Rhode Island’s LLC keeps a resident agent. Its corporation keeps a registered agent. Changing the person is $20. Changing only the address is free.

What Rhode Island actually requires

R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-16-11 is the LLC duty, and the heading is “Resident agent.” Each domestic or foreign registered limited liability company shall have a resident agent for service of process. The agent shall be either an individual resident of this state, or a corporation, limited partnership, or limited liability company, and in each case either domestic or one authorized to transact business in this state. The section does not name a limited liability partnership. It does not print an age of 18. It does not print “normal business hours.” It does not print “no P.O. Box.” It does not say the company cannot be its own agent. R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-1.2-501 is the business-corporation duty, and the heading is “Registered office and registered agent.” Each corporation shall have and continuously maintain in this state a registered office, which may be the same as its place of business, and a registered agent. The agent may be an individual resident in this state, a domestic corporation, a domestic limited partnership, a domestic limited liability partnership, or a domestic limited liability company, or the foreign version of any of those if it is authorized to transact business here. In each case the agent has a business office identical with the registered office which generally is open during normal business hours to accept service of process. If the registered agent is an attorney, the business address of the agent need not be identical with the registered office, and may be the usual business address of the attorney. The same section says that whoever designates a registered agent without that agent’s authority is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, may be punished by a fine of not more than $1,000 or by imprisonment of not more than one year, or both. R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-16-11 does not print that crime.

The start-a-business page, read September 26, 2026, uses one label for the job. It says a registered agent is an individual or entity that receives official and legal documents on behalf of a business. The agent must be a Rhode Island resident or an entity qualified to do business in this state. It then says a registered agent must have a Rhode Island “street address” and must be available at the given address during normal business hours to accept service of process. It says P.O. boxes or shipping and postal company addresses, including virtual business addresses, do not meet this standard and are not allowed. That page does not split the LLC list from the corporation list. It does not print 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The annual-report page says a courtesy reminder is mailed each January to the registered agent. If that letter is returned undeliverable, revocation proceedings will be implemented for failure to maintain a registered office. The same page says the principal place of business is a different line: do not list the registered agent’s address in that field, and a P.O. box is acceptable there. We print the statute’s silence, the form’s “NOT a P.O. Box” line, and the start page’s ban. We do not invent a winner.

Form 642 is the LLC Statement of Change of Resident Agent, revised March 2026, retrieved September 26, 2026. The letterhead is the Department of State, Business Services Division. The filing fee on the face is $20. It cites RIGL 7-16-11. The instructions say a Rhode Island “street address” is required, “NOT a P.O. Box.” The new agent must be a Rhode Island resident or an entity qualified to do business in the state. Instruction 7 says any later effective date must be within 90 days of filing. The checkbox on the form says the later date must be no more than 30 days from the date of filing. R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-16-11 says a change of resident agent or of the address is effective when the secretary of state accepts the statement for filing. That subsection does not print a 30-day cap or a 90-day cap. We print 90 days, 30 days, and “when the secretary accepts it.” We do not invent a winner. The signer is an authorized person of the limited liability company. The form does not have a signature line for the new agent. Mail goes to Division of Business Services, 148 W. River Street, Providence, Rhode Island 02904-2615. In-person payment is at 148 W. River Street, Ste. 1, Providence, RI 02904. The phone is (401) 222-3040. The form’s question line is Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Those are phone hours. They are not a statutory agent clock. The form says filings are public records under RIGL 38-2-1. Form 642A, the statement of change of resident office only, says “No Filing Fee” and cites the same section. Its checkbox also says a later date must be no more than 30 days from filing.

