Doing Business in Another State

Doing Business in Another State › States › North Dakota

Doing business in North Dakota from another state

If your LLC does business in North Dakota as North Dakota defines it, you register with the North Dakota Secretary of State for $135.

Step 1: put these questions to North Dakota’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: NDCC Chapter 10-32.1 (Limited Liability Company Act).

Step 2: if the answer is yes

Form
Application for a Certificate of Authority (foreign limited liability company)
Fee
$135
Paper from your home state
Certificate of status, good standing or existence from the home-state filing office
Agent
A registered agent in North Dakota

Best 3 Foreign Registration Services in North Dakota (2026)

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

#ServiceService feeNorth Dakota feeAgent
1Mainstay Filing$199$135Year one included, then $149/yr
2ND Registered Agents.org$199$135Year one included, then $99/yr
3North Dakota Registered Agent.co$199$135Year one included, then $99/yr

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

North Dakota questions

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

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

What does registering in North Dakota cost?

$135 to the North Dakota Secretary of State.

What is required after registering?

Annual report (filed with the Secretary of State), $50 (due: november 15), and a registered agent in North Dakota.

Sources