Process Score

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Not legal advice. Confirm the live agent line on the Clerk’s Information System before you file or treat a published street as current. That search is Virginia’s public lookup. The office that keeps it is the State Corporation Commission, not a Secretary of State.

State · Virginia

Virginia LLCs pay a $50 registration fee: the registered agent is still a separate job

A registered agent is the person or company who can be handed a lawsuit for the business. It is not a mailbox. A registered agent is also called a statutory agent, or an agent for service of process. Handing over those court papers is called service of process. The office that keeps Virginia’s public list is the State Corporation Commission. It is not called Secretary of State here. Each year after the year of formation, a Virginia LLC also pays a $50 annual registration fee. That fee is a yearly bill. It is not an annual report, and it is not the registered-agent job. The Commission mails the fee notice to the registered office. This page is the Virginia rule and the dated prices. It does not reprint vendor cards from another state.

Updated September 10, 2026 · Methodology · Prices retrieved September 10, 2026 from official pages

A registered agent is not a virtual mailbox. We do not score mailbox suites, virtual offices, or Google Business Profile eligibility here. If you need scans of catalogs, that is a different product on a different site.

What Virginia actually requires

A registered agent is the person or company who can be handed a lawsuit. Service of process means handing over those papers. Code of Virginia § 13.1-1015 requires a registered office and a registered agent. An individual must live in Virginia, match that office, and be a member, manager, qualifying officer or partner, trustee, or Virginia State Bar member. An entity agent must be an authorized corporation, limited liability company, or registered limited liability partnership with that same office. The company cannot be its own agent. A notarized writing names the person who takes papers.

A street is a place a person can walk up to. A P.O. Box is a mailbox at the post office. The office receives lawsuits and registration-fee notices. A Post Office box is not acceptable except in a town under 2,000 people with no street address, and then only on paper. The statute says a resident officer, or a designated person, must be available during regular business hours.

Code of Virginia § 13.1-1016 is form LLC1016, at no fee. Code of Virginia § 13.1-1017 takes effect at 12:01 a.m. on the 31st day, or sooner when a new agent is filed. The FAQ then allows 31 days and describes inactive status. The sources disagree. This page does not pick one.

After the formation year, a limited liability company pays $50 by the last day of its formation month. Still unpaid at the end of the third month, the company is canceled. Corporations file an annual report. Limited liability companies do not. The $50 bill is not taking a lawsuit. Code of Virginia § 13.1-1018 serves the agent. If none is found, the clerk of the Commission is the agent. This section prints no dollar for that clerk fee.

Related guide: Can I be my own registered agent? A Virginia resident in a listed role may serve. The company cannot be its own agent.

Related guide: What is a registered agent for an LLC? The job is forwarding a lawsuit from the Virginia office. The $50 fee is a different bill.

Related guide: How much does a registered agent cost? The change, form LLC1016, is no fee. The $50 registration fee is not an annual report.

Related guide: How to change a registered agent on an LLC File the statement of change. The forms table prices LLC1016 at no fee.

Related guide: What is a commercial registered agent? An authorized company may serve if its business office is the registered office, and a natural person is kept there.

Related guide: Service of process: what it means for an LLC Service of process means handing the papers to the agent. The Commission clerk is only the fallback.

Related guide: What is a registered agent address? The office is a Virginia street on the public record. A P.O. Box works only under the small-town paper rule.

Related guide: Best registered agent service An entity agent must keep a person at the office to take papers. The company cannot name itself.

Related guide: What is a certificate of good standing? The certificate is a different paper from the agent filing and from the $50 fee. This section does not print a certificate price.

The statute says regular business hours and does not print a numbered clock. In-person Commission hours are 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. on weekdays, not the agent’s clock. Someone has to be at a Virginia street to accept hand-delivered papers. A software login is not that street.

Full requirement and citations

In plain language. Virginia wants a person or company who can take court papers at a Virginia street. That person is the registered agent. The street is the registered office. The agent’s business office must be the same street as that registered office. A P.O. Box is not the registered office, except in a city or town with fewer than 2,000 people and no street address, and then only on a paper filing. The registered office is a public record. It receives service of process and the annual registration fee notices. A company may not be its own registered agent. A Virginia LLC pays a $50 annual registration fee each year after the year of formation, due the last day of the month of formation. Miss that due date and a $25 late penalty is added. If the fee is still unpaid on the last day of the third month after it was due, the LLC is automatically canceled. Corporations file annual reports. LLCs do not. Check the live name on the Clerk’s Information System before you file.

