GA registered agent
Georgia registered agent service, $5 a year
Georgia requires every corporation and LLC on its books to keep a registered agent at a real address in the state. Here is what Georgia law says about who that agent has to be and where it has to be.
What Georgia requires of a registered agent
The requirement
A Georgia corporation's registered agent may be a Georgia-resident individual, a domestic corporation/nonprofit/LLC, or a foreign corporation/nonprofit/LLC authorized to transact business in Georgia, in each case with a business office identical to the registered office. For LLCs, O.C.G.A. 14-11-209(b) similarly allows an individual resident, a corporation, another LLC, or an authorized foreign corporation or foreign LLC.
Each corporation must continuously maintain in this state: (1) A registered office that may be the same as any of its places of business; and (2) A registered agent, who may be: (A) A person who resides in this state and whose business office is identical with the registered office; (B) A domestic corporation, nonprofit domestic corporation, or domestic limited liability company whose business office is identical with the registered office; or (C) A foreign corporation, nonprofit foreign corporation, or foreign limited liability company authorized to transact business in this state whose business office is identical with the registered office.
Source: state statute, via incFACTS: O.C.G.A. sec. 14-2-501; sec. 14-11-209(a)-(b)
How we comply
We don't.
What Georgia does to your company when we don't
Here is what the state does to an entity that has no agent, or whose agent is us.
Administrative dissolution
Being without a registered agent or registered office for 60 days or more, or failing to notify the Secretary of State of an agent change/resignation within 60 days, is a ground for administrative dissolution of a corporation (60-day cure after notice); LLCs face the same under sec. 14-11-603(b)(1)(B)-(C).
The Secretary of State may commence a proceeding under Code Section 14-2-1421 to dissolve a corporation administratively if: ... (3) The corporation is without a registered agent or registered office in this state for 60 days or more; (4) The corporation does not notify the Secretary of State within 60 days that its registered agent or registered office has been changed, that its registered agent has resigned, or that its registered office has been discontinued ...
Source: state statute, via incFACTS: O.C.G.A. sec. 14-2-1420(3)-(4); sec. 14-11-603(b)(1)(B)-(C)
Revocation (foreign entities)
A foreign corporation without a registered agent or registered office in Georgia for 60 days or more, or failing to inform the Secretary of State of agent changes within 60 days, may have its certificate of authority revoked; after revocation the Secretary of State is its agent for service on pre-revocation causes of action.
The Secretary of State may commence a proceeding under Code Section 14-2-1531 to revoke the certificate of authority of a foreign corporation ... if: ... (3) The foreign corporation is without a registered agent or registered office in this state for 60 days or more; (4) The foreign corporation does not inform the Secretary of State under Code Section 14-2-1508 or 14-2-1509 that its registered agent or registered office has changed, that its registered agent has resigned, or that its registered office has been discontinued within 60 days ...
Source: state statute, via incFACTS: O.C.G.A. sec. 14-2-1530(3)-(4); sec. 14-2-1531(d)
No access to the courts
A foreign corporation transacting business in Georgia without a certificate of authority (the state into which a revoked corporation falls) may not maintain a proceeding in any Georgia court until it obtains one, and is liable for the $500 civil penalty of sec. 14-2-122.
A foreign corporation transacting business in this state without a certificate of authority may not maintain a proceeding in any court in this state until it obtains a certificate of authority. (b) Each foreign corporation that has not obtained a certificate of authority within 30 calendar days after the first day on which it transacts business in this state shall be liable for the civil penalty set out in Code Section 14-2-122.
Source: state statute, via incFACTS: O.C.G.A. sec. 14-2-1502(a)-(b)
Civil penalty
The fee schedule fixes a $500 civil penalty for a foreign corporation transacting business in Georgia without a certificate of authority.
(10) Civil penalty for a foreign corporation transacting business in this state without a certificate of authority 500.00
Source: state statute, via incFACTS: O.C.G.A. sec. 14-2-122(10)
The bill to come back
Reinstatement fee
A corporation or LLC administratively dissolved may apply for reinstatement within five years, accompanied by a $250 reinstatement fee and a statement that all taxes have been paid.
A corporation administratively dissolved under Code Section 14-2-1421 may apply to the Secretary of State for reinstatement within five years after the effective date of such dissolution. The application shall: ... (5) Be accompanied by the fee required for the application for reinstatement contained in Code Section 14-2-122.
Source: state statute, via incFACTS: O.C.G.A. sec. 14-2-1422(a); sec. 14-2-122(12); sec. 14-11-603(b)(4); sec. 14-11-1101(a)(16)
What happens to the lawsuit you never saw
Substituted service
Georgia splits the fallback by entity type. Domestic corporations: no Secretary-of-State service - if there is no registered agent or the agent cannot with reasonable diligence be served, service is by registered/certified mail or statutory overnight delivery to the corporation's secretary at its principal office (sec. 14-2-504(b)). Foreign corporations: mail to the CEO/CFO/secretary at the principal office plus a copy to the Secretary of State with a $10 fee (sec. 14-2-1510(b)). LLCs: the Secretary of State becomes the agent for service when the company fails to appoint or maintain an agent or the agent cannot be found at the registered office.
Whenever a limited liability company shall fail to appoint or maintain a registered agent in this state or whenever its registered agent cannot with reasonable diligence be found at the registered office, then the Secretary of State shall be an agent of such limited liability company upon whom any process, notice, or demand may be served. ... The plaintiff or his or her attorney shall certify in writing to the Secretary of State that the limited liability company failed either to maintain a registered office or appoint a registered agent in this state and that he or she has forwarded by registered or certified mail or statutory overnight delivery such process, notice, or demand to the most recent registered office ...
Source: state statute, via incFACTS: O.C.G.A. sec. 14-2-504(b); sec. 14-2-1510(b); sec. 14-11-209(f)
Statutory text as captured by incFACTS (retrieved 2026-08-01, verified word-for-word against the state code 2026-08-10). Laws change. The statute governs; this page does not.