Michigan foreign LLC registration
Michigan foreign LLC registration, on one seven-item form
LARA charges $50 for the certificate of authority and $25 for each yearly statement, with a monthly penalty if you skip it.
Michigan foreign LLC registration means obtaining a certificate of authority from LARA before transacting business in the state. The application is Form CSCL/CD 760, the filing fee is $50, and a good standing certificate issued by the formation state, dated within 30 days of receipt, goes with it. We prepare the form and file it for $199.
Each section below points to a page with more.
Included in the order
Seven items on one form
Form 760 has seven numbered items and an instruction page. We fill each from your answers.
The smallest state fee
LARA charges $50 for the certificate of authority and $25 for each annual statement.
A 30-day certificate
The good standing certificate from home cannot be dated more than 30 days before LARA receives it.
Four speeds
Regular review, then $50 for 24 hours, $100 the same day and more for one or two hours.
A real Michigan agent
Use our Michigan registered office, or tell us who already serves.
A person answers
A question about your Michigan filing gets a reply from a preparer.
What comes back
- Certificate of authorityLARA's record that the LLC may transact business in Michigan.
- Agent recordOur name or yours, as the resident agent on file.
- Copy of Form 760The application as LARA filed it.
- Statement reminderFebruary 15, when the yearly statement is due.
- Form 760 prepared item by item
- Certificate checked against 30 days
- Michigan agent available
How an order proceeds
Send us the facts
The LLC name, home state and organization date, what it will do in Michigan, and who the Michigan agent is.
Order the home certificate
A good standing certificate dated no earlier than 30 days before LARA receives it.
Pick a speed
Regular review, $50 for 24 hours, $100 the same day, or the one-hour and two-hour tiers.
Sign Form 760
A person with authority under the home state's law signs and gives a title.
We file
Form 760, the certificate and payment go to the Corporations Division, and the certificate of authority comes back.
Michigan at a glance
| Form | CSCL/CD 760, Application for Certificate of Authority to Transact Business in Michigan |
|---|---|
| Filed with | Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA), Corporations Division |
| Fee | $50 |
| Home proof | Good standing certificate dated no earlier than 30 days before receipt |
| Signer | A person with authority under the home state's law |
| Faster review | $50 for 24 hours or $100 the same day |
| Yearly statement | $25, due February 15 |
Certificate of authority is the Michigan term
Michigan does not speak of registration. The LLC statute says a foreign LLC shall obtain a certificate of authority from the administrator before transacting business in the state, and the administrator files the application and issues the certificate when the application substantially conforms and the fees are paid. The Form 760 page goes through the form.
What each entity pays
| Entity | Michigan filing | Fee | Yearly report |
|---|---|---|---|
| LLC | Form 760 | $50 | $25 |
| Profit corporation | Form 560 | $60 | $25 |
| Nonprofit corporation | Form 560 | $20 | $20 |
| Limited partnership | Form 411 | $10 | None |
| Limited liability partnership | Form 800 | $100 | None |
Limited partnerships and LLPs do not file annual reports with the Division. The corporation page covers Form 560, and the guide points to the partnership forms.
The seven items
Form 760 asks for the LLC's name, an assumed name only when the real name cannot be used, the home state, organization date and duration, the home office address, the Michigan registered office and agent, a person to receive copies of process, and the specific business to be done in Michigan. A catch-all purpose clause is turned away. The Form 760 walkthrough takes the items one at a time.
The 30-day certificate
Form 760's instruction page asks for a certificate from the home-state records official reporting the LLC's standing. Counted back from the day LARA takes in the application, the certificate may be at most 30 days old. Order it once the rest of the package is ready.
Four speeds
Regular review adds no fee. The four paid tiers stack on the $50. Twenty-four hours costs $50. Same day costs $100, with the request in hand by 1 p.m. Eastern. Two hours costs $500 and one hour $1,000, with later cutoffs. The fee page has the table.
Transacting business is defined by exception
Michigan defines the term backward. Rather than say what counts, the statute lists eleven things that do not count on their own, among them a bank account, independent contractors, orders accepted elsewhere, owning property without more, interstate commerce, and a deal finished inside 30 days. The list is open-ended. The what-counts page sets it out in full.
The monthly penalty
Skipping the certificate carries a civil penalty of $100 to $1,000 per calendar month, reaching back up to 5 years and stopping at $10,000. Individuals who direct the Michigan work can each be charged separately, and the penalty page says how much.
The yearly statement
By February 15 each year the LLC files a statement naming its resident agent and registered office and pays $25; a late one adds $50. A late-year authorization, after September 30, skips the first February. The annual statement page explains the rest.
Leaving Michigan
When Michigan work ends, Form 761 closes the authority for $10. The Bureau's booklet says to ask Treasury for tax clearance within 60 days afterward. See the withdrawal page.
