South Carolina Certificate of Authority / Registered agents
Registered agents for foreign entities in South Carolina
Changing the agent of a foreign LLC in South Carolina costs $10, and the Act allows an individual resident of South Carolina, a domestic corporation, another limited liability company, or a foreign corporation or foreign company authorized to do business in the state to serve. A corporation has a registered agent and office with their own rules, covered below.
LLC compared with corporation
| Point | LLC | Corporation |
|---|---|---|
| Title | Agent for service of process | Registered agent |
| Office | a designated office in South Carolina, which need not be a place of business | a registered office that may be the same as any place of business |
| Who may serve | an individual resident of South Carolina, a domestic corporation, another limited liability company, or a foreign corporation or foreign company authorized to do business in the state | an individual who resides in South Carolina with a business office identical to the registered office, or a domestic or foreign corporation authorized in the state with a business office identical to it |
| Change fee | $10 | $10 |
| Resignation | Takes effect on day thirty-one after filing | Same count; fee $3 |
What if no agent can be found?
When an LLC fails to appoint or keep an agent for service, or the agent cannot be found at its address with reasonable diligence, the Secretary of State is the company's agent for service of any process, notice or demand. Papers then go by registered or certified mail from the Secretary of State to the designated office, and service is complete on the earliest of the date the company receives it, the date on a signed return receipt, or five days after mailing, whichever is earliest. The fee per service is $10, which the winning party can recover as costs.
How does an agent resign?
An agent resigns by delivering a statement of resignation to the Secretary of State, who mails a copy to the designated office and another to the company, and the agency ends on the thirty-first day after the statement is filed.
How is an agent changed?
An LLC's statement of change gives the company name, the present and new designated office, and the present and new agent. A corporation's statement covers 6 points, among them the new agent's written consent. An agent relocating its own office files once per client.
Why does it matter?
Failing to keep an agent, or to report a change of the agent's name or address, is a ground for revocation of the certificate. Revocation takes effect only after notice, and a failure cured in time stops it.
Do you provide an agent?
Need an agent? We can act as the South Carolina agent for service, or you can keep your own. Say which when you order.
How do I choose?
An owner living at a South Carolina street address can serve. Failing that, hire a commercial agent that is a domestic corporation, an LLC, or an authorized foreign company. Before naming one, find out its forwarding speed, its fee, and whether it signs an agreement.
What does the agent do?
Legal papers addressed to the entity are delivered to the agent at the street address on file. Filing your reports, answering suits and paying taxes are not the agent's job.
What if the agent moves?
An agent that relocates can move the registered office of every corporation it serves, by writing to each and filing the statements.
Agent for service or registered agent?
The LLC Act speaks of an agent for service of process and the corporation act of a registered agent, yet the job is identical: a person entitled to serve, at a street address here, who takes legal papers for the entity.
When does the Secretary of State step in?
If an agent cannot be found at the address with reasonable diligence, or none is kept, process may be served on the Secretary of State, who forwards it to the designated office.
Agent questions answered
Can the owner act as agent?
Yes, an individual resident with a South Carolina street address can.
Must the office be a place of business?
For an LLC the designated office need not be one.
What does a change cost?
$10 for an LLC, $10 for a corporation.
Price summary
Get your South Carolina certificate
Georgia or any stateSouth Carolina
$199
+ $110 to the state
- Your certificate of authority application, drafted from a questionnaire
- The home-state certificate requested on the right date
- A South Carolina agent for service if you need one
- The filed copy and the state's receipt
- Renewal: after the first year, the agent service renews at $149 a year
The $110 state fee is the LLC and corporation fee, paid to the Secretary of State and itemized separately; a corporation also pays a license fee, and other entity types are priced on the cost page. $199 plus the state fee, including your first year of registered agent service; after that the agent service renews at $149 a year.
Official sources
- Form F0008, application for a certificate of authority (foreign LLC), with filing instructions
- S.C. Code Title 33, Chapter 44, Uniform Limited Liability Company Act
- South Carolina Secretary of State, FAQs about business entities
- S.C. Code Title 33, Chapter 1, general provisions, fees and taxes
- Form F0002, application by a foreign corporation for a certificate of authority
- S.C. Code Title 33, Chapter 31, nonprofit corporations
- South Carolina Business Entities Online
- S.C. Code Title 33, Chapter 15, foreign corporations
Need a South Carolina certificate of authority?
Send the entity type and we take over the filing.