Louisiana Foreign LLC Application (Form 972)

Louisiana raised its Commercial Division fees under Act 921 of the 2026 regular session, effective October 1, 2026. For a foreign LLC the published application fee is now $185, on Form 972, the forms page, and the new fee schedule alike, and it is higher than the fee that applied before that date. The annual report and the withdrawal form rose as well. If you are comparing prices against an older guide, check its date.

Paying by credit card carries a statutory convenience fee of $5, and a returned check costs $25. Louisiana publishes no standard processing time.

On the order page, $190 appears as the state line and $199 as ours, giving $389 today.

R.S. 12:1342 says a foreign LLC has no right to transact business in Louisiana until it has procured a certificate of authority. The statute leaves the phrase undefined. R.S. 12:1343 lists ten activities that do not count, introduced by a clause that keeps the list from being exclusive.

Those ten are: maintaining, defending, or settling a proceeding; holding meetings or handling internal affairs; keeping bank accounts; maintaining offices to transfer or register the company's own membership interests; soliciting orders that need acceptance outside the state to become contracts; creating evidences of debt, mortgages, or liens; collecting debts or exercising rights in the collateral behind them; interstate or foreign commerce; one isolated transaction completed within thirty days and outside a pattern of similar ones; and acquiring or disposing of property when it is not part of regular business.

Notice what is absent: selling through independent contractors is not on Louisiana's list. A company that does so should not assume it is exempt. With staff, an office, or regular operations in Louisiana, expect to apply.

Form 972 is the foreign limited liability company version of the state's application for authority to do business here (R.S. 12:1345). It can go in through geauxBIZ online, through the mail with a check or money order enclosed, by fax with credit card details, or in person in Baton Rouge. The state's transmittal sheet says business owners in fourteen listed parishes, including Orleans, Jefferson, East Baton Rouge, and Caddo, are required to file available business documents online. The statute calls for the application in duplicate, and if it conforms, the Secretary of State files one and returns the other with the certificate of authority attached.

The form asks for the LLC's name and any previous name, the date of organization and duration, the principal office in the home jurisdiction, the principal business office, the Louisiana principal business establishment, the registered office, the agent's name and street address in Louisiana, the nature of the business to be done in Louisiana, and the names and addresses of members and managers. A member or manager signs before a notary. Then the registered agent signs an acceptance of appointment, also sworn before a notary. If the LLC has no Louisiana establishment of its own, the agent's address is treated as its Louisiana address.

A Louisiana LLC name has to include "limited liability company," L.L.C., or L.C., and it may not use "doing business as." It must be distinguishable on the state's records from other entities and reserved names (R.S. 12:1306). If your name lacks the ending or is unavailable, R.S. 12:1344 lets you add the ending or a distinguishing term for use in Louisiana. Names containing "engineer," "engineering," "surveyor," or "surveying" call for contacting the state's engineering and land surveying board first.

Louisiana asks for a lot from the home state. Under R.S. 12:1345(C), the application comes with a certificate of existence or a certificate of good standing from an authorized official of the jurisdiction where the LLC is organized. It must bear an original signature and be dated within ninety days of submission. The state says plainly that a certified copy of your articles does not substitute.

The name on the certificate must match the application. The form's instructions add a pointed note for two states: in Texas and Alabama, ask the Secretary of State for a certificate of existence, not a good standing letter from the Comptroller or the Department of Revenue. It is issued by the filing office in your home state, so order it with the filing date in mind; you will need it in hand when the application goes in. A new certificate dated within 90 days is also needed if a suspension for a missing annual report has lasted six months or more.

Louisiana is more restrictive here than most states. A foreign LLC authorized to transact business must continuously keep a registered office and at least one registered agent (R.S. 12:1350). The agent must be one of three kinds: a Louisiana-resident individual whose own business office doubles as the registered office; an individual attorney, or a law partnership authorized to practice in Louisiana, with an office there; or a corporation or LLC, domestic or foreign, that is authorized in Louisiana, shares its business address with the registered office, is permitted by its governing documents to act as an agent for service of process, and has filed a certificate naming at least two individuals at that address who can receive process.

The state's own FAQ says foreign businesses may need to hire a company that supplies agent services. The agent's name and address are public. Changing the agent or office later uses Form 346 at $30, filed in duplicate and notarized, with the new agent's sworn acceptance. A resignation takes effect thirty days after the state receives it, and you then have thirty days to name a successor.

R.S. 12:1354 blocks an unauthorized foreign LLC transacting business in Louisiana from presenting any judicial demand in a Louisiana court. Your contracts remain valid, the company can defend itself, and members and managers do not become liable for company obligations just because the certificate is missing.

Beyond the courtroom, the company is liable for all fees and taxes it would have owed had it applied on time and filed every required report, plus the penalties the chapter imposes. The attorney general recovers that amount. Under R.S. 12:1355 the Secretary of State may also investigate and impose a penalty of up to $1,000 per violation, under a schedule it must adopt, and the attorney general can sue to collect an unpaid one. The fee schedule lists no separate late fee for foreign LLCs.

An authorized foreign LLC files an annual report every year with the Secretary of State, on or before the anniversary of its qualification, signed by a member or manager. The fee is $35, with $5 more by card. It is filed on geauxBIZ, or by fax or mail, and the form can be filed up to four weeks before the due date. The report lists the registered office and principal office in the home jurisdiction, and the Louisiana establishment, registered office, and agent.

Do not let it lapse. An LLC delinquent in filing the report is not in good standing and cannot do commercial business with state agencies. Delinquency is also a revocation ground, with at least sixty days' written notice first. Other grounds include a missing agent or office, an unfiled change of agent, and unpaid fees. A name change or other new business plans call for an amended certificate of authority. State tax registrations may also apply.

To leave Louisiana, file Form 338, the Application for Withdrawal, for $185. It is executed in duplicate and notarized. The Secretary of State requests certificates from the Collector of Revenue and the administrator of the Division of Employment Security, and the Certificate of Withdrawal issues after all fees, taxes, and distributions are paid.

Once the checkout questions are answered and the home-state details are in, our side is the Form 972 paperwork and its submission to the Louisiana Secretary of State. Twelve months of the Louisiana registered agent carry no charge; afterward the agent renews at $149 a year. A summons or notice that reaches the agent is scanned for you, with the upload happening that business day and no fee for it.

The sum due now buys the application plus year one of the agent. Annual report preparation and tax filings are separate, and we file paperwork without being a law firm.

Corporations are welcome at the checkout as well. They see $190 as the state line and $389 as the total, identical to the LLC.