New Jersey Registered Agent Service With DORES Reminders Routed to the Agent

N.J.S.A. 42:2C-14 makes the agent and the registered office mandatory, and its own term is agent for service of process. The Division of Revenue and Enterprise Services, DORES, part of the Department of the Treasury, files New Jersey business entities, because the state has no Secretary of State filing office. Its forms and online portals say registered agent at a registered office. Both phrases describe one role.

The formation filing, a Certificate of Formation under N.J.S.A. 42:2C-18, records the street and mailing addresses of the initial registered office and the name of the initial agent at that office. The online Business Formation service also asks for an email address to receive registered agent notifications. Filing now costs $100, down from $125 on July 1, 2026.

Under N.J.S.A. 42:2C-17 the agent is an agent of the company for service of any process, notice or demand required or permitted by law to be served on the company. DORES's registration package also says a reminder notice of your reporting requirement will be sent to your registered agent 60 days before the report's due date. This page follows the New Jersey LLC statute, and corporations, LPs, LLPs and nonprofits can use the same agent service.

Subsection (c) allows an individual who is a resident of this State or other person with authority to transact business in this State. DORES puts the entity side in its own words: the agent may be an individual or a corporation duly registered and in good standing with the State Treasurer, and you enter one agent only.

So a corporation that is registered and in good standing with the Treasurer can serve, and that is the category commercial agents occupy. An individual has to live in New Jersey.

The statute sets no office hours for the agent.

The registered office has to be a New Jersey street address. DORES's instructions allow a P.O. box only where the street address appears too. An out-of-state address will not satisfy the requirement.

The filing records both a street address and a mailing address for the registered office.

The registered office is separate from where you run the business: the statute says the office need not be a place of the LLC's activity in New Jersey.

You can be your own agent if you live in New Jersey and have a street address in the state. The address goes on the filing.

Any New Jersey resident can serve: a co-owner, an employee, an attorney or a family member. Their address goes on the filing too.

A commercial service lists its own New Jersey address in place of yours. If you move or run several locations, the registered office stays put, so no filing is needed each time your own situation shifts.

A change of registered agent or registered office is $25 under N.J.S.A. 42:2C-93(a)(3), and the fee page lists it as "Change of registered Agent/Office." It can be filed online through the DORES annual reports and change services portal, which has a Change Registered Agent/Office service, or on paper using section G of the Business Entity Amendment Filing form.

Under N.J.S.A. 42:2C-15 a statement of change is effective when filed, and filing it is deemed an amendment of the certificate of formation, so the LLC does not need to take further action. Any authorized representative may sign.

When you move to Mainstay we prepare and submit the change, and the $25 passes through at cost. Check the business records search afterward.

A New Jersey agent resigns by filing a statement of resignation containing the company name and stating that the agent is resigning. The fee is $25, plus $10 for each LLC affected. DORES files it and mails a copy to the company's registered office, or to the principal office if its mailing address is in the records and is different. Under N.J.S.A. 42:2C-16 the agent's role ends on the earlier of the 31st day after DORES files the statement or when a record designating a new agent becomes effective. So you have about a month, and the replacement goes in on the $25 change.

If an LLC does not appoint or maintain an agent in the state, or the agent cannot with reasonable diligence be found at its street address, DORES becomes an agent of the company. Service is made by delivering duplicate copies to DORES, which sends them to the registered office or principal office. Under N.J.S.A. 42:2C-17 it is effective at the earliest of receipt, the return receipt date, or five days after the papers are deposited with the Postal Service, if correctly addressed.

The annual report reminder goes to the agent, so a dead address can also cost you the reminder. Annual reports are filed each year in the anniversary month, online, and two missed years in a row can move an LLC to the state's inactive list, where its name becomes available to others.

The online Business Formation service asks for the business name and type, registered agent information including an email address to receive registered agent notifications, and a credit card or eCheck. Paper filings go to DORES at PO Box 308, Trenton, NJ 08646, or can be uploaded, faxed or handed in over the counter at 33 W. State Street in Trenton.

The fee is $100 for all for-profit entities since July 1, 2026. Bill A-5325 amended N.J.S.A. 42:2C-93(a)(4) to cut it from $125, effective that date, though some older DORES packages and fee schedules still print $125.

The New Jersey agent role costs $149 a year with Mainstay, renewing at $149, and compliance reminders come with it. The annual report, which carries a $75 state fee, is yours to file under this service. For a new company, the $199 formation package files it, covers the agent, and adds the Certificate of Formation and your EIN application.

Mainstay's New Jersey address stands in for yours on the public record. Whatever is served on your company is scanned and uploaded the same business day, with no fee. Three government mailings a year are scanned at no charge, and a per-piece scan or shipping fee covers any further piece. We do not offer free physical forwarding on any tier.