Related guide: The registered agent requirements: what you must meet Virginia limits which resident can take the job, and the company cannot be its own agent.

Code of Virginia § 13.1-1015 is Virginia’s registered-agent rule. Each domestic limited liability company, and each foreign limited liability company registered here, must continuously maintain in the Commonwealth a registered office and a registered agent. The registered office may be the same as any of its places of business. The agent must be an individual who lives in Virginia and whose business office is identical with the registered office, and who is a member or manager, an officer or director of a member corporation, a partner of a member partnership, a trustee of a member trust, or a member of the Virginia State Bar; or a domestic or foreign stock or nonstock corporation, limited liability company, or registered limited liability partnership authorized to transact business in the Commonwealth, the business office of which is identical with the registered office. An entity shall not be its own registered agent. An entity agent must designate, by a writing acknowledged before a notary public, one or more natural persons at that office on whom process, notice, or demand may be served, and must keep at least one such person there. The statute also lets a Virginia resident who is an officer of the limited liability company serve, if that person or a designated natural person is available during regular business hours at the registered office. The sole duty of the registered agent is to forward to the limited liability company at its last known address any process, notice, or demand that is served on the registered agent. That is the sentence this page is built on. Georgia wants the registered office at the same street as the agent. Illinois also wants the agent’s business office identical with the registered office. Colorado will not take a commercial mailbox or a P.O. Box as the street. Florida files a written acceptance and posts a 10–noon / 2–4 clock. Delaware bans a virtual-only agent. Nevada makes a commercial agent register at ten companies. Wyoming bans UPS stores and virtual addresses. New York already names the Secretary of State as the agent. Pennsylvania files a registered office, not a registered agent. New Jersey wants a street and will not take a P.O. Box alone. Ohio files a written acceptance and cancels the articles if you miss the 30-day statutory-agent notice. Arizona waits on a signed acceptance. North Carolina’s LLC annual report is $200 paper or $203 online. Virginia’s LLC pays a $50 fee and files no annual report. We print that contrast once. We did not retrieve a Virginia written-acceptance form.

The State Corporation Commission registered-agent FAQ, retrieved September 10, 2026, is the street rule this page is built on. A registered agent is an individual or company that accepts official paperwork such as service of process (lawsuits) and annual registration fee notices. Every authorized Virginia business must maintain a registered agent. The FAQ wants a Virginia physical business address, availability during normal business hours, and, for an individual, a Virginia resident who is a member of the Virginia State Bar or a member of the business’s management. You may use a third-party law firm or service company. A business entity cannot act as its own registered agent. The registered office is the Virginia business office where the agent receives service of process and annual registration fee notices. Because the agent must be physically present to receive documents, a Post Office box is not acceptable, except in cities or towns with a population of less than 2,000 and no street address. If you use that exception, you can file only on paper. The registered office address is part of the public record. A complete address includes the street number and name, city, state, ZIP code, and the locality: the county or independent city. We print the office’s own words. We do not treat a P.O. Box as the everyday registered office.

The same official FAQ is how you change the line and how an agent steps down. You may change the registered agent or registered office in the Clerk’s Information System, or request a paper Statement of Change of a Registered Agent and/or Registered Office. After the Clerk’s Office records the change, you receive an Acknowledgement of Change. An agent resigns by filing a Statement/Certificate of Resignation of Registered Agent, in the Clerk’s Information System or on paper. The agent must send a copy of the form by certified mail to the principal office. The FAQ says the resignation is effective on the 31st day after the statement was filed. You then have 31 days from the time the filing was completed to appoint a new registered agent. If a new agent is not appointed by then, the office says you will be notified that the business status changed to inactive. If that is not resolved by the last day of the second month after the notification, the status changes to terminated, revoked, or canceled automatically. Communications from the Commission are sent to the registered office. The principal office is a different line. It is not a Post Office box.