Form 640 is the business-corporation Statement of Change of Registered Agent, also revised March 2026. The face is $20. It cites RIGL 7-1.2-502 or 7-1.2-1409. Instruction 7 and the checkbox both say a later date must be within 30 days of filing. R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-1.2-502 matches that cap: the change becomes effective upon filing, or upon a later date not more than 30 days after the filing, as set forth in the statement. The signer is an authorized officer. The office lines again say a Rhode Island “street address,” “NOT a P.O. Box.” R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-16-65 is the LLC fee statute. A statement of change of resident agent and address of registered agent is $20. A statement of change of address only for a resident agent is no fee. The same section uses both “resident agent” and “registered agent” in one fee line. Any other statement or report, except an annual report, is $10. Service of notice, demand, or process “on the registered agent” is $15. Service of process upon the secretary of state as a resident agent is a separate $15. We print both $15 lines. We do not collapse them. R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-1.2-1602 prices a corporation statement of change of registered agent, with or without the office, at $20, and a statement of change of registered office only at no fee. Any other corporation statement, except an annual report, is $10. Service on the secretary as resident agent of a corporation is $15. The corporation fee statute says “resident agent” even though R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-1.2-501 says “registered agent.” The forms fee schedule, read September 26, 2026, prints Form 642 at $20 plus a $2 enhanced online fee, Form 642A at no fee, Form 640 at $20 plus $2 online, and a miscellaneous filing at $10. The statutes do not print the $2. We print the form face, the statute, and the online add-on. We do not invent a winner.

Resignation is not the $20 change. R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-16-11 says an LLC resident agent may resign by filing a counterpart or photocopy of the signed resignation, together with a statement that the resignation has been delivered or sent to the limited liability company. Unless a later time is specified in the resignation, it is effective 30 days after it is filed. The section does not say the resignation ends sooner if a successor is appointed. R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-1.2-502 says a corporation agent may resign by filing a written notice. The secretary of state shall immediately notify the corporation at its registered office. The appointment terminates upon the expiration of 30 days after receipt of the notice by the secretary of state. That clock is “after receipt,” not “after it is filed,” and it does not print a sooner-successor sentence. The LLC fee statute prices any other statement at $10. The fee schedule prints a miscellaneous filing at $10. We did not find a resignation form number on that schedule. We will not invent a form number.

The annual report is a different paper. Say it once so the dollars do not get mixed up with the agent’s job. R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-16-66 says each domestic LLC and each foreign LLC authorized here shall file, between the first day of February and the first day of May in each year following the calendar year of the original articles or the application for registration, an annual report. The report sets out the principal office, the state of formation, a mailing address and a contact, a brief statement of the business in this state, and any additional information the secretary of state requires. It does not set out the resident agent. Proof that prior to May 1 the report was deposited in the United States mail, properly addressed, with postage prepaid, is deemed timely. If the secretary returns a nonconforming report, the late penalties do not apply if the company sends a corrected report back within 30 days from the date it was mailed out. A company that fails to file within 30 days after the time prescribed is subject to a penalty of $25 per year. The filing fee in R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-16-65 is $50. R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-1.2-1501 puts a business corporation on that same February-to-May window, with the same “prior to May 1” mail rule and the same $25 if the report is not filed within 30 days after the time prescribed. R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-1.2-1602 prices that corporation report at $50. Form 632 prints the filing period as February 1 to May 1, a filing fee of $50, and an additional $25 if the form is not filed by May 31. Item 8 says the resident-agent information on record is accurate, and that changes require Form 642. The annual-report page prints the same February 1 to May 1 window for an LLC and a business corporation, a $50 fee, a $2.50 enhanced online fee, and a $25 late penalty “applied June 1,” plus $3 to file that late report online. The fee schedule prints the on-time report at $50 plus $2.50 online, and the penalty-imposed line at $75 plus $3 online. $75 is $50 plus $25. We print “between the first day of February and the first day of May,” “prior to May 1,” “February 1 to May 1,” “by May 31,” and “applied June 1.” We do not invent a winner. Filing the report is the company’s job. It is not the job of taking the lawsuit. The $400 minimum tax on the costs page is a Division of Taxation paper. It is not this report, and it is not the agent’s job.

