The company itself · A term for founders abroad
What is a registered agent?
The person or company with a street address in the state who receives legal papers and state notices for a company during business hours.
Checked against the IRS's instructions and the states' own rules. Reviewed by Saais Patel, compliance reviewer.
Term 80 of 105 in the glossary, filed under R.Wyoming Secretary of State: business filing fees
Registered agent, for a founder abroad.
Almost every state requires a company to name a registered agent: someone at a street address in the state who can be handed a lawsuit or a state notice during business hours. Some states call it a resident agent or statutory agent. A home address abroad can't be used, which is why every plan includes an agent and why the agent service renews each year.
The agent's address is where legal papers are delivered, through service of process. It isn't a mailing address for customers, and banks such as Mercury won't accept it as the business's address.
Changing agent is a filing with the state: $5 in Wyoming and $50 for a Delaware LLC. Changing your registered agent covers the steps.
Sources: Wyoming Secretary of State: business filing fees; Delaware Division of Corporations: fee schedule.
Read next · guide · 8 minHow to start a US LLC as a non-resident (2026)What founders ask next.
- Can I be my own registered agent from abroad?
- No. The agent needs a street address in the state and has to be there during business hours, so a founder abroad hires one.
- What happens if my registered agent lapses?
- Legal papers and state notices have nowhere to go, the company falls out of good standing, and the state can eventually dissolve it. Keep the agent paid as long as the company exists.
- Can I use my registered agent's address as my business address?
- Only as the company's legal address with the state. Banks such as Mercury refuse it as a business address, and it's never your home address.
03 · See also
- The company itselfService of processThe formal delivery of a lawsuit or legal notice to a company, made to its registered agent so the company can't claim it never knew.Read the term
- Keeping the company in good standingAnnual reportThe yearly filing a state requires to keep a company in good standing: $60 in Wyoming; a Delaware LLC files none and pays a yearly tax instead.Read the term
- The company itselfLLCA US company whose owners aren't personally liable for its debts, and whose profit is taxed once, to the owners, unless it elects otherwise.Read the term
- The company itselfC-CorporationA US corporation taxed on its own profit, which issues stock and is what US investors' paperwork assumes; usually formed in Delaware.Read the term
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