-numbered year means reporting the next year; registration in an odd-numbered year means waiting two.

What the report states

For a foreign LLC the report restates the company name, the name and street address of the registered agent and the consent of any new agent, the street address of the principal office, and for a foreign LLC the jurisdiction of formation and any alternate name.

The fee

The Code leaves the report fee to the Secretary of State, and it is $30 online and $45 on paper. Profit corporations pay $60. Nonprofit corporations pay no filing fee for their reports.

Online or on paper

An LLC can file the report directly on Fast Track Filing. Paper is also an option: the portal offers a PDF to print, complete and mail.

Using the report to change the agent

The form can also serve as a statement of change for the registered agent or the agent's address. The report form may be used to change the registered agent or its address, and the Secretary of State files that change before returning a report that is otherwise incomplete. It is a convenience, and a change can be filed at any time without a fee.

A report that comes back

When a report lacks required information, the Secretary of State must promptly tell the company in writing and return the report. Do not treat a returned report as filed. The sixty-day clock keeps running.

Nonprofits and corporations in the same cycle

Corporations and nonprofits share the January 1 to April 1 window but not the year: profit corporations report in even-numbered years, while LLCs, LLPs and nonprofits report in odd-numbered years. A company that owns both a corporation and an LLC in Iowa therefore files in alternate years.

How a missed report becomes a termination

The registration may be terminated if the company has not delivered its report within sixty days after it was due. The state files a certificate of termination and delivers a copy to the agent, with an effective date at least sixty days later. If the company cures each ground before then, the state files a statement that the certificate is withdrawn.

After a termination takes effect

Once a termination takes effect the LLC may no longer do business in Iowa as a registered company, and claims from its registered years can still be brought to it under the Code's process rules. The safe course is not to let a report lapse.

Two timelines compared

An LLC that registers in the spring of an even-numbered year has its first report window in January through March of the following year, so it registers and reports within about a year. An LLC that registers in the autumn of an odd-numbered year reports two years later, more than a year after registering.

Report questions

How often must a foreign LLC report in Iowa?

Every two years, in odd-numbered years between January 1 and April 1.

How much is the report?

$30 online or $45 on paper.

What if I miss it?

The registration can be terminated once the report is sixty days late, with at least sixty more days to cure.

Do corporations report in the same year?

No. Profit corporations report in even-numbered years.

Our charge and the state's fee

Register my LLC in Iowa

+ $100 Iowa filing fee

The Iowa Limited Liability Company Foreign Registration Statement (Form 635_0010), drafted from what you tell us
A home-state certificate ordered so its date falls inside Iowa's ninety-day window
An Iowa registered agent located here: ours, or the one you use today
The filing submitted, the state's record returned to you, and your first biennial report window marked
Renewal: after the first year, the agent service renews at $149 a year

$199

Iowa

Our charge and the Iowa fee appear as separate 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.

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