R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-16-11 is what happens when the LLC agent cannot be found. The secretary of state is appointed the agent of the domestic limited liability company if no resident agent has been appointed, if the resident agent’s authority has been revoked, or if the resident agent cannot be found or served following the exercise of reasonable diligence. R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-16-49 says a foreign LLC’s application includes a statement that the secretary of state is appointed if there is no resident agent or the agent cannot be found or served with reasonable diligence. R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-16-65 prices service on the secretary as resident agent at $15, and it also prices service “on the registered agent” at $15. R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-1.2-503 is the corporation path. The registered agent is an agent for process, notice, or demand. If the corporation fails to appoint or maintain a registered agent, or the agent cannot with reasonable diligence be found at the registered office, the secretary of state is an agent. Service on the secretary is made by leaving duplicate copies. The secretary forwards one copy by certified mail to the corporation at its registered office. Any service upon the secretary of state is returnable in not less than 30 days. R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-1.2-1602 prices that service at $15. We do not invent a second service dollar.

R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-16-41 is the LLC revocation path. The secretary of state may revoke the certificate of organization or the certificate of registration if the company has failed to file its annual report within the time required, or, for a company in good standing on or after July 1, 2019, has failed to pay fees when due, or the Division of Taxation has given notice of unpaid fees or taxes. A separate ground is failure for 30 days to appoint and maintain a resident agent. Another ground is failure, after a change of resident agent, to file the statement of change. No certificate shall be revoked unless the secretary has given notice not less than 60 days prior, by regular mail to the resident agent on file, and the company fails to cure before revocation. If a prior mailing to that agent address came back undeliverable, or if the revocation notice comes back undeliverable, notice goes to the principal office on the most recent annual report, or, if no annual report has been filed, to the principal office or authorized person on the articles. The missed-agent clock is 30 days. The notice comes first. The notice window is 60 days. We do not collapse those into one number. The annual-report page says a January reminder that comes back undeliverable starts revocation proceedings for failure to maintain a registered office. We print that page and the 60-day statute. We do not invent a winner. R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-16-42 says that upon issuance of the certificate of revocation, the authority to transact business in this state ceases. R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-16-43 says the secretary may withdraw that certificate within 20 years if the company files what it missed, pays $50 for each year or part of a year since revocation, and files a certificate of good standing from the Division of Taxation. The name can be blocked if another company is already using it. R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-1.2-1310 is the corporation parallel: 30 days without a registered agent, or a failure to file the statement after a change of office or agent, and the same 60-day notice before revocation. R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-1.2-1311 says the corporation’s authority to transact business ceases when the certificate issues, and it also says the issuance of that certificate does not terminate the authority of its registered agent. R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-16-42 does not print that last sentence. A missed annual report is a separate ground from a missing agent. The report is still not the registered-agent job.

Northwest’s Rhode Island page cites § 7-1.2-501 for what a registered agent is, and it says those rules cover corporations and LLCs. R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-1.2-501 is the corporation section. The LLC section is R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-16-11. The page says the agent must list a physical address on the public record and be present during business hours. R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-1.2-501 prints a business office that generally is open during normal business hours. R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-16-11 does not print a clock. The page says you can be your own agent, and that the agent must be available during normal business hours five days a week. It says the Secretary of State will reject a filing with no agent. https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE7/7-16/7-16-6.htm says the articles of organization shall set forth the name and address of the resident agent. It does not print “reject.” The page says Northwest will file the Statement of Change and cover the filing fees. It does not print $20. It says the office is in Pawtucket, RI, and that scans happen there. It does not print an address number. It says you can list their office for every address on the filing. The annual-report page says not to list the agent’s address as the principal place of business. We print both. The page calls the resignation paper a “Statement of Resignation of Registered Agent” and does not print a dollar. ZenBusiness’s Rhode Island page, last updated August 27, 2025, says there is no official resignation form. We print both descriptions. We do not invent a winner.

