Doing Business in Another State

Doing Business in Another State › States › Washington

Doing business in Washington from another state

If your LLC does business in Washington as Washington defines it, you register with the Washington Secretary of State, Corporations & Charities Division for $180.

Step 1: put these questions to Washington’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: RCW 23.95.520, activities that are not doing business; RCW 23.95.505, consequences of not registering; RCW 23.95.510, foreign registration statement.

Step 2: if the answer is yes

Form
Foreign Registration Statement
Fee
$180
Paper from your home state
Certificate of existence (good standing) or similar document, no older than 60 days
Agent
A registered agent in Washington

Best 2 Foreign Registration Services in Washington (2026)

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

#ServiceService feeWashington feeAgent
1Mainstay Filing$199$180Year one included, then $149/yr
2WA Registered Agent.org$199$180Year one included, then $99/yr

Mainstay Filing: Its Washington checkout showed $399 in total on October 28, 2026, including $20 in state processing charges.

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

Washington questions

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

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

What does registering in Washington cost?

$180 to the Washington Secretary of State, Corporations & Charities Division.

What is required after registering?

Annual report (Secretary of State), $70 (due: last day of your registration month), and a registered agent in Washington.

Sources