Doing Business in Another State

Doing Business in Another State › States › California

Doing business in California from another state

If your LLC does business in California as California defines it, you register with the California Secretary of State, Business Entities for $70.

Step 1: put these questions to California’s law

  1. An employee or contractor works from the state. Ask whether the statute counts work done by people located in the state, and whether employees and independent contractors are treated alike.
  2. You sell to customers there but have no one on the ground. Ask whether the statute treats sales from outside the state differently from activity inside it.
  3. The LLC owns or leases property there. Ask whether owning or leasing real estate is listed as an activity that does, or does not, count.
  4. You open an office, shop or warehouse. Ask whether a fixed place of business is named in the statute. Settle the answer before you sign a lease.
  5. You hold meetings or keep a bank account there. Ask whether the statute lists these ancillary activities, and whether they count by themselves.

The law, as listed in the state’s own sources: Corporations Code section 17708.03; Revenue and Taxation Code section 19135.

Step 2: if the answer is yes

Form
Form LLC-5, Application to Register a Foreign Limited Liability Company (LLC)
Fee
$70
Paper from your home state
Certificate of good standing (existence or status) from the home state, no older than 180 days
Agent
A agent for service of process in California

$70 for Form LLC-5, Application to Register.

Best 3 Foreign Registration Services in California (2026)

Step 3: if you would rather not file it yourself.

#ServiceService feeCalifornia feeAgent
1Mainstay Filing$199$70Year one included, then $149/yr
2CA Registered Agent.org$199$70Year one included, then $99/yr
3California Registered Agent.ai$199$70Year one included, then $99/yr

Service prices read from each provider’s California page on October 28, 2026. The state fee is the official figure below and is paid to the California Secretary of State, Business Entities.

California questions

When does an LLC from another state have to register in California?

When its activity in California meets California’s own definition of doing business. We do not paraphrase it; read it in the law linked below.

What does registering in California cost?

$70 to the California Secretary of State, Business Entities. $70 for Form LLC-5, Application to Register.

What is required after registering?

Statement of Information, Form LLC-12 (California Secretary of State), $20 (due: within 90 days of registering, then every 2 years), and a agent for service of process in California.

Sources