Bizee’s Rhode Island page says every LLC must appoint a registered agent, and that an individual must be a Rhode Island resident, at least 18, with a physical address. R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-16-11 names an individual resident. It does not print 18. The page says the agent must be available Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The start page says normal business hours and does not print that clock. The corporation statute says “generally” open during normal business hours and does not print 9-to-5. The page says a missing agent after formation is grounds for administrative dissolution, and that there is no gap period. R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-16-41 says revocation after 30 days without an agent and a notice of not less than 60 days. R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-16-11 says a resignation is effective 30 days after it is filed, unless the resignation names a later time. The quick facts print a filing fee of $150, a processing time of “3 Weeks,” an annual report due in “3 Weeks,” and a state tax rate of $156. R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-16-65 prices articles of organization at $150. The fee schedule prints Form 400 at $150 plus a $6 enhanced online fee. The start page prints $150. The costs page prints a $400 minimum tax to the Division of Taxation, not pro-rated. We print $150, $156, “3 Weeks,” and $400. We do not treat “3 Weeks” or $156 as R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-16-66. The page says a change fee is not printed as $20. It talks about $100 to $300 a year as a market range. That range is not a Bizee price. The page names no Rhode Island address.

ZenBusiness’s live Rhode Island page is the resident-agent page, last updated August 27, 2025. We opened the registered-agent URL the same day. That URL was not a live page. The resident-agent page quotes R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-16-11 for who may serve, and that quote matches the statute. It then says a P.O. box and a virtual office are unacceptable, and it cites R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-16-11 for that ban. R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-16-11 does not print that ban. The start page and Form 642 do. The page says the change is $20 for an LLC and for a corporation, online, by mail, or in person, and that Rhode Island will not take the change on the annual report. Form 632 matches the LLC half of that sentence. The page says a resignation has no official form, that there is technically no fee, and that the Department of State charges $10 for a form that is not listed. R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-16-65 prices any other statement at $10. The fee schedule prints a miscellaneous filing at $10. The page says the resignation leaves the agent in place for 30 days unless a replacement is appointed sooner, that processing is about two business days, and that after those 30 days the company has another 30 days or the state will administratively dissolve it. R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-16-11 says 30 days after filing, unless the resignation specifies a later time. R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-16-41 says 30 days without an agent is a ground, and the notice is not less than 60 days. We print those clocks. We do not invent a winner. The page prints the division at 148 W. River Street, Providence, RI 02904-2615, phone 401-222-3040. It publishes no ZenBusiness address. Its LLC formation page says articles start at $156. The statute and the start page print $150. The fee schedule adds $6 online. We print $150 and $156. We do not treat $156 as R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-16-65. LegalZoom’s Rhode Island article, updated May 18, 2026, prints a $20 Statement of Change and says the new agent must sign that form. Form 642 is signed by an authorized person of the LLC. Form 640 is signed by an authorized officer. Neither form we read has a signature line for the new agent. The article says appointing an agent without consent is a misdemeanor. That crime is in R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-1.2-501. R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-16-11 does not print it. The article says an individual must be 18 and available 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. The statutes do not print 18 or that clock. It says the state can administratively dissolve the company. The statute says revocation. It says a resignation gives the business 30 days to appoint a replacement. R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-16-11 does not print that duty in those words. The article says a foreign LLC is $156 online and $150 by mail. R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-16-65 prices the foreign application at $150. The fee schedule prints Form 450 at $150 plus $6 online. We print $150 and $156. The article publishes no LegalZoom city and no LegalZoom address. It talks about $49 to $300 a year as a market range. That range is not a LegalZoom price.

The public lookup is the corporate database on the Department of State business portal. Confirm the live line there before you treat a marketing city as current. The forms put Business Services at 148 W. River Street. Mail uses Providence, Rhode Island 02904-2615. In-person payment uses Ste. 1, Providence, RI 02904. We print both ZIP lines. We do not invent a winner. Those lines are office contacts. They are not a vendor’s registered office. The form’s 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. line is a phone window. It is not a statutory agent clock. Rhode Island does not run a Nevada-style ten-company commercial-agent register. The commercial path here is an entity on the statute’s list that is domestic or authorized to transact business in Rhode Island. We did not find a commercial-listing dollar in R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-16-65 or R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-1.2-1602. We will not invent one. R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-1.2-1602 prices articles of incorporation at $70 and a license fee of $160 when the company has fewer than 75 million authorized shares. The start page prints one formation fee of $230 for a business corporation. Those lines add. The fee schedule prints $230 plus an $8 enhanced online fee. That formation dollar is not the agent’s job.