Code of Virginia § 13.1-1016 is how you change the office or the agent. A limited liability company, or a foreign limited liability company registered here, may change its registered office or registered agent, or both, by filing a statement of change on a Commission form. The statement names the current registered office, the new post-office address including the street and number if any, the city or county, the current agent, the new agent, and a statement that after the change the company will comply with § 13.1-1015. A statement of change must be filed whenever the agent dies, resigns, or ceases to satisfy § 13.1-1015. The official LLC form is LLC1016, Update your Registered Office Address or Change your Registered Agent. The LLC forms table, retrieved September 10, 2026, prices LLC1016 at No Fee. Those dollars are Commission dollars. They are not the vendor’s year-1 card.

Code of Virginia § 13.1-1017 is how an agent steps down. The agent files a statement of resignation and certifies that a copy will be mailed to the principal office by certified mail on or before the business day following the day the statement is filed. When the resignation takes effect, the registered office is also discontinued. The statement takes effect on the earlier of 12:01 a.m. on the 31st day after the date it was filed, or the date a statement of change appointing a new agent is filed under § 13.1-1016. The official LLC form is LLC1017, Resign as Registered Agent. The same forms table prices LLC1017 at No Fee. That 31-day resignation clock is not the company’s later duty to put a new agent on record after the notice. We print both. The sources do not agree. This page does not add a third clock.

Code of Virginia § 13.1-1018 is service of process. The registered agent is the limited liability company’s agent for service of process, notice, or demand. If the company fails to appoint or maintain a registered agent in this Commonwealth, or the agent cannot with reasonable diligence be found at the registered office, the clerk of the Commission is an agent of the limited liability company. Service on the clerk is made in accordance with Code of Virginia § 12.1-19.1. That statute says service on the clerk is made by leaving two copies of the process for each defendant, together with the fee or fees specified in subsection G, in the office of the Clerk of the Commission. That clerk path is a fallback. It is not the everyday job. New York starts with the Secretary of State on the agent line. Virginia starts with your appointed agent. A vendor article does not supply a dollar figure for that fallback fee. We cite the statute’s “fee or fees specified in subsection G.”

Virginia also bills an annual registration fee. That bill is not the registered-agent job. The Maintaining Your Business page, retrieved September 10, 2026, is the price this page is built on. All Virginia and foreign limited liability companies must pay their annual registration each year after the year of formation. The fee is due by the last day of the month in which the LLC was formed. The fee is $50 and can be paid online through the Clerk’s Information System. If payment is not received by the due date, a $25 penalty is imposed. If the annual registration fee is not paid on or before the last day of the third month following its due date, a Virginia LLC’s existence, or a foreign LLC’s registration, is automatically canceled by operation of law. Stock and nonstock corporations pay an annual registration fee and file an annual report every year after the year of incorporation. Limited liability companies do not file that annual report. We print the LLC line first because that is the formation most first-time owners file. We do not treat the $50 fee as the registered-agent job. North Carolina’s LLC annual report is $200 paper or $203 online. Virginia’s LLC pays $50 and files no annual report. The $50 still does not take court papers.

The same official page repeats the agent-line clocks. Annual notices for registration fees and, for companies that file them, annual reports are mailed to the registered office. If your registered agent resigned and a new one has not been appointed within 31 days, the Clerk’s Office will notify you to appoint a new registered agent and place the business in an inactive status. If you fail to appoint a new registered agent by the last day of the second month following the month of notification, the Commission will automatically terminate, revoke, or cancel the registration. The general business FAQ repeats that notices such as annual registration fees are sent to the registered office by mail. Confirm the live name and street on the Clerk’s Information System before you treat a marketing city as current. Headquarters is not the registered office. The Commission desk is not a vendor suite. The official Business Home page, retrieved September 10, 2026, lists the mailing line as Office of the Clerk, P.O. Box 1197, Richmond, Virginia 23218, and the street as 1300 E. Main St., 1st floor, Richmond, Virginia 23219. Call-center hours on the contact page include 804-371-9733. In-person access on those pages is 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., Monday through Friday. Document drop-off is 8:15 a.m. to 5 p.m. Those hours and that street are the State Corporation Commission, not a commercial registered agent.

