Doing Business in Another State

Doing Business in Another State › States › Virginia

Doing business in Virginia from another state

If your LLC does business in Virginia as Virginia defines it, you register with the Virginia State Corporation Commission, Office of the Clerk for $100.

Step 1: put these questions to Virginia’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: Code of Virginia § 13.1-1052, application for registration; Code of Virginia § 13.1-1059, activities that are not transacting business; Code of Virginia § 13.1-1057, consequences of transacting business without registration.

Step 2: if the answer is yes

Form
LLC1052, Application for Certificate of Registration to Transact Business in Virginia as a Foreign Limited Liability Company
Fee
$100
Paper from your home state
Certified copy of articles of organization and all amendments, no older than 365 days
Agent
A registered agent in Virginia

Best 2 Foreign Registration Services in Virginia (2026)

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

#ServiceService feeVirginia feeAgent
1Mainstay Filing$199$100Year one included, then $149/yr
2VA Registered Agent.org$199$100Year one included, then $99/yr

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

Virginia questions

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

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

What does registering in Virginia cost?

$100 to the Virginia State Corporation Commission, Office of the Clerk.

What is required after registering?

Annual registration fee (State Corporation Commission), $50 (due: last day of your registration month), and a registered agent in Virginia.

Sources