Cited prices, retrieved September 26, 2026

We print what the company’s official registered-agent page said on the retrieval date. No company publishes a different Rhode Island registered-agent price from the national card, except where we note a Rhode Island-page sentence. We do not invent a renewal.

• Northwest Registered Agent: official page: “$125 Per Year.” Same price in year two on the national card. Five or more states is $100 a year per state. Retrieved September 26, 2026 from northwestregisteredagent.com/registered-agent and the Rhode Island product page. The Rhode Island page says the service only costs $125 and has always cost that. It says they collect the first year’s fee up front and send an invoice about a year later. First year free only if you form through them. We do not treat that bundle as the standalone price. The page says the office is in Pawtucket, RI, and that they scan documents there. It does not print an address number. The same company also sells extra mail scans: five free scans of regular business mail a year, then $15 a document. Those extras are a different product. We do not grade those extras as the registered-agent job. The page says they will pay the change fee and does not print $20. Form 642 and R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-16-65 price the LLC change at $20. The page cites § 7-1.2-501 for LLCs. The LLC section is R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-16-11. It talks about business hours five days a week. R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-16-11 does not print a clock.
• Bizee: official registered-agent page: free first year with formation; standalone $149/year; year two $149/year. Retrieved September 26, 2026 from bizee.com/business-management/registered-agent and the Rhode Island product page. That page names the Department of State, Business Services Division. It says an individual must be 18 and available 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-16-11 does not print 18 or that clock. The quick facts print a filing fee of $150, a processing time of “3 Weeks,” an annual report due in “3 Weeks,” and a state tax rate of $156. R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-16-65 prices articles at $150 and the annual report at $50, due from February 1 to May 1. The costs page prints a $400 minimum tax. The page says the state can administratively dissolve the LLC. R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-16-41 says revocation after notice. The page talks about $100 to $300 a year as a market range. That range is not a Bizee price. The page names no Rhode Island address. We print those vendor sentences. We do not invent a Rhode Island-only price from a missing dollar.
• LegalZoom: official overview: “$249/year.” The footnote says the service auto-renews at the purchase rate until you cancel, and the renewal rate is subject to change. The purchase price is for a first-time registered-agent customer. We do not invent a year-two number LegalZoom did not print. Retrieved September 26, 2026 from legalzoom.com/…/registered-agent-overview.html and the Rhode Island article, updated May 18, 2026. The article prints a $20 change. Form 642 and Form 640 match that dollar. It says the new agent must sign. The forms we read are signed by an authorized person or an authorized officer. It prints an age of 18 and a 9-to-5 clock. The statutes do not. It publishes no LegalZoom city and no LegalZoom address. The overview talks about documents scanned and uploaded, and about alerts when important mail arrives. That is the court-paper path on the national card. It is not a Rhode Island address.
• ZenBusiness: the Rhode Island resident-agent page, retrieved September 26, 2026, and last updated August 27, 2025, does not print $99 or $199. The national registered-agent page and the pricing help say the service starts at $99 plus state fees for the first year, and renews at $199 a year. We keep that national card. We do not invent a Rhode Island-only price. The resident-agent page talks about $100 to a few hundred dollars a year as a market range. That range is not a ZenBusiness price. It prints the change at $20 for an LLC and a corporation. That dollar matches Form 642, Form 640, R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-16-65, and R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-1.2-1602. It says the annual report cannot make the change. Form 632 says that for an LLC. It prints a $10 line for a resignation that is not on a listed form, and it also says there is technically no fee. The statute prices any other statement at $10. It cites R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-16-11 for a P.O. box ban that section does not print. It publishes no ZenBusiness address. Its contact block prints 148 W. River Street. That line is the division. We opened /rhode-island-registered-agent/ the same day. That URL was not a live page.