Cited prices, retrieved September 10, 2026

We print what the company’s official registered-agent page said on the retrieval date. No company publishes a different Virginia registered-agent price from the national card, except where we note a Virginia-page renewal line. The page does not publish a separate renewal price.

Vendor Year 1 Year 2 Letters Link
Northwest Registered Agent $125/year standalone; first year free only if you form the entity through Northwest $125/year (same price; $100/year per state if you have five or more states) B+ / B / B Official page
Bizee Free first year when you form through Bizee; standalone registered agent $149/year Official pages we retrieved say $149/year after the free first year (or $149 from day one if you buy standalone) C+ / B- / B Official page
LegalZoom $249/year on the official registered-agent overview (first-time customers) Official footnote: auto-renews at the purchase rate until you cancel; “The renewal rate is subject to change.” C / B- / B- LegalZoom
ZenBusiness $99 + VA state fees for the first year (standalone); Virginia page says starts at $99 + VA state fees $199/year renewal on the official Virginia pages; Virginia pages say the rate is subject to change C / B- / B- ZenBusiness

A change of agent is a separate Commission filing. We cite the official LLC forms table, retrieved September 10, 2026, not company blogs. Form LLC1016 is No Fee. Form LLC1017 is No Fee. ZenBusiness’s Virginia page also says there is no filing fee to change the agent. That matches the official table. We print the official dollars. The LLC annual registration fee is still $50. It is still not the registered-agent job.

Who publishes a Virginia street

A city is not a registered office. We print only the streets the companies publish for registered-agent use. The pages we read do not publish the rest. Confirm the live name and street on the Clerk’s Information System before you file. Headquarters is not the registered office. The State Corporation Commission’s Richmond contacts are not vendor suites.

If you are your own agent, the street on the public record is often your home. If you hire a commercial registered agent, the agent line is that organization’s name and its Virginia street. Northwest names Richmond, ZIP 23294, Henrico County, and no street. LegalZoom’s Virginia article names no LegalZoom street. Bizee and ZenBusiness publish no Virginia street. We label every city vendor-claimed. We have not been to those offices. Use the Clerk’s Information System.

In-state office and the identical-office rule

Virginia wants an in-state person or an authorized company, a physical registered office, and the agent’s business office on that same street. A P.O. Box is not the registered office except in a town under 2,000 with no street, and then only on paper. Change the agent on Form LLC1016 at no fee. Miss the $50 annual registration fee long enough and the LLC is canceled. Resignation is effective at 12:01 a.m. on the 31st day, or sooner if a new agent is filed. Stay without a replacement past the later notice and the Commission terminates, revokes, or cancels the registration. The LLC annual registration fee is due the last day of the formation month and costs $50. Virginia does not post a Florida-style 10–noon / 2–4 clock, and it does not run a Nevada-style ten-company commercial-agent register on the text we could read. Northwest claims Richmond, ZIP 23294, and no street. LegalZoom’s Virginia article names no LegalZoom street. ZenBusiness’s Virginia product page names no ZenBusiness street. The 1300 E. Main Street line is the State Corporation Commission. Bizee names no Virginia street. Process Score has not been to those offices. We do not treat a company 9-to-5 line as Code of Virginia § 13.1-1015.

Service of process, not marketing mail

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

Home-address privacy

A commercial organizational agent is how most Virginia owners keep a home off the agent line. The State Corporation Commission still publishes whatever other addresses you put on a formation filing. Privacy of the agent line is not privacy of every field. Confirm the live line on the Clerk’s Information System.

Scorecards

Northwest Registered Agent

Commercial registered agent
Year-1 / year-2 price
B+
National $125/year, same in year 2. Five-or-more-states is $100/year per state. No Virginia-only price.
SOS street and presence
B
They name Richmond, VA 23294, Henrico County. No street on the product or office-locations pages. Confirm the Clerk’s Information System. The page does not publish one.
Process and privacy
B
In-office same-day scan of documents they receive. Grade the court-paper path, not the mail-forwarding add-on.

