Doing Business in Another State

Doing Business in Another State › States › Minnesota

Doing business in Minnesota from another state

If your LLC does business in Minnesota as Minnesota defines it, you register with the Minnesota Secretary of State, Business Services for $185.

Step 1: put these questions to Minnesota’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: Minnesota Statutes § 322C.0802, certificate of authority; Minnesota Statutes § 322C.0803, activities that are not transacting business; Minnesota Statutes § 322C.0808, consequences.

Step 2: if the answer is yes

Form
Foreign Limited Liability Company Certificate of Authority to Transact Business in Minnesota
Fee
$185
Paper from your home state
None for an LLC
Agent
A registered agent in Minnesota

Best 3 Foreign Registration Services in Minnesota (2026)

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

#ServiceService feeMinnesota feeAgent
1Mainstay Filing$199$185Year one included, then $149/yr
2MN Registered Agent.org$199$185Year one included, then $99/yr
3Minnesota Registered Agent.co$199$185Year one included, then $99/yr

Mainstay Filing: Its Minnesota checkout showed $404 in total on October 28, 2026, including $20 in state processing charges.

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

Minnesota questions

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

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

What does registering in Minnesota cost?

$185 to the Minnesota Secretary of State, Business Services.

What is required after registering?

Annual renewal (Minnesota Secretary of State), no fee (due: december 31), and a registered agent in Minnesota.

Sources