A change of agent is a separate Department of State filing. Form 642 and R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-16-65 price the LLC change at $20. Form 642A and the address-only statute line are no fee. The fee schedule adds $2 online on the $20 change and does not add a dollar on the address-only form. Form 640 and R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-1.2-1602 price the corporation change at $20, and the office-only filing at no fee. Northwest’s product page does not print $20. Bizee’s product page does not print $20. LegalZoom’s article prints $20. ZenBusiness’s resident-agent page prints $20. The annual report can sit next to the agent on the public record. Form 632 says it cannot change the LLC agent. The $50 report is not this change.

Who publishes a Rhode Island address

A city is not a registered office. We print only the addresses the companies publish for registered-agent use. We do not invent the rest. Confirm the live name and address on the corporate database before you file. Headquarters is not the registered-agent address. The division’s Providence counter is not a vendor suite. We did not pull a live search row on September 26, 2026. A city on a marketing page is still vendor-claimed until that search shows it.

• Northwest. The Rhode Island product page says the office is in Pawtucket, RI, and that scans happen there. It does not print an address number or a suite. We will not invent a Pawtucket number, and we do not treat 148 W. River Street as their office. Northwest also sells extra mail scans. Those extras are a different product. The city is vendor-claimed. Use the corporate database for the name on your own filing.
• Bizee. Claims owned offices in all 50 states. The official registered-agent page names no Rhode Island address. The live Rhode Island product page names no Rhode Island address. The contact page lists 17350 State Highway 249, Suite 220, Houston, TX 77064 as headquarters. That address is not a Rhode Island registered-agent address.
• LegalZoom. The Rhode Island article is a live page, updated May 18, 2026. It publishes no LegalZoom city and no LegalZoom address. The official overview publishes no LegalZoom city and no LegalZoom address. We do not invent a Providence suite or a Pawtucket suite. We do not treat a LegalZoom virtual-mail address as the registered-agent address.
• ZenBusiness. The Rhode Island resident-agent page publishes no ZenBusiness address or city. It prints a department contact at 148 W. River Street, Providence, RI 02904-2615. That line is the office as ZenBusiness prints it. It is not ZenBusiness. The form’s in-person line adds Ste. 1 and ZIP 02904. We do not treat either line as their registered office.

If you are your own agent, the address on the public record is often your home. R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-16-11 lets an individual resident serve for an LLC. R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-1.2-501 lets an individual resident serve for a corporation, and it ties the business office to the registered office unless the agent is an attorney. Northwest, Bizee, ZenBusiness, and LegalZoom say you can serve yourself. Bizee and LegalZoom add an age of 18 that the statutes do not print. A commercial mailbox is a sentence we found on the start page and on Form 642, not in R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-16-11. The form wants a Rhode Island address and says it is not a P.O. box. The start page also names shipping and postal company addresses and virtual business addresses. If you hire a company, the agent line has to be an entity the statute names. Northwest’s product page names Pawtucket and prints no address number. Bizee publishes no Rhode Island address. LegalZoom publishes no city and no address. ZenBusiness publishes a department contact, not a ZenBusiness suite. We label every published city vendor-claimed. Use the corporate database. Process Score has not been to those offices.