Year 1: $125/year standalone; first year free only if you form the entity through Northwest

Year 2: $125/year (same price; $100/year per state if you have five or more states)

Retrieved: 2026-09-10

Official page

Bizee

Commercial registered agent
Year-1 / year-2 price
C+
Year 1 can be $0 with formation on the official card. Year 2 is $149. No Virginia-only price.
SOS street and presence
B-
No Virginia registered-agent street on the product pages. Houston HQ is not a Virginia registered-agent street. Confirm the Clerk’s Information System.
Process and privacy
B
Published court-paper path: notify, scan to portal, FedEx the papers. Not a mailbox.

Year 1: Free first year when you form through Bizee; standalone registered agent $149/year

Year 2: Official pages we retrieved say $149/year after the free first year (or $149 from day one if you buy standalone)

Retrieved: 2026-09-10

Official page

LegalZoom

Commercial registered agent
Year-1 / year-2 price
C
Official $249/year. Year 2 is “purchase rate,” subject to change. The page does not publish $299.
SOS street and presence
B-
Official registered-agent overview does not publish a Virginia street. The Virginia article names no LegalZoom office. Confirm the Clerk’s Information System.
Process and privacy
B-
Published court-paper scan, email, and postcard. Junk mail is filtered. That is not the product we grade.

Year 1: $249/year on the official registered-agent overview (first-time customers)

Year 2: Official footnote: auto-renews at the purchase rate until you cancel; “The renewal rate is subject to change.”

Retrieved: 2026-09-10

LegalZoom

ZenBusiness

Commercial registered agent
Year-1 / year-2 price
C
Year 1 $99 + VA state fees is a first-year deal. Year 2 is $199, subject to change on the Virginia pages. Read the renewal line.
SOS street and presence
B-
Virginia product page publishes no ZenBusiness street or city. The 1300 E. Main Street line is the State Corporation Commission. Confirm the Clerk’s Information System. The page does not publish a suite.
Process and privacy
B-
Scan, dashboard, email; overnight for urgent legal notices. Not a mailbox. Their national product currently excludes PLLCs and nonprofits. That is ZenBusiness’s exclusion, not a Virginia statute.

Year 1: $99 + VA state fees for the first year (standalone); Virginia page says starts at $99 + VA state fees

Year 2: $199/year renewal on the official Virginia pages; Virginia pages say the rate is subject to change

Retrieved: 2026-09-10

ZenBusiness

What this page does not do

Choosing among being the agent yourself, asking a lawyer, or hiring a commercial agent: DIY vs lawyer vs commercial. California’s scorecard is a different statute: California scorecard. Texas keeps the written consent with the company: Texas scorecard. Florida files the acceptance and posts a 10–noon / 2–4 clock: Florida scorecard. Delaware bans a virtual-only agent and sets the commercial bar above 50: Delaware scorecard. New York starts with the Secretary of State already on the agent line: New York scorecard. Nevada makes a commercial agent register at ten companies: Nevada scorecard. Wyoming bans UPS stores and virtual addresses as the registered office: Wyoming scorecard. Arizona makes the statutory-agent appointment wait on a signed acceptance: Arizona scorecard. Illinois gives you 60 days after your agent resigns, then you are not in good standing: Illinois scorecard. Ohio cancels the articles if you miss the 30-day statutory-agent notice: Ohio scorecard. Georgia wants the registered office at the same street as the agent: Georgia scorecard. Pennsylvania files a registered office, not a registered agent: Pennsylvania scorecard. New Jersey wants a street for your registered agent and will not take a P.O. Box alone: New Jersey scorecard. Colorado will not take a commercial mailbox or a P.O. Box as the registered-agent street: Colorado scorecard. North Carolina’s LLC annual report is $200 paper or $203 online by April 15. That filing is not the registered-agent job: North Carolina scorecard. Washington files the agent’s prior consent and will not take a P.O. Box or a PMB as the street: Washington scorecard.

Sources for this page

  1. Code of Virginia § 13.1-1015 and the Article 3 text (Virginia Law LIS; retrieved September 10, 2026), continuously maintain in the Commonwealth a registered office and a registered agent; individual resident whose business office is identical with the registered office, or an authorized entity whose business office is identical with the registered office; an entity shall not be its own registered agent and must designate natural persons by a notarized writing; sole duty of the agent is to forward any process, notice, or demand served on the agent to the company’s last known address
  2. Code of Virginia § 13.1-1016 (retrieved September 10, 2026), change the registered office or registered agent on a statement of change; after the change the company will comply with § 13.1-1015
  3. Code of Virginia § 13.1-1017 (retrieved September 10, 2026), agent resigns by filing a statement with a certification that a certified-mail copy goes to the principal office; the statement takes effect on the earlier of 12:01 a.m. on the 31st day after filing, or when a statement of change appointing a new agent is filed
  4. Code of Virginia § 13.1-1018 (retrieved September 10, 2026), service may be on the registered agent; if there is no agent, or the agent cannot be found at the registered office, the clerk of the Commission is an agent under Code of Virginia § 12.1-19.1, by leaving two copies and the fee or fees specified in subsection G
  5. Virginia State Corporation Commission, Registered Agent and Office Addresses (retrieved September 10, 2026), physical Virginia business address; available during normal business hours; P.O. Box not acceptable except cities or towns with population less than 2,000 and no street address, paper filing only then; registered office is a public record and receives service of process and annual registration fee notices; entity cannot be its own registered agent; resignation effective on the 31st day; 31 days to appoint a new agent
  6. Virginia State Corporation Commission, Maintaining Your Business (retrieved September 10, 2026), Virginia and foreign LLCs pay a $50 annual registration fee each year after the year of formation, due the last day of the month of formation; $25 late penalty; unpaid by the last day of the third month after the due date, existence or registration automatically canceled; corporations file annual reports; LLCs do not; annual notices mailed to the registered office; after an agent resigns without replacement within 31 days, inactive status, then terminated, revoked, or canceled by the last day of the second month after notification
  7. Virginia State Corporation Commission, Virginia Limited Liability Companies forms (retrieved September 10, 2026), LLC1016 Update Registered Office/Agent, No Fee; LLC1017 Resign as Registered Agent, No Fee
  8. Clerk’s Information System (retrieved September 10, 2026), live company and registered-agent lookup at cis.scc.virginia.gov
  9. Virginia State Corporation Commission, Business Home and Contact Us (retrieved September 10, 2026), mailing Office of the Clerk, P.O. Box 1197, Richmond, Virginia 23218; street 1300 E. Main St., 1st floor, Richmond, Virginia 23219; 804-371-9733; in-person access 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.; document drop-off 8:15 a.m. to 5 p.m. Those lines are the Commission, not a vendor suite
  10. Virginia State Corporation Commission, General business FAQs (retrieved September 10, 2026), notices such as annual registration fees are sent to the registered office by mail
  11. Northwest Registered Agent, official registered-agent page, Virginia product page, and office locations (retrieved September 10, 2026), $125/year; first year free only with formation; $100/year per state at five or more states; FAQ names local scans from a Richmond, VA office and no street; office-locations list Richmond, VA 23294, Henrico County, and says they leave the street off this list; same-day local scans claimed
  12. Bizee, official registered-agent page and contact (retrieved September 10, 2026), free year 1 with formation on the official card; standalone $149/year; year 2 $149/year; support Monday–Friday 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. CST; no Virginia registered-agent street; /llc/virginia-registered-agent returned 404; Houston contact HQ is not a Virginia registered-agent street
  13. LegalZoom, official registered-agent overview (retrieved September 10, 2026), $249/year; auto-renews at the purchase rate, subject to change; no Virginia street on the official overview; Virginia registered-agent article updated November 6, 2025, retrieved the same day, no LegalZoom price and no LegalZoom street; Alexandria and Richmond appear as example cities for starting a business, not as published LegalZoom registered offices
  14. ZenBusiness, official registered-agent page and Virginia registered agent (retrieved September 10, 2026; Virginia product page last updated August 27, 2025), starts at $99 + VA state fees year 1; $199 renewal, subject to change; Virginia product page publishes no ZenBusiness street or city; product page shows P.O. Box 1197, Richmond, VA 23218 and 1300 E. Main St., Richmond, VA 23219, which is the State Corporation Commission, not a ZenBusiness registered office; national product currently excludes PLLCs and nonprofits

Also setting up payroll in Virginia? Payroll Score covers the first paycheck there.