Iowa Foreign Registration / Costs

The price of an Iowa registration for a foreign LLC, and of keeping it

Iowa charges a foreign LLC $100 to register, $30 online or $45 on paper for each biennial report, and $10 to withdraw. Registering and then filing the first report online comes to $130. We add $199 for preparing and filing, while the price of the home certificate falls outside Iowa's schedule.

Iowa fees for a foreign LLC

Filing	Fee	Notes
Foreign registration statement	$100	Form 635_0010, can be filed online
Amended foreign registration statement	$100	For a new name, jurisdiction, address or agent detail
Statement of withdrawal	$10	Form 635_08_2, can be filed online
Biennial report, online	$30	Odd-numbered years, January 1 to April 1
Biennial report, paper	$45	Printed from Fast Track and mailed
Statement of change of agent	No fee	Can also be made on the biennial report form
Statement of correction	$5	To fix a filed record

The Code leaves the biennial report fee to the Secretary of State.

Speed and review services

Service	Fee	What it buys
Two-business-day expedite	$50	Per document; not charged if the filing is rejected
Five-business-day expedite	$15	Per document; not charged if the filing is rejected
Same-day preclearance	$250	A review for errors before filing, if received by 10:00 AM
Two-day preclearance	$200	Twice the filing fee, here for the registration statement
Three-day preclearance	$100	Equal to the filing fee, here for the registration statement

Preclearance reviews a document and returns it stamped or with a letter listing errors, but it does not give a filing date. Its fee is not credited toward the filing and is not refundable.

Copies and certificates from the state

Item	Fee
Copy of a filed document, per page	$1
Certifying a copy	$5
Application for a certificate of existence or registration	$5
Each time process is served on the Secretary of State	$5

Four ways the first years can add up

Path	Iowa total
Register, then file the first report online	$130
Register, then file the first report on paper	$145
Register, then withdraw	$110
Register, then amend once	$200
Register with two-business-day expedite	$150
Register with five-business-day expedite	$115

What our charge covers

Our charge, $199, pays for the work around the filing: taking your answers, drafting the statement, requesting the certificate, recording the agent, submitting through Fast Track Filing and sending back the state's record with your first report year. Iowa's fee is one line, and whatever the home office charges for its certificate is another.

Costs outside the Iowa schedule

Home offices set their own certificate prices; the Delaware and Wyoming pages show two. A commercial registered agent bills its own yearly fee, and a Delaware company still owes its home tax. Iowa collects none of these, but each belongs in your budget.

Other Iowa entity fees, for reference

Filing	Fee
Business corporation registration	$100
Business corporation amendment	$100
Business corporation biennial report	$60
Nonprofit application for certificate of authority	$25
Nonprofit withdrawal	$5
Limited partnership application for certificate of authority	$100

We handle LLCs and corporations directly. For the others, ask us and we will say what we can and cannot do.

Planning the first four years

An LLC that registers online and files two online reports in the span pays $100 once and $30 twice, and leaving at the end adds $10. Add expedite if you need it. Paper costs more at every step, so we file through Fast Track.

Paying and getting records

Paper filers write the check to the Secretary of State. The Secretary of State is a filing repository, so authorized filers have to check the status of their filings on the site and correct any that are wrong. The office also offers charge accounts to frequent filers. Copies of filed papers cost $1 a page, with $5 added when the copy is certified.

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.

Cost questions

Is there a fee to change the registered agent?

No. Iowa lists the statement of change and the agent's statement of resignation as no-fee filings.

Why are there two biennial report amounts?

Online costs $30 and paper costs $45, according to the Secretary of State's forms and fees page.

Does preclearance replace expedite?

No. Preclearance reviews a document before filing and does not give a filing date. Expedite speeds the filing itself.

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.

Sources

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