The $20 change and the annual report

A Rhode Island limited liability company shall keep a resident agent under R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-16-11. A business corporation keeps a registered agent and a registered office under R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-1.2-501. The LLC agent is an individual resident, or a corporation, a limited partnership, or a limited liability company that is domestic or authorized here. The corporation list adds a limited liability partnership and a hours sentence, with an attorney exception. Form 642 prices the LLC change at $20. Form 642A prices the address-only change at no fee. The fee schedule adds $2 online on the $20 form and prints no fee on Form 642A. Instruction 7 on Form 642 says 90 days. The checkbox says 30 days. The LLC statute says the change is effective when the secretary accepts it. Form 640 and R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-1.2-502 both say 30 days for a corporation. The annual report lists other facts and, on Form 632, cannot change the LLC agent. The report is $50. The statute says the window is between the first day of February and the first day of May, and that a mailing deposited prior to May 1 is on time. The form and the annual-report page say February 1 to May 1. The late penalty is $25 within 30 days after the time prescribed, by May 31 on the form, and applied June 1 on the annual-report page. The fee schedule prints $75 for the penalty-imposed report. If the company has no agent for 30 days, the secretary of state may revoke the certificate after notice of not less than 60 days. If no agent is kept, or the agent cannot be found or served with reasonable diligence, the secretary of state is an agent for a domestic LLC under R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-16-11, and service on the secretary is $15. A second $15 line in R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-16-65 says service on the registered agent. For a corporation, service on the secretary is returnable in not less than 30 days. Northwest’s product page claims Pawtucket and prints no address number. LegalZoom’s article prints $20 and no LegalZoom address. ZenBusiness publishes a department contact, not a ZenBusiness suite, and the registered-agent URL was not a live page. Bizee names no Rhode Island address and prints “3 Weeks” where the statute prints February 1 to May 1. We do not treat a company hours line as R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-16-11.

Service of process, not marketing mail

We grade scan-and-forward of service of process and official notices:

• Bizee: notifications by text and email; court papers mailed via FedEx with tracking; portal upload by employees. The Rhode Island page talks about a physical address and does not print a Rhode Island address. Contact-page support hours are Monday–Friday 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. CST. Those are support hours, not registered-office hours. The “3 Weeks” line sits next to Bizee’s filing-fee fact. It is not Form 642’s effective date.
• Northwest: “We scan every document you receive right where you receive it—in our office.” The Rhode Island page adds scans at the Pawtucket office. Their extra mail-scan product is a different product. We do not grade those extras as a mailbox.
• LegalZoom: upload, email, and alerts for important mail on the national overview. The Rhode Island article is a live page and still publishes no LegalZoom address. Junk-mail handling on the overview is not the job we score. An age of 18 is not the statute.
• ZenBusiness: scan and upload to a dashboard; email; overnight the original for urgent legal notices. Their own FAQ says you cannot use the agent address as your business address. Their national product currently excludes PLLCs and nonprofits; that is their exclusion, not a Rhode Island statute. The resident-agent page prints a department contact. That line is not R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-16-11.

Home-address privacy

Naming a commercial agent is how many Rhode Island owners keep a home off the agent line. The Department of State still publishes the agent name and address, and Form 642 says filings are public records. Privacy of the agent line is not privacy of every field. The annual report still asks for a principal office and a mailing address. The annual-report page says that principal-office field is not the agent’s address, and that a P.O. box is acceptable there. A Rhode Island limited liability company shall keep a resident agent. A blank line is not the same thing as a private line. Confirm the live line on the corporate database.

