Filing a Montana foreign LLC registration without help

A small LLC with a clean home record can file alone: the application needs the company facts, a Montana agent and the fee. It becomes harder for a series LLC, which attaches an operating agreement per series, and when it is unclear that registration is needed.

In the portal, sign in, go to the Forms section on the left, choose Foreign forms, choose the applicable form, complete it, and submit it with the fee. The portal marks required fields with a red asterisk and flags any page with missing information by a red x beside its name in the step list, so you can go back to fix it.

Three places catch filers. The agent's address must be physical, a street or rural route address inside Montana, with a mailing address added if it differs. The name has to satisfy the Montana rule, and the fix is either the added words or an assumed business name. And the compliance statement is made for the LLC by someone with authority, and should not be signed while the home registration is out of order.

Two things recur. The annual report comes first, free from January 1 to April 15 and $35 after. Keeping the registered agent in place comes second, because a gap of 60 days or longer in the agent or office can lead to revocation. Changing the agent costs nothing in state fees.

Before signing in, put the answers on one page: the exact LLC name, the jurisdiction, when it was organized and for how long, the principal office's business mailing address, the managers if they differ from members, the agent's name and Montana address, and the series names. Check every line against the home record. Typing from the sheet into the portal is then a copy job.

Have someone who did not prepare the filing read it against the home record. They should look for a name that differs in a comma or an ending, an address that is a mailbox, a missing manager, and a series without an agreement.

Do not use a PO box as the agent address. Do not sign the compliance statement without authority or while the home record is out of order. Do not file a second application to fix the first; use an amendment or a statement of change. And do not let the first annual report slip past April 15, when the free window closes.

A series LLC adds $50 for each series named and attaches each series' operating agreement, so two series come to $170.

An amended certificate costs $15, with $50 more for each series on the amendment. A new agent or office is handled by a statement of change from the business record, and the state charges nothing for it.

The Montana fee is $70, plus $50 for each series. A commercial agent, if you use one, bills its own fee. The first annual report is free in the window. There is no state fee for an agent change or a withdrawal. Compared with that, our fee is $199 for preparation and submission, and the cost page has the full list.

$199 plus the state fee, including your first year of registered agent service; after that the agent service renews at $149 a year.