Doing Business in Another State

Doing Business in Another State › States › Ohio

Doing business in Ohio from another state

If your LLC does business in Ohio as Ohio defines it, you register with the Ohio Secretary of State, Business Services for $99.

Step 1: put these questions to Ohio’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: R.C. 1706.09, statutory agent.

Step 2: if the answer is yes

Form
Form 617, Registration of a Foreign Limited Liability Company
Fee
$99
Paper from your home state
None for an LLC
Agent
A statutory agent in Ohio

Best 2 Foreign Registration Services in Ohio (2026)

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

#ServiceService feeOhio feeAgent
1Mainstay Filing$199$99Year one included, then $149/yr
2OH Registered Agent.org$199$99Year one included, then $99/yr

Service prices read from each provider’s Ohio page on October 28, 2026. The state fee is the official figure below and is paid to the Ohio Secretary of State, Business Services. Only one registered-agent brand on our list serves Ohio, so this list has two entries.

Ohio questions

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

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

What does registering in Ohio cost?

$99 to the Ohio Secretary of State, Business Services.

What is required after registering?

None for foreign LLCs, no fee, and a statutory agent in Ohio.

Sources