Scorecards

What this page does not do

• It does not rank mailbox networks or virtual offices.
• It does not publish combined star ratings or a fake 4.8.
• It does not treat a company hours line as R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-16-11.
• It does not treat the annual report, or the $50 fee, as the registered-agent job. Form 632 says the LLC agent change is Form 642. The job is taking court papers.
• It does not use one name for both statutes. R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-16-11 says resident agent. R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-1.2-501 says registered agent. The start page says registered agent for the job in general.
• It does not move the corporation’s limited-liability-partnership option, hours sentence, or attorney exception onto R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-16-11.
• It does not move the corporation misdemeanor onto the LLC statute. R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-1.2-501 prints it. R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-16-11 does not.
• It does not treat Form 642’s “NOT a P.O. Box” line as a sentence in R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-16-11. The form prints it. The start page prints a wider ban. The LLC statute does not.
• It does not treat a P.O. box on the principal-office line as the agent line. The annual-report page says a P.O. box is acceptable there, and that the agent’s address does not belong in that field.
• It does not invent a winner between Form 642’s 90-day instruction and its 30-day checkbox, or between those lines and R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-16-11, which says the change is effective when the secretary accepts it.
• It does not invent a winner between the $20 on the form and the $2 enhanced online fee on the fee schedule.
• It does not invent a resignation form number. ZenBusiness says there is no official form. Northwest names a statement. The fee schedule prints a miscellaneous filing at $10. R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-16-65 prices any other statement at $10.
• It does not invent a winner between R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-16-11, which says a resignation is effective 30 days after it is filed unless the paper names a later time, and ZenBusiness, which says 30 days unless a replacement is appointed sooner.
• It does not collapse the corporation resignation clock into the LLC clock. R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-1.2-502 says 30 days after receipt by the secretary of state.
• It does not invent a winner between R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-16-66, the form’s May 31 penalty line, and the annual-report page’s June 1 line.
• It does not invent a winner between “prior to May 1” in the statute and “February 1 to May 1” on the form and the annual-report page.
• It does not collapse the 30-day missed-agent ground and the 60-day notice in R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-16-41.
• It does not treat a missed annual report as the same ground as a missing agent. Both can lead to revocation. They are different sentences.
• It does not call revocation by the vendor phrase alone. The statute says revocation. Bizee, ZenBusiness, and LegalZoom say administrative dissolution. We print both.
• It does not treat R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-1.2-1311’s sentence, that revocation does not end the registered agent’s authority, as an LLC rule. R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-16-42 does not print it.
• It does not invent an age of 18. Bizee and LegalZoom print 18. R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-16-11 and R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-1.2-501 do not.
• It does not treat LegalZoom’s “the agent must sign” sentence as Form 642. The form is signed by an authorized person of the LLC.
• It does not treat Northwest’s cite of R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-1.2-501 as the LLC statute. The LLC statute is R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-16-11.
• It does not treat ZenBusiness’s cite of R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-16-11 as the source of the P.O. box ban. That ban is on the start page and on Form 642.
• It does not treat Bizee’s “3 Weeks” lines as R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-16-66.
• It does not treat Bizee’s $156 “state tax rate” as the $400 minimum tax on the costs page, or as the $50 annual report.
• It does not treat ZenBusiness’s $156 articles line as R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-16-65. The statute prints $150. The fee schedule adds $6 online.
• It does not invent a Northwest change dollar. The product page does not print $20.
• It does not invent a Bizee change dollar. The product page does not print $20.
• It does not collapse the two $15 service lines in R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-16-65.
• It does not treat a Houston headquarters as a Rhode Island address.
• It does not treat 148 W. River Street as a vendor suite. That contact is the division, as the forms and ZenBusiness print it.
• It does not invent a winner between ZIP 02904-2615 and ZIP 02904, or between the mail line and Ste. 1.
• It does not invent a Rhode Island-only price a company did not print.
• It does not invent a Pawtucket address number, a Providence vendor suite, or a LegalZoom address the pages did not print.
• It does not pretend a Rhode Island limited liability company may skip the agent. R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-16-11 says the company shall keep a resident agent.
• It does not treat Northwest’s extra mail-scan product as the registered-agent job.
• It does not treat ZenBusiness’s exclusion of PLLCs and nonprofits as a Rhode Island statute.
• It does not treat ZenBusiness’s, Bizee’s, or LegalZoom’s market ranges as those companies’ Rhode Island prices.
• It does not treat the $230 corporation formation line, or the $70 plus $160 license fee, as the agent’s job.
• It does not score Rhode Island tax filings. The $400 minimum tax is not this filing, and the annual report is not this filing.

Choosing among being the agent yourself, asking a lawyer, or hiring a commercial agent: DIY vs lawyer vs commercial. Alaska’s agent must be a resident or a corporation, and an LLC cannot serve: Alaska scorecard. Vermont’s LLC change is $35, and the corporation statute and the fee table disagree: Vermont scorecard. Maine’s LLC says registered agent and its corporation says clerk: Maine scorecard. Massachusetts’s LLC statute also says resident agent, and the annual report is a different dollar: Massachusetts scorecard.