Doing Business in Another State

Doing Business in Another State › States › Rhode Island

Doing business in Rhode Island from another state

If your LLC does business in Rhode Island as Rhode Island defines it, you register with the Rhode Island Department of State, Business Services Division for $150.

Step 1: put these questions to Rhode Island’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.

Rhode Island’s sources do not name a statute on this page; start at the Rhode Island filing page.

Step 2: if the answer is yes

Form
Form 450, Application for Registration for a Foreign Limited Liability Company
Fee
$150
Paper from your home state
Certificate of Good Standing or Letter of Status, no older than 60 days
Agent
A resident agent in Rhode Island

Best 3 Foreign Registration Services in Rhode Island (2026)

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

#ServiceService feeRhode Island feeAgent
1Mainstay Filing$199$150Year one included, then $149/yr
2RI Registered Agent.org$199$150Year one included, then $99/yr
3Rhode Island Registered Agent.co$199$150Year one included, then $99/yr

Mainstay Filing: Its Rhode Island checkout showed $355 in total on October 28, 2026, including $6 in state processing charges.

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

Rhode Island questions

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

When its activity in Rhode Island meets Rhode Island’s own definition of doing business. We do not paraphrase it; read it through the Rhode Island filing page.

What does registering in Rhode Island cost?

$150 to the Rhode Island Department of State, Business Services Division.

What is required after registering?

Annual report (Rhode Island Department of State), $50 (due: between February 1 and May 1), and a resident agent in Rhode Island.

Sources