South Carolina Foreign LLC Form F0008

South Carolina takes an unusually firm position on property. Section 33-44-1003(b) of the LLC Act provides that holding income-producing real estate in the state, or tangible personal property not otherwise excluded, is itself transacting business. A holding company with a rental house in Charleston is in a different spot than it would be in a state that ignores ownership.

Beyond that the Act never defines "transacting business." Its § 33-44-1003(a) names eleven things that do not count: handling a lawsuit, member and manager meetings, bank accounts, securities transfer offices, selling by way of independent contractors, solicited orders that become contracts only on acceptance elsewhere, borrowing and security interests, collecting debts, one isolated deal wrapped up in 30 days, interstate commerce, and owning an interest in another LLC organized or active here. The Secretary of State's FAQ puts the practical rule simply: an entity transacting business in South Carolina must apply for a certificate of authority.

The section leaves questions of service, taxation and other regulation to different laws, so staying inside the list does not clear you for tax purposes.

A foreign LLC applies on Form F0008, filed with the Secretary of State's Corporate Filings office in Columbia or through Business Entities Online at businessfilings.sc.gov. Online filing now requires an identity verification login, effective September 10, 2026. The state's published fee for the application is $110 under § 33-44-1204, and no online, card or expedite charge appears on the official pages. On our order, the filing line is $110.

On paper, send two copies (the original plus a duplicate original or conformed copy) along with the fee made out to the Secretary of State, and include a self-addressed stamped envelope if you want a filed copy mailed back. The state says online filing is processed faster, lets you correct errors before acceptance, and confirms instantly. No processing time is published.

The form asks for:

• a name that meets § 33-44-1005;
• the state or country of organization;
• the principal office street address, and the address of the designated office in South Carolina;
• the street address, name and signature of the initial agent for service of process;
• the company's term, if it is not perpetual;
• whether it is manager-managed, with each manager's name and business address;
• any members who are liable under a provision like § 33-44-303(c).

A manager signs if the company is manager-managed, or a member if it is member-managed. No notary is required.

This is where applications get stuck. Instruction 1 on Form F0008 calls for an original certificate of existence (or a similar record) dated within the last 30 days and authenticated by whoever keeps your company's records at home. Only the instruction sets the 30-day window; the statute names the certificate without any age. Its own FAQ ranks a missing or stale certificate second among the reasons business filings were rejected.

The certificate comes from the home-state filing office, which charges its own fee, so get it before the South Carolina filing goes in. Your formation document, certified or not, is not requested. Order too early and the certificate ages out while the application waits.

Whatever name the company uses in the state, fictitious ones included, has to stand apart in the Secretary of State's records from corporations, limited partnerships and companies on file, reserved or registered names, and other foreign LLCs' fictitious names (§ 33-44-1005(b)). A designator is mandatory too, whether the full words "limited liability company" or "limited company," or LLC, L.L.C., L.C., LC, Ltd. or Co.

If your legal name is taken, you must use a fictitious name for business here and file a copy of the resolution adopting it. The state's form for that is F0022, Adoption of a Fictitious Name for a foreign LLC, at a $2 fee, and the FAQ lists a missing one among its common rejection reasons. It is not a DBA registration. Holding a name ahead of time costs $25 and lasts 120 days without renewal. And an indistinguishable name is allowed with the other holder's consent or a court judgment.

South Carolina's statute uses "agent for service of process," though its forms also say registered agent. Under § 33-44-108, a foreign LLC with authority has to continuously maintain a designated office, which need not be a place of business, and an agent with a street address in the state.

The agent must be an individual resident of South Carolina, a domestic corporation, another LLC, or a foreign corporation or company authorized to do business here. The agent signs on item 5 of the application, so it must agree to serve. Nothing in the Act sets an age or office-hours requirement. When a company has no agent, or one that diligent effort cannot locate, the Secretary of State steps in as agent and mails the papers, certified, to the designated office.

A change of agent, agent address or designated office is made with a Notice of Change (form F0080/F0086), $10.

Section 33-44-1008 closes South Carolina's courts to a plaintiff LLC that transacts business without a certificate. Agreements it made stay enforceable, a defense remains open, and the shield that protects managers and members is not lost merely because the certificate is missing.

Without a certificate, the Secretary of State also becomes the recipient of claims arising from the company's activity in the state. Separately, the Attorney General may go to court to stop the company from carrying on (§ 33-44-1009).

Notice what is absent: nothing in Chapter 44 imposes a fine, late fee or back-fee bill on a foreign LLC that registers late. Form F0008 charges only its normal fee. The cost of waiting is lost access to the courts, plus the risk that you are served through the Secretary of State without hearing of it.

South Carolina has no annual report for a foreign LLC with the Secretary of State. The Department of Revenue's guidance goes further: an LLC not taxed as a corporation is not subject to the corporate annual report or the license fee at all. An LLC taxed as a corporation files the CL-1 Initial Annual Report within 60 days of starting business here, pays the $25 license fee then, and afterward reports the license fee through its corporate return.

Authority can be revoked under § 33-44-1006 for unpaid state fees or taxes, for having no agent, or for an unreported change in the agent's name or address, with notice at least 60 days before it takes effect and a chance to cure. Amending the certificate of authority (for example after a name change) uses Form F0039, at the same $110 fee.

To leave, file Form F0054, the Certificate of Cancellation of Authority, for $10. Cancellation does not end the Secretary of State's role as a recipient of service for claims tied to your time here. Applying for a certificate also subjects the company to the Department of Revenue's jurisdiction over its South Carolina tax liability, though it is not an admission of liability, and other state or local licenses may be needed.

You give us the company's information along with its fresh certificate from home, and we fill out Form F0008 and lodge it with the state. Your South Carolina agent costs nothing for the first twelve months and $149 each year after. Whatever the agent receives by service gets scanned and put in your hands as an upload before that business day ends, with nothing billed for it.

Our checkout's total today is $309, built from $199 for the work and a $110 filing line. Included are the application and the agent's first year; left out are tax filings, and the CL-1 report if your LLC is taxed as a corporation. We file paperwork for you, and Mainstay is not a law firm.

Corporations order the same way, see an identical filing line, and pay $309 today. We have not described the corporation's own South Carolina filing here, because the corporate act is a separate chapter.