Payment and the effective date
The $50 filing fee is nonrefundable. An expedite fee is paid in addition to it, never in place of it. Cards are accepted only when the package is delivered in person. By mail the payment is a check or money order. LARA returns the filed original to the name and address in the box on the front of the form, or to the registered office if the box is blank.
Corporations, partnerships and nonprofits
A foreign corporation, profit or nonprofit, files Form 560, the application for a certificate of authority. Profit corporations pay $60 and nonprofits $20, and the corporation page says to attach a certificate of good standing dated within 30 days. A foreign limited partnership pays $10 on Form 411, and an LLP $100 on Form 800.
A Michigan LLC's first three years
| When | Task | LARA charge |
|---|---|---|
| Before Michigan work starts | File Form 760 with the good standing certificate | $50 |
| Each February 15 after authorization | File the annual statement | $25 |
| When a fact changes | File Form 762 within 30 days | $25 |
| When the agent or office changes | File Form 520 | $5 |
| When Michigan work ends | File Form 761 | $10 |
What LARA does with the application
The administrator files the application and issues the certificate once it substantially conforms to the act and the fees are paid. The authority then reaches any business a Michigan LLC could lawfully do, subject to limits in the application or the home law, and it persists while the home authority does and the Michigan authority has not been given up, suspended or revoked. No extra rights come with it.
The resident agent in brief
The LLC keeps a registered office in Michigan, which may or may not be its place of business, and a resident agent at that office. The role is open to an individual resident in Michigan whose business office or residence is the registered office, or a domestic or foreign corporation or LLC authorized in Michigan with a business office identical with the registered office. The Division suggests a service company or a law firm when you have no Michigan address, because an LLC may not name itself. The agent page compares the choices.
Changes after the certificate
Three filings keep the record accurate. Form 762, the amended application, is due within 30 days after a change takes effect and costs $25. Form 520 changes the registered office or agent for $5. Form 518, a certificate of correction, fixes an earlier filing for $25. A new assumed name for use in Michigan costs $25 on Form 541.
Common hold-ups
Three problems slow an application. A good standing certificate that has aged past 30 days by the time the Division gets it. A process contact in item 6 who is also the agent in item 5c. And a business statement in item 7 that reads like a general purpose clause. Each is cheap to avoid before you send the form.
Questions to settle first
Four answers shorten an order. Does the LLC's name work in Michigan, or does it need an assumed name for the state? Who is the registered agent, and what is the Michigan street address? What exactly will the LLC do in Michigan? And which speed does your deadline need? If the LLC has already begun Michigan operations, say so at the outset, because the start date shapes how we describe the business. Whether past months carry a penalty is a question for a Michigan lawyer.
Registered agent: first year included, then $149 a year
$199 plus the state fee, including your first year of registered agent service; after that the agent service renews at $149 a year.
Our fee and LARA's
Get my Michigan certificate
+ $50 LARA fee
- Form CSCL/CD 760 completed from your answers, in the order the form uses
- Your home-state good standing certificate checked against Michigan's 30-day limit
- A Michigan resident agent and registered office, either ours or the one you name
- The package delivered to the Corporations Division and the certificate returned to you
- Renewal: after the first year, the agent service renews at $149 a year
$199
Michigan
Get my Michigan certificateLARA's $50 and any expedite fee are itemized separately at checkout. $199 plus the state fee, including your first year of registered agent service; after that the agent service renews at $149 a year.
Michigan foreign LLC questions
How much does Michigan charge a foreign LLC?
$50 on Form 760, then $25 for each annual statement. Our fee is $199.
What form does a foreign LLC file?
Form CSCL/CD 760, the Application for Certificate of Authority to Transact Business in Michigan.
How old can the home certificate be?
Thirty days at most, counted back from the day the Division gets the application.
Does owning property in Michigan require a certificate?
Holding property with nothing more is a safe activity under the statute.
What is the penalty for skipping the certificate?
$100 to $1,000 per month, up to $10,000, plus a bar on suing.
When is the annual statement due?
February 15 each year, for $25.
Can I file Form 760 online?
We confirm the filing route when we prepare your order.
Can the review be rushed?
Yes. $50 for 24 hours, $100 the same day, and higher tiers for one or two hours.
Sources
- Michigan LARA filing fees, limited liability companies
- Michigan LARA limited liability company filing information
- Michigan Form CSCL/CD 760, application for certificate of authority (foreign LLC)
- Michigan LARA filing fees, foreign profit and nonprofit corporations
- Michigan LARA, limited liability company forms
- Michigan Limited Liability Company Act, MCL 450.5002
- Michigan LARA, annual reports and annual statements
- MCL 450.4207, registered office, resident agent and annual statement
- MCL 450.5003, issuing the certificate of authority
- Michigan Limited Liability Company Act, MCL 450.5008
- Michigan Limited Liability Company Act, MCL 450.5007
- MCL 450.5010, attorney general action to restrain
- Michigan LARA, foreign corporation
- MCL 450.4209, changing the registered office or resident agent
Doing business in Michigan?
Tell us about the LLC and Form 760 